Yeast confusion

[suffolk]

I tend to buy the same old Yeast for every brew
The one my HBS sells is the Gervin Ale Yeast

I mainly make a British Bitter ale, What are the alternative Yeasts I can use.
Also what the difference each yeast would bring to my HB

 

[Sadfield]

hi Suffolk. Different yeasts give different flavour profiles and also attenuate differently. Small differences with yeast of the same style, but switching from British, American, German or Belgian yeast will make completely different beers. Have a look at this Handy Yeast Chart under the English Bitters and Pale Ale section. I'm pretty sure Gervin Ale Yeast is rebranded/packaged Lallemand Nottingham.

 

[Simonh82]

Yeast can add a huge amount to the beer and it is really worth exploring. For a British bitter which isn't too highly hopped the yeast can play a major part in the flavour.

If the Gervin yeast yeast you get is the same as the Gervin yeast that Wilkos sell then it is Nottingham yeast which is very reliable but also very neutral in flavour.

If you want to stick with dried yeast then you could try Fermentis S-04 which has a bit more character, or Danstar Winsor (fruity but low attenuating). Mangrove Jack make a couple of dried yeast that could be a good match. Their Empire Ale and Liberty Bell yeasts look like they would add some flavour to the beer.

Personally I would suggest you explore liquid yeasts, as you get significantly more options to choose from. They are a little more expensive up front but you can grow up a large starter and split it so that you have enough for several brews.

If you don't want to stump up extra cash you can always harvest yeast from bottle conditioned beer. The Fullers strain is the same as Whitelabs WLP002 and can be harvested from bottles of 1845. I've also harvested yeast from Youngs London Gold, Hopback Summer Lightning and Duvel.

Speaking of Duvel. If you want to see what difference a yeast can really make then go for a Belgian strain and ferment it warm and you will really notice the difference.

 

[Antony]

Maybe try Burton ale yeast? if you really want you can harvest it from a bottle of marstons pedigree these days!

I'd also suggest maybe the london esb yeast that has an estery profile that could work well

 

[suffolk]

Thanks for the link Sadfield that will be useful
I did try liquid yeast on one brew but it turned out nasty and had to be thrown away, Was not sure if that was caused by the yeast (probably not )
I am not confident in getting yeast from either other bottles or from my last brew.
One day I will dry to harvest the yeast, maybe do a small brew with the yeast I collect.
Cheers for the advice

 

[MyQul]

It can seem a bit daunting using liquid yeast or culturing up from a bottle but if you mostly make Bitters then they almost DEMAND a characterful yeast. As Simon82 says Bitters arent very hop driven (which is why I like them) they're for the most part yeast driven. The esters from a good English yeast are what gives the best bitters (no pun intended) their flavour.
I'm not one of those that say liquid yeast is unequivocally better than dried yeast. I love dried yeast because its so easy and convinient to use but I dont think there is an English style dried yeast on the market yet that is as good a liquid.
Gervin is a great yeast, I've recently decided to use it for making pseudo lagers as it gets such a good press for that kind of use but for Bitters it's just too clean. Your missing out on so much flavour not using a good English strain for your bitters. Yeast strain also contributes significantly to how malty the beer will be and mouthfeel

I love bitters (and other English style beers) myself and am just coming to the last stages of culturing process for the fullers strain. I intend to use it for English styles (Bitters/Porters/Mild/English Blondes).It's really easy to culture up from a bottle, just a little time consumeing (It takes about 3 weeks to do), even without a stir plate. Have a look at my bottle culturing guide http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53567 It's also cheaper than buying a liquid strain. A while back I worked out how much it cost for a bottle of beer with your prefered strain in it plus the required amount of DME and iirc it came to about four quid

 

[suffolk]

Have bookmarked the link MyQul thanks.
I have a couple of 10 litre buckets spare, So I will get some liquid yeast and then try to culture it.
See how that goes

I have just ordered 2 safale 04 and 05 plus 2 wlp002 liquid yeast,
I will check out the difference between them and I will try to culture the liquid yeast from the bottom of the FV

Thanks guys

 

[MyQul]

Have bookmarked the link MyQul thanks.
I have a couple of 10 litre buckets spare, So I will get some liquid yeast and then try to culture it.
See how that goes

I have just ordered 2 safale 04 and 05 plus 2 wlp002 liquid yeast,
I will check out the difference between them and I will try to culture the liquid yeast from the bottom of the FV

Thanks guys

Any particular reason you ordered 2x WLP002? you could have either put it in a large starter and split it or stepped normal size starter a time or two an split it - saved youself 7 quid

 

[suffolk]

I have money to burn lol
I am going to make two brews at the same time as I am running out, As I am unsure on how to cultivate it properly I thought if I get 2 it will give me double the chance to get it right

 

[MyQul]

I have money to burn lol

I'll PM you my address if you have any spare :mrgreen: