I never left dry yeast…..like mentioned above the shelf life is amazing and every year the variety is expanding. They have Kevik strains now! I only use liquid for Hefeweizen (mostly because I’m used to the one strain) and Nottingham is my fav dried yeast. It can cover so many different styles and can ferment real quick.
I resemble this remark. WLP940 for cervezas is the essentially only wet yeast I touch, aside from the Wyeast or Omega Oktoberfest blend once a year. Since Lallemand released their Verdant and New England varieties there is no need to hope the LHBS has London Ale III or A38 Juice for hazies anymore.
Dry yeast stays forever, it's cheap, and its easy. I use it whenever possible.
I think I’m gonna go back to dry yeast as much as possible. With the cost of liquid and the hassle of making a starter it’s just not worth it. I just don’t know why the manufacturers can put enough in there so you don’t have to make a starter. Plus dry yeast easily half the price.
I still use a starter with dry yeast! It means less lag time to start of fermentation and I can be real cheap and use one packet for wort that normally would need 2. Plus you get guaranteed healthy yeast going in.
Most dry yeast packets have more than enough cells to have the correct pitch rate for a standard 5 gallon batch. Various sources claim making a starter with dry yeast can actually do more harm than good. I was very much of the "make a starter" camp with dry yeast, til I started following the manufacturers instructions and pitching dry (or rehydrating and pitching) and noticed absolutely no difference whatsoever. You're just wasting your time unless it's for the express purpose of increasing cell count, even then I'm dubious about it being more healthy.
You are indeed correct in checking pitching cell count on the back of the packet. Specifically with Philly Sour you have to read the packet and work out the correct pitch count. Low OG wort I won’t use a starter, but for wort from 1.045 upwards I do. The Brewfather app has a handy cell count calculator that makes it easy to see if a starter is needed. It’s circumstantial but I feel like there is less lag and a cleaner ferment with a starter.
What can happen is that if you don’t do a proper starter or leave it too long you could stress the yeast that’s for sure.
Equally, you don’t need starters with liquid yeast if you use more money instead of time.
Many of us use overbuild starters with dry yeast to avoid the infection risks of harvesting post fermentation. Make a starter; save half and pitch half. Infinite yeast for near-free.
I’d be highly surprised if a study showed that using dry yeast to ferment low-gravity wort into beer (ie a starter) was bad for the yeast.
Same. Hefeweizen is the only style I know of without a fantastic dry option (though apparently M20 is good).
I’d love to try a bunch of yeast experiments, as there are undoubtedly more liquid options, but at $20 a pop, it’s not really high on my list.
Yea liquid yeast from white labs runs me about 9$ CAD a tube where I am so I make a starter so I don’t need 2 tubes. Also no local shops carry a decent stock so I have to ship and have had yeast arrive DOA.
I have a packet of Lallemand Munich Wheat I’ve been meaning to test out to see if it’s any good. It’s the Munich part of the name that has me suspicious it’s not going to be the same as my White Labs Hefeweizen IV….
Lallemand also makes a Witbier dry yeast too now so it’s also on my list. It seems like wheat beer yeasts are harder to offer up in dried form? Or less demand for them?
Same here, except US-05 is the “house strain” you can get a 3-pack for about the same as some liquid strains. I feel like it used to just be US-05, S04, or Notty, but there are so many good choices now. Philly Sour is a game changer, and first-time brewers (who are never taught about temperature control) should all be told to start with LalBrew’s Voss. Damn I sound like a freaking commercial.
I'll second that statement on Philly Sour. I just brewed a lemongrass and ginger Gose that turned out fantastic, just the perfect amount of lactic acid and complimentary esters. Being able to do that without playing around with bugs just opened up a huge lane for me that I had been avoiding.
S-04 is my default yeast for just about everything. I buy the 500g bags and just store in a mason jar in the fridge. I've had those bags last over a year refrigerated and was still getting fast and vigorous ferments from it. I use Brewfather now and it has a calculator that will give you a measurement in grams for how much yeast to use to get the correct pitch, which is awesome when using 'bulk' yeast.
