Liquid vs. Dry

[dartgod]

I know I haven't been a member long but it seems many of the brewer's here use dry yeast and don't even think of using liquid. Is that due to price , quality, or habit or something I don't know about.....the majority of American homebrewer's use liquid so could someone enlighten me as to why you pretty much use dry vs. liquid.....

[oblivious]

They all have there uses, if you want to make a Trappist or Hefe you will need a liquid yeast, but you can also make a good Wit and supposable triple with T-58 and not discounting the number of dry English yeast that are available

Also from what I have seen liquid yeast can be lot cheep for some American brewer and can be fresher so in theory you can pitch white labs straight into a 1.040 beer.

I would all way make a starter with liquid yeast bought on this side of the pond

[dartgod]

Thanks for the enlightenment.....so I take it fresh liquid yeast is hard to come by.......

[steve_flack]

Nah, several shops sell wyeast (but whitelabs is only sold by one store)

In the states, liquid yeast costs about $6 = £3. Over here a small (Propagator) pack of Wyeats is £4.75 ($9.50) and a Whitelabs tube £5.50 ($11)

Dry yeast (S-04) costs £1.20 a pack. Can you guess why liquid yeasts are less popular here?

[steve_flack]

Many micro breweries in the UK (and in the US) use dried yeasts, Nottingham being very popular, i'm led to believe that several award winning beers have been brewed with it. When a yeast that is so cheap, so reliable and so easy to use produces such great results, it's easy to see why people don't bother with a more costly, less practical alternative.

For a micro brewery that lacks the facilities for maintaining their own yeast a £15 half kilo pack of Nottingham is an easy way of maintaining yeast purity. It's not the most flavoursome yeast in the world but it is reliable and a lot cheaper than a spoiled batch due to a yeast infection.

I've used a few liquid yeasts in the last few months for specific brews but, if I could use a dry yeast to do the same thing with the same flavours, I wouldn't mess about with liquid. Using dry yeast practically ensures a decent cell count and is bacterially cleaner than a poorly made starter.

[steve_flack]

I think a second has started to stock a limited range.

Who?

[oblivious]

Their selling WLP001 (Cal ale) and WLP002 (English ale)

[dartgod]

Thanks for the input guys.......I just couldn't figure why you weren't leading MickyD to a liquid strain for his Hefe.......I reckon we are lucky to have 4 or 5 strains of German Hefe yeast....it sure makes it easier on flavor profiles......I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation......I'd probably be your buddy as I have about ten packs of dry yeast that came with kits and I keep them around, "Just In Case" it happens again.....I've been saving money on liquid by repitching.....I usually try to brew 2 beers in a row that use the same strain, and I got a conical now which makes harvesting easier....

Thanks again.......Brian.......aka......dartgod

[steve_flack]

Thanks for the input guys.......I just couldn't figure why you weren't leading MickyD to a liquid strain for his Hefe.......I reckon we are lucky to have 4 or 5 strains of German Hefe yeast....it sure makes it easier on flavor profiles

We can get them - I think I got my WLP-380 from stock and it was about a month old when I got it. The WLP-565 Saison yeast I wanted had to be ordered from the US and had to wait for the store's next order from WhiteLabs so it took 2-3 weeks until it turned up. It was a week or two old when I got it. We can get all the liquid yeasts. It's just that the stores sometimes only stock the popular ones.

If someone's asking about kits I presume they're unlikely to want the added complexity (and cost) of a liquid yeast.

BTW, I thought it funny that Whitelabs do the Nottingham yeast as one of their specials. What sort of idiot buys nottingham as a liquid yeast?

http://www.whitelab.com/beer/platinum.html (March/April)

[steve_flack]

I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation.

If you use Wyeast 1056 (WLP-001) a lot you should check out US-05 dry yeast. Same yeast apparently.

[oblivious]

I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation.

If you use Wyeast 1056 (WLP-001) a lot you should check out US-05 dry yeast. Same yeast apparently.

Yea, don’t understand why they have it, my not add a hefe of a proper lager yeast

[steve_flack]

I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation.

If you use Wyeast 1056 (WLP-001) a lot you should check out US-05 dry yeast. Same yeast apparently.

Yea, don’t understand why they have it, my not add a hefe of a proper lager yeast

Huh?

[dartgod]

I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation.

If you use Wyeast 1056 (WLP-001) a lot you should check out US-05 dry yeast. Same yeast apparently.

I rarely use it......I usually use White Labs English Ale or Irish Ale, as I am more likely to brew British type beers.......and the occasional German or Belgian beer, and I usually use specific strains of those yeast.......I'm also sort of into making the starter thing and dry yeast don't need to be propagated in starters........When you use dry yeast and brew high gravity or lager beers do you just pitch multiple packs????

[oblivious]

Sorry, since the two yeast are very similar (WLP001 and US-05), why don’t they add another white lab yeast to the range

[oblivious]

I think I've only ever used dry yeast once and it was because I had a stuck fermentation.

If you use Wyeast 1056 (WLP-001) a lot you should check out US-05 dry yeast. Same yeast apparently.

I rarely use it......I usually use White Labs English Ale or Irish Ale, as I am more likely to brew British type beers.......and the occasional German or Belgian beer, and I usually use specific strains of those yeast.......I'm also sort of into making the starter thing and dry yeast don't need to be propagated in starters........When you use dry yeast and brew high gravity or lager beers do you just pitch multiple packs????

I make a big starter; let it ferment out, pour of the excess liquid and pitch the yeast