What's the point of all the different Lager yeasts....

[MartinHaworth]

...when all we want is a clean fermentation with no by products.

I suppose there are differences in attenuation. tolerance and flocculation, but these seem secondary properties.

A lot of brewers I know choose lager yeasts based on their 'quick' characteristics (eg Novolager, 34/70, Lutra, Fermolager) -this is at odds with the approach taken when selecting yeasts for other styles.

I have this secret worry that I'm a version of that brewer who only ever uses s04 in all his beers.

Tell me I'm wrong, and why.

Cheers

Martin

 

[clib]

It's at odds with the approach taken when selecting yeasts for ales because lagers take a lot longer than ales traditionally and people want to make lagers as quickly as they make ales, and in the same way if possible - at ale temperatures. If the results are acceptable.

How many lager strains are there? Quite a few are just different versions of the same thing. So W34/70, M76 and Lalbrew Diamond are likely the same origin strain.

And there is some room for variety. M76 and M84 are quite different for example. S-23 is different from the rest. Some love it some dislike it. Choice is not a bad thing in my book, if there is a variation. And there is.

 

[dmtaylor]

There are subtle differences between lager yeasts. With such clean beers, with nothing else left to hide behind, these subtleties can make a difference in the mouth of the beerholder.

But you're kind of right, as well. Most lager yeasts are really really close in characteristics to where it probably doesn't much matter to most people who probably couldn't care less about subtle differences.