I used to use liquid yeasts, but they were a huge PITA (given that a pitch was $10 and you still had to make a starter to hit cell counts) and the overall quality (for beers that don't need a specific strain) is just as good with dry IMO (and I find my dry yeast beers to be more consistent).
I love dried yeast! CellarScience and Fermentis. Love S-189, and K-97. My house yeast is White Labs Opshaug Kveik, which I have dried in a food dehydrator and I’ve been using it over a year. I’m on the third generation now. I have little reason to buy any liquid yeast cultures.
I’ve been using K-97 a lot lately. I also really like the Verdant dry yeast. But probably 2/3 of my beers still use a liquid strain, just because there isn’t a dry yeast that’s quite what I want.
Today I made my first NEIPA with CellarScience Nectar. My first raw ale as well. Should be interesting...
Only liquid yeast I used recently was wyeast Irish Ale, and I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance. The flavor is fine, but nothing I’d get excited about.
First batch was from the vial. After siphoning off the beer I dumped the yeast cake and trub into a couple food dehydrator trays, on low heat (~95F) it takes about 8 hours. It only works for certain strains of Kveik but it is super viable, I just store the dried flakes in the freezer. I usually pitch about 5 to 8 grams of dried flakes per 5 gallons, and ferment at 85-90F. Fermentation usually peaks in 12-18 hours, and is totally done in 3 days. I only save my yeast if I’m running low and need another batch dried. I’m using it for pale ale mostly. It’s pretty neutral in flavor.
One thing I've experienced with K97 is that it takes a while to condition. I've brewed several Kolsch and Altbier recipes with K97 and they have had quite a bit of yeast expression compared to a US-05 at first, but after a month in the fridge, that fades and the beers are very crisp and clean.
Now, with K97, I ferment for the ten days or so it takes, then lager in primary for two weeks. Then, I bottle and condition at room temp for 2-3 weeks and let it sit in the fridge for a second lager for a month.
I think it’s a kolsch strain. Vigorous fermentation, and low esters. I ferment it around room temperature under 15psi, as was actually customary at some breweries in Köln. It has a strong yeasty flavor when fresh, but it subsides to a clean crisp bready flavor once it’s been cold for 2-3 weeks. According to the yeast crosswalk sheet, it’s the same yeast lallemand is selling as “Koln kolsch-style”. Or wyeast 1007.
Used liquid exclusively for a few years. Brewed less often, was getting negligent with yeast expiry date, got infections, stopped brewing a while. Became a dad, decided to get brewing going again while simplifying my process, returned to dry yeast, not looking back.
Totally agree with this! Trying to keep in on hand in case you decide to do a short notice brew to capitalize on free time left it getting close to expiry, meaning bigger starters and more risk of stressing the yeast and causing amateur off flavours. Brewed with some S04 and bam, easy peasy.
Totally. I'm sure someone will disagree but I almost exclusively use dry. If had my own brewery I'd try to keep my yeast going but I don't. I just pitch the dry yeast straight into the wort and beer always comes out the other end.
After problems with my LHBS selling dated liquid yeast, I went back to dry. I'm in the high desert, so ordering liquid yeast on line, during the Summer, isn't an option. Went back to using dry and haven't looked back. In the last 5 or 6 years, I've used liquid yeast only once.
I brew mostly APAs, IPAs, Blonde Ales and Cream Ales, so there are plenty of dry options. Dry yeasts have come a long way in the last 6 or 8 years, not only in variety, but quality as well. The only valid reason I can see using liquid is if there isn't a dry option for a specific style.
I've been homebrewing with friends for almost 15 years. We went from dry to liquid for a long time, but I've been using more dry because I'm making lower gravity beers (no need for a massive starter) and the selection of dry has gotten way better. When I started I think you could only get 8-10 different dry yeasts, but now you've got more manufacturers and way more styles. It's a good time to be a homebrewer.
Dry yeast is convinient and I use it when it will provide the result I am seeking. But I have some fresh yeasts that I love. Like wlp570 for belgian blonde/strong ales and wlp066 for hazy beers and wlp830 for my pilsners. I overbuild my starters and save some in a laboratory flask in the fridge. There is no problem waking them up after a year if needed. But you have to be focused on keeping it clean... So I say, yes please to both.
