Whats a good bitter yeast?

[proost]

Right, Iv'e been brewing for a year now (kits only) with excellent results, and fancy trying a different yeast to change the flavour of my bitters.

Any advice on what ale yeasts have different flavours?

:hmm:

 

[clibit]

They all do. :party:

You looking at dried or liquid, or both? And how much yeast flavour change do you want?

 

[proost]

They all do. :party:

You looking at dried or liquid, or both? And how much yeast flavour change do you want?

Dried.
I have a Wherry kit and thought I would try to change the flavour.
I'm not a big fan of malty beers but I do like a strong bitter, about the 4.7 to 5.0%

I think this may well be an unanswerable question!

:!:

 

[clibit]

Flavour variation is more limited with dried.

Nottingham/Gervin Ale (same thing) - pretty neutral flavour. Does the job but dull IMO.

S04 - quite neutral at low temps (up to about 18C), some esters at a warmer temp, above 20C. But not a big flavour thing. Not my favourite.

US-05 - very clean and neutral but makes nice beer - you really taste the malt and hops.

S33 - makes a fruitier beer than those above. Can get stuck around 1020. But makes a nice beer.

Mauribrew Ale - neutral below 20, 22 and above you get a bit of fruitiness. I like it and it's hard to mess up with this yeast. Temperature tolerant, has never stuck for me, and clears well.

Mauribrew Weiss - it's a weiss yeast that has the pepperiness of a Weiss beer, but not the banana thing. Attenuates and clears well.

Windsor - does provide more flavour, but I've not used it. Can be tricky to use I believe.

Muntons Ale - mild fruitiness.

Muntons Gold - not used it, described as neutral.

Mangrove Jacks - I've not used any of these but they have:
Burton Union - "produces light fruity esters".
British ale - "Neutral"
Newcastle Dark Ale. "Full, rich, dark fruit flavours". It has fans who say it is flavoursome.
Workhorse - "clean crisp flavour".

 

[proost]

Cheers mate for that, it's just what I wanted.

👍👍👍

 

[MyQul]

Clibit has given you a rather comprehensive answer there. I haven't used many yeasts but going by your 'wants' I have used the yeast a lot that I think may possible answer your demands - nottingham. Its pretty neutral so won't give you much fruityness (although as clibit says fairly dull) and attenuates really well (I have got 83% the last two times I used it) so gives a high ABV%

 

[proost]

Thanks for that. Is it sold under a different name?

 

[MyQul]

I get it from wilko. It's simply sold as 'ale yeast'. Pretty cheap too £1.70 per packet. Make sure you re-hydrate for best results

 

[clibit]

Nottingham, sold by wilko as Gervin Ale yeast, is in my opinion a handy yeast, it's pretty fool proof. attenuates well, clears well, sticks to bottles etc. I just wouldn't pick it out as a yeast for someone looking for different flavours. I wouldn't be surprised if most British kits use it, or something very similar.

 

[proost]

Hmm, food (or Beer! ) for thought.

☺

 

[clibit]

I think I would recommend trying US-05. It's a neutral yeast, but you will notice a difference. It's a widely used yeast, even the Kernel Brewery uses it, and they make some of the best beer in the UK. They use it for a reason. Of the beers I've made with dried yeasts, US-05 has produced some of the best.

 

[proost]

I think I will give that a try. Thanks for your advice. 👍