The difference between live and dry yeast.

[Polcho]

People using live yeast. What would be the main reasons for using live over dry and does it make a huge difference?

 

[Sadfield]

It's all live. Wet yeast offers greater variety, dry is more convenient and easier to use.

Does it make a difference? No, and yes. No, in that used correctly they will both make flavoursome, good quality beer. Yes, as there's different strains available. Some will argue that wet yeast is more expressive, flavoursome, but they're often comparing apples to oranges. Single strain dry yeast to multistrain brewery yeast, or just different strains of yeast. Ignoring that a wet strain like Wyeast American Ale will have far less character and influence on flavour than a dry Belgian Abbey yeast.

I happily use either.

 

[The Baron]

Can of worms again.:tinhat:
Ps I only use dry

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Dry is fit for purpose, easer to store and less expensive but the choice is less. So make your choice I've never used liquid but I believe they both make good beer.

 

[Galena]

I only use liquid yeast, I like the choices available and as I overbuild the starter each time I have only bought any yeast once (caveat being I have only been brewing for 12 months) but I have a dedicated yeast fridge and enjoy the process.

 

[NormanHurst]

I think a lot depends on the type of beer you are brewing. Some styles rely more on the yeast for flavours than others. Compare an American Pale which is all about the hops to a German Hefeweizen which is all about the yeast.

For hop-forward styles, I personally don't see the need to pay extra for wet yeast if only using once (I'm not advanced enough to reuse several times like @Galena) and will happily use a US05 or similar.

For styles where the yeast really counts I'd definitely consider wet yeast if I thought a particular strain would deliver the result I was after.

Horses for courses.

 

[Galena]

@NormanHurst I agree, although overbuilding a starter is not that advanced, if you are brewing AG already it's a simple process once you get into it.

 

[NormanHurst]

@NormanHurst I agree, although overbuilding a starter is not that advanced, if you are brewing AG already it's a simple process once you get into it.

I am sure your right. All the times I have used liquid Yeast it has been small batch (no starter needed) and a style (eg a Belgian Wit) that I wouldn't be brewing again any time soon. A Yeast fridge sounds great though!

 

[krispn]

I used both depending on what I’m brewing. I’ve tended to use liquid yeast if I’m after something specific - just made two Belgian style beers so went for Belgian liquid yeast strains for those. I have some dry yeast for a big stout I’m planning - I can buy three packets of dry for the cost of one pouch of liquid. I’ve had success with the Verdant dry yeast too.

 

[trueblue]

Ignore any one saying wet yeast is more expensive. I have been keeping 4 strains going for over 2 years it just takes a little management. The choice of wet strains is a so much bigger one example to the best of my knowledge you would not find any dry yeast to compare with Wyeast West Yorkshire. In my PERSONAL opinion my beer taste better whenever I use wet yeast. Dry yeast have a place, except SO-2 where the best place is the toilet, but I would only use dry yeast in an emergency. I only brew English and some continental styles so can't comment on American yeast.

 

[CD]

I wouldn’t bother brewing if I didn’t have some yeast recently cropped off a commercial brewery’s fermenting vessel, and with so many small breweries around these days, I am surprised more people don’t do the same.

I have had to change my source over the years as breweries came and went, and in the past have obtained it from Ringwood, Halls (Ind Coope), Princetown (Dartmoor), Palmers, Devenport, and currently use Summerskills.

 

[Galena]

I wouldn’t bother brewing if I didn’t have some yeast recently cropped off a commercial brewery’s fermenting vessel, and with so many small breweries around these days, I am surprised more people don’t do the same.

I have had to change my source over the years as breweries came and went, and in the past have obtained it from Ringwood, Halls (Ind Coope), Princetown (Dartmoor), Palmers, Devenport, and currently use Summerskills.

I think that is a great idea, if you live close to a brewery with it's own unique strand, but I do believe a lot of the micro's just use dried yeast for ease of use as they don't have a lab?

