Yeast produced in the UK

[boccacciobrew]

Hi,

Does anyone know of any companies that produce brewers yeast in the UK?

I want to brew with as little carbon footprint as possible and support local businesses

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Mangrove Jack package their yeasts at a factory in Ellesmere Port, but probably from imported bulk. Crossmyloof probably repack bulk. Do you intend to use UK grain and hops?

 

[Agentgonzo]

Hi,

Does anyone know of any companies that produce brewers yeast in the UK?

I want to brew with as little carbon footprint as possible and support local businesses

Take a wander down to your closest local brewery. They probably reuse their yeast and will give you some for free as a bunch gets chucked down the drain after every brew.

I did this for years.

Buy a pint from them whilst you're there. Win-win

 

[boccacciobrew]

Mangrove Jack package their yeasts at a factory in Ellesmere Port, but probably from imported bulk. Crossmyloof probably repack bulk. Do you intend to use UK grain and hops?

That’s interesting, thank you.

I grow my own hops, or buy local hops if needed. And i buy Simpsons Malt which I believe is all UK grain. So best endeavours!

 

[boccacciobrew]

Take a wander down to your closest local brewery. They probably reuse their yeast and will give you some for free as a bunch gets chucked down the drain after every brew.

I did this for years.

Buy a pint from them whilst you're there. Win-win

That’s a good idea! Thank you

 

[Agentgonzo]

That’s a good idea! Thank you

Some even are kind enough to let you buy a bag of malt off them as well, saving shipping

 

[trueblue]

Brewlabs - Yeast Slopes Archives - Brewlab

 

[Cheshire Cat]

What are they?

 

[Jim Brewster]

There's Gervin which I think is owned by Munton's. I've used the ale one sold in Wilko many times. They have one ale yeast which supposedly is the same strain as Nottingham

I recently saw a company called Harris, again they only sell one ale yeast. I was thinking of giving the ale a try, but haven't yet.

Don't know how they actually produce the yeast, or the supply chain - whether they're simply rebranded from larger companies or if they produce it themselves I have no idea

 

[clib]

Good to see Brewlab is selling direct to individuals again. I've used a couple of their slants in the past and they are really good. It's just a plastic tube containing agar on an angle with yeast cells grown on the agar. You wash the yeast off with a little starter wort and add to the rest of the starter wort. I found the yeast to be really healthy, starts fast etc. You only make a 300ml starter iirc but it apparently is enough due to the quality/health of the yeast. £6 a slant is good too, and £3 postage for multiple slants. And a good range of options. Thames Valley 3 seemed to be popular at the time I was looking at them. This link explains how you use them...


https://brewlab.co.uk/services/home-brew-yeast-2/

 

[clib]

Lallemand and AB Mauri have yeast production facilities in Felixstowe and Northampton but I think the brewing yeast production is overseas, Canada and Vienna and possibly others. Brewing yeast is something like 1% or less of their yeast production.

 

[MickDundee]

WHC labs produce their yeast in Northern Ireland IIRC

 

[trueblue]

Brewlabs,based in Sunderland, keep their yeast frozen and grow each slant when ordered so it is as fresh as you can get. As their yeast bank is quite extensive they can provide a lot more strains than they advertise. I phoned them several years ago and asked if they could supply a yeast from a local brewery to me that had been shut for around 10 years and they did. With a small amount of management you can get several brews from one slant which is good for your carbon footprint.