Youngs Lager Yeast

[Tetsuo1981]

Hi all

Waiting for a Coopers Cerveza Kit to come to get back into brewing again after moving. Did a Wilko one a while ago with no brew fridge and extra light DME and it was okay-ish but definitely had an ale-like undertone to it which I'm guessing was from the standard yeast they put in their kits.

Anyway, ordered the kit which has a mix of lager and ale yeast (so I read somewhere) but picked up a sachet of Youngs Lager yeast to use. Wondered if anyone had any experience using it

https://www.youngsgroup.co.uk/catal...eer-1/youngs-lager-yeast-sachet-5g-517-detail
Cheers

 

[terrym]

The Coopers AuPA and Cerveza both come with 7g half lager half ale yeasts, perhaps that is what you have ordered.
I have used them down to about 16*C but never below
Next 5g of yeast is certainly not enough yeast to ferment 23 litres at low lager fermentation temperatures say 12/13*C.
To confidently brew lager at these low temperatures you really need to approx double the yeast you would use for an ale fermentation.
What I have done in the past is to use a packet of the AuPA mixed yeast with a packet of the Coopers Euro lager to brew the Euro lager at low temperature and it was fine.
You could consider doing the same.

 

[foxbat]

Never used that yeast but 5g of lager yeast is pitifully small. For comparison, most people pitch 2x11.5g packs of the popular W34/70 lager yeast if they're going to ferment cold.

 

[MyQul]

As terry points out 5g of yeast definatlely wont be enough for ferment 23L but you could 'grow' some more for when your kit arrives. Use some of your DME to make a starter (1200ml) and put 2g of the youngs yeast in it. Then use the starter and the remaining 3g of yeast in your brew. I do this all the time to make a pack of yeast a really long time

Edit
If yor going to ferment cold I'd put 4g in a 2L starter and pitch that

 

[Tetsuo1981]

@terrym this is what I've ordered: https://www.home-brew-online.com/be...national-series-mexican-cerveza-beer-kit-p137
So am I correct in thinking I *could* use the kit yeast *and* youngs yeast together? Ferment around 12/13 degrees?

@foxbat i didn't even think about the net weight, been so long since I've brewed anything I just thought a sachet is a sachet in my ignorance. I looked at trying to get some liquid yeast but it seems to be thin on the ground at the moment. For future reference would one of your suggested yeasts work at a not so low temp rather than use 2?

@MyQul i might give that a go. Just waiting for my DME to come, had to buy yeast from one place, DME from another and cans from somwehre else, seems to be slim pickings at the moment! How much DME would you use for 1200ml?

 

[MyQul]

@MyQul i might give that a go. Just waiting for my DME to come, had to buy yeast from one place, DME from another and cans from somwehre else, seems to be slim pickings at the moment! How much DME would you use for 1200ml?

130g of DME. If you wanted to get started straight away and you have a health food shop anywhere near by, you can use LME

 

[Tetsuo1981]

130g of DME. If you wanted to get started straight away and you have a health food shop anywhere near by, you can use LME

Brilliant, thanks for that. I'll have to Google what's around me as I've just moved to a completely new area but there must be a Holland and Barrett round here somewhere!

 

[MyQul]

Brilliant, thanks for that. I'll have to Google what's around me as I've just moved to a completely new area but there must be a Holland and Barrett round here somewhere!

H&B do their own version but failing that theres potters or meridian. you'll need 160g of LME for 1.2L of starter

 

[Tetsuo1981]

Edit
If yor going to ferment cold I'd put 4g in a 2L starter and pitch that

So 4g of yeast to 130g of DME in 2 litres. How long to let that sit before using?

 

[MyQul]

So 4g of yeast to 130g of DME in 2 litres. How long to let that sit before using?

3 days. What I do is use a demijohn and give it a shake at least 4 times per day. If you dont have a DJ use a 5L water bottle. It seems excessive but the starter will REALLY foam up with all the shaking and the C02 produced by the yeast.

(If you didnt see my above edit, you'll need 160g of LME or 270g for a 2L starter if you can get your hands on some)

 

[Tetsuo1981]

3 days. What I do is use a demijohn and give it a shake at least 4 times per day. If you dont have a DJ use a 5L water bottle. It seems excessive but the starter will REALLY foam up with all the shaking and the C02 produced by the yeast.

(If you didnt see my above edit, you'll need 160g of LME if you can get your hands on some)

I'm sure I've got a demijohn lurking somewhere, and I've got a bung and airlock that'll fit. I'll have a hunt for LME later. Just caught your edit, thanks for that. So 160g of either DME or LME to 2 litres. Definitely gonna give this a go. So chuck in the starter and the remaining yeast and DME as normal? Sorry to be a pain

 

[MyQul]

As we're having a live conversation and I'm not sure whether you're noticing the edits on my posts. For DME/LME amounts;

1.2L starter/2g yeast LME =160g
2L sarter/ 4g yeast LME = 270g

1.2L starter/2g yeast DME =130g

2L sarter/ 4g yeast DME = 220g

Boil the starter. You only need to do it for two minutes to sanitise it. Then cool it in the sink.