 

[krispn]

If a local brewery can give a unique yeast then I’ll maybe have to check a few out near me but equally top cropping a decent liquid yeast as others have mentioned is good too and can save money on further yeast purchase especially if you enjoy a particular style which really suits that yeast strain. I’ve got 4 different top cropped yeasts in my fridge for future use but as ever I want to try different styles which might not ‘suit’ the yeast I have.

 

[the_quick]

I know closely 2 micro brewery and they use dried yeast for years, producing very good beers.

I have been to visit many times to Harvey Brewery in Lewes (e. sussex) and they use own strain fresh yeast for something like 100 years and they do produce some great beers.

From my own experience, mainly the choice is much bigger. So far I only can compare one beer I have done with dry and liquid - German weizen. Liquid started much quicker and were more active. Beer tasted great without long conditioning. Dry was very moderate fermentation and it took I think around 2-3 weeks conditioning to develop very similar taste. In the end both came out good.

I would say you need to try it for yourself at least once. And if you are into yeast culturing, I think liquid yeast can go for longer.

 

[trueblue]

I wouldn’t bother brewing if I didn’t have some yeast recently cropped off a commercial brewery’s fermenting vessel, and with so many small breweries around these days, I am surprised more people don’t do the same.

I have had to change my source over the years as breweries came and went, and in the past have obtained it from Ringwood, Halls (Ind Coope), Princetown (Dartmoor), Palmers, Devenport, and currently use Summerskills.

live brewers yeast is as good as it gets. When I can I get to a brewery about 20 miles away with a yeast they have maintained for years.

 

[MickDundee]

I use dry 95% of the time - they are just so much more convenient and lend themselves much better to a “spontaneous” brew day (which most of mine are because I work full time and have 2 young-ish kids) because there’s no faffing about with starters in the days leading up to brew day. The Chico strains, most lager strains, Belle Saison etc are as good as any of the liquid equivalents IMO.

However, for some beers that showcase a lot of yeast character, dried just doesn’t cut it. I’d never made a decent English style ale until I used a liquid yeast - I really don’t like S-04, and Liberty Bell is just “ok”, whereas London Ale III made my bitter really taste like a proper commercial bitter. Same with Hefeweizen - the MJ hefe yeast is ok and does a job, but when I used the white labs equivalent it just made my beer “pop”. I gave up on making Belgian style ales (apart from wit) when I was using dry yeast because I could never get the flavour profile right.

 

[Braufather]

For hoppy American beers I’ve got as decent results from dry as liquid. However for English beers I lean to liquid, I like 007 and not sure there is a dry equivalent. I’m also going to be using London fog for the first time.

im also going to give overbuilding a starter a go, as advised by galena, to see how I get on with it. I currently use more dry than liquid but this could be a game changer.

i quite like the idea of having a house yeast and as I mainly brew UK and US pales, IPAs with the odd amber. I think 007 could do justice to all of these.

or if I go back to dry I’m thinking liberty bell may be good for all those styles and I might buy in bulk so I can add exactly the correct amount for each brew.

 

[jeg3]

I use both.

I've currently got a batch of cropped WY1318 in the fridge on it's fourth generation, and a batch of WY1469 on it's third generation.

Because these are top cropping yeasts I skim the top off the first krausen to form, wait for it to rise again, then harvest it. I'm hoping to maintain the yeast for ages, but it will mutate over time. If I get a couple of years out of them I'll happy, and it's cost effective - but that's not the driving factor.

I mainly brew bitters and pale ales, so I use it this way.

For other, less frequent, styles I use dry yeast which is perfectly fit for purpose.

 

[Polcho]

Thanks, so if I were to brew say en English beer. How do I go about selecting a yeast?
Also, it appears that there is more than you need in one packet for a single brew. How long does is last at normal fridge temperature?

 

[krispn]

Handy comparison chart/yeast origin guide

https://www.saltcitybrewsupply.com/media/YeastComparison3.pdf