You dont need a bung and airlock for the DJ in fact it'd make it easier not to have one when you shake the DJ. I just cover the DJ opening with sanitised tin foil

Any other questions, ask away. That's the whole point of the forum

 

[Tetsuo1981]

@MyQul im catching some of them between pottering about on YouTube putting off doing housework! And thanks a million for that, it's good to know how to stretch yeast for future reference. Gonna be brave and give it a go and ferment the beer around the 15 degree mark as I think that's what the Youngs Lager yeast instructions are. Just got to wait for all my stuff to come and read up on lagering now!! If I have an problems I'll post back here

Thanks again

 

[terrym]

@terrym this is what I've ordered: https://www.home-brew-online.com/be...national-series-mexican-cerveza-beer-kit-p137
So am I correct in thinking I *could* use the kit yeast *and* youngs yeast together? Ferment around 12/13 degrees?

That's what I suggested, mix your kit yeast with the Youngs yeast
"What I have done in the past is to use a packet of the AuPA mixed yeast with a packet of the Coopers Euro lager to brew the Euro lager at low temperature and it was fine.
You could consider doing the same."
What I didn't explain was that the Coopers Euro kit comes with 7 g of lager yeast

 

[Tetsuo1981]

That's what I suggested, mix your kit yeast with the Youngs yeast
"What I have done in the past is to use a packet of the AuPA mixed yeast with a packet of the Coopers Euro lager to brew the Euro lager at low temperature and it was fine.
You could consider doing the same."
What I didn't explain was that the Coopers Euro kit comes with 7 g of lager yeast

Thanks terrym. I thought that's what you meant but just wanted to make sure. So the 2 yeasts combines would give me 12g, enough for the kit around the 23L mark? Might even brew short to 18 / 20L for a little more oomph

 

[MyQul]

@MyQul im catching some of them between pottering about on YouTube putting off doing housework! And thanks a million for that, it's good to know how to stretch yeast for future reference. Gonna be brave and give it a go and ferment the beer around the 15 degree mark as I think that's what the Youngs Lager yeast instructions are. Just got to wait for all my stuff to come and read up on lagering now!! If I have an problems I'll post back here

Thanks again

Being skint/tight I make a 10g pack of yeast last ten brews. As I make 10L brew lengths I use 1g of yeast in 600ml of starter. I make the starter from scratch using 200g of grain as it's cheaper then DME/LME. It's easy as it only takes about 1/2 hour to make (15 mash, plus 2 mins boil plus cooling the starter)
I regularly cool ferment during winter to make pseudo lager as my kitchen floor can get down to 15C in the winter. I normally use notty or cml kolsch/calicommon to do this. The results are usually excellent

Thanks terrym. I thought that's what you meant but just wanted to make sure. So the 2 yeasts combines would give me 12g, enough for the kit around the 23L mark? Might even brew short to 18 / 20L for a little more oomph

You could do this but only if you warm ferment as a) it wouldnt be enought yeast to cold ferment with (remember you need double the amount when fermenting cool) b) the Coopers yeast will drop out of suspention and stop fermenting at cool temps. Possibly giving you a stuck ferment

 

[Tetsuo1981]

@MyQul so definitely starter route if I want to ferment at 15 degrees? I denitely don't want a stuck fermentation. And 2L of starter will be fine for a 20L brew? Once all this craziness blows over I'm going to give grain brewing / BIAB a go now I've got the space for all my kit at my new place

 

[MyQul]

@MyQul so definitely starter route if I want to ferment at 15 degrees? I denitely don't want a stuck fermentation. And 2L of starter will be fine for a 20L brew? Once all this craziness blows over I'm going to give grain brewing / BIAB a go now I've got the space for all my kit at my new place

Yes you'll need to go the starter route if you want to ferment at 15C as from what @terrym says you get half lager, half ale yeast in the ceveza kits, so the ale half 'wont cope' with the cold temps.

Yes a 2L starter will be enough for 20L of average OG wort. I based this on 1g for 10L in 600ml that I use for my brews. Which in turn I based using the dry yeast calculation from MrMalty yeast calulator. So for my 10L of ale I've quadrupled the yeast you need as as you're doing twice as big brew length plus you need to then double again as your cool fermenting. You dont need to quadruple the starter amount (to 2.4L) As there should be plenty of yeast in the starter plus you can just chuck the remaining 1g from the youngs pack into your wort for a belt and braces approach

 

[Tetsuo1981]

@MyQul so in a sense the starter feeds the yeast and makes it replicate? So it's yeast breeding rather than buying more yeast?

I'll have a look at the MrMalty yeast calculator later but I must be honest numbers and me have never been best of friends but I'm gonna have to make peace with maths to get further on with my brewing

 

[MyQul]

@MyQul so in a sense the starter feeds the yeast and makes it replicate? So it's yeast breeding rather than buying more yeast?

I'll have a look at the MrMalty yeast calculator later but I must be honest numbers and me have never been best of friends but I'm gonna have to make peace with maths to get further on with my brewing

Basically yes. It breeds more yeast but it also 'reinvigorates' the yeast cells that are already present - viablity and vitaity

Not all yeast calculators include dry yeast but the MrMalty one does. Im hopeless at maths too and use online calculators for everything, (dilution, pitching temp, carbonation, etc, etc)