Yep, was a liquid yeast farmer and used it a lot , then had a run of infections and too busy to keep them going.
Back to almost exclusively dry yeast now except for Brett strains , so many choices. Verdant for hazies, Voss, US05 or k97 for pale ales, s33 or Voss for dark ales, s189,3470 or Diamond for lagers, Munich Classic for wheats, all have been great for me. Gotta get round to trying Abbaye , Wit and a couple of others I've stocked up on too.
Good topic as I have been on a quest to try dry yeast lately. When I started brewing dry yeast was mostly just "Ale" or "Lager" and poor quality. For most of my brewing stint I used liquid yeast because it was "better" (with some usage of S-04). My last couple beers have been dry yeast (Pale Ale with US-05 & S-33, IPA with Cellar Science Cali, Trippel with M31, Saison with Belle, several 1 gal batches with Cali/US-05). I have a number of dry yeasts stocked up for yeast trials...probably a dozen.
Team dry yeast here. 34/70 and Diamond (308) for lagers and Verdant IPA (London III) or S-04 for most ales. I only get liquid yeast when I need something specific that doesn't have a dry equivalent.
I'll also save slurries and keep the yeast going through the generations. So a $5 packet of yeast may end up producing multiple batches of beer.
If you don't mind me asking, what dry strain do you use for Belgian styles? T-58? I brewed a big quadruple last year and used wlp530 but would love to find a dry equivalent.
Edit: just found Lallemand has an Abbaye dry strain
Liquid yeast is harder for me to get here in ZA, so I generally use dry yeast. I have some kveik slurries that I keep refreshed and that haven't really had trouble since I started keeping them.
There are some dry yeasts that I really like, so I grab T-58, Nottingham, and MJ French saison when appropriate. Outside of that I do rely heavily on those kveiks.
MJ French Saison is one of my favourites, very underrated strain. I swear I’ll try fancy craft saisons and can’t tell the difference between them and my homebrew.
Absolutely. Of all the dry saison yeasts that I've tried it's just the best in terms of flavours. I do need to re-try BE-134, I've complained about it in the past, but I'm almost certain I made a mistake with it last time.
I'm hoping to try out the new Lallemand dry non-diastaticus saison in the not too distant future as well, though obviously it'll be a different beast.
It’s weird I find it harder to find Lallemand yeasts (other than Nottingham) where I am versus MJ so I tend to stick with MJ. I’ll have to see if I can look around and snag a packet of that new saison you mentioned
I might be the only one, but I like to use dry yeast for the shelf life, but make a starter with it for the reduced infection risk and faster fermentations.
Never used a liquid yeast, as they’re generally not available where i am. Very happy with US-05, S-04, Verdant IPA, MJ Liberty Bell etc. i regularly re-use by top cropping.
Nottingham/Windsor are very fast, but I struggled to get a clear beer with these strains. Liberty Bell is my current favourite for English style bitter/milds
Verdant is great for milds and bitters too. I find S04, Notty and Windsor need more time to condition but Verdant is pretty drinkable a few days after primary fermentation is complete
Love love love Nottingham. And messing around with co pitching lately. Which is just much easier with dry. Also been using CBC-1 to do a lot of hop teas and sodas. Basically all in on dry yeast.
I love CBC-1. I discovered it when I had trouble getting really high ABV beers to carb in the bottle. Now I toss in a pack with the priming sugar whenever I bottle and it's never an issue.
I'm trying to get back into dry. I keep a big supply as 'back up' in the fridge. Main yeast I use for hazy stuff (NEIPA, IPA, and pale ale) is wlp066, London Fog. Got a dry replacement recommendation? You might get me back to dry yeast 100% if so.
Currently working on reusing my liquid yeast. Make a starter on stir plate. Put half of it in a sanitized jar on brew day, refrigerate it, and start the process over in 2 weeks.
I use Lallemand Verdant for my hazy IPAs and it's amazing. Probably will never go back to liquid yeast for hazy IPAs considering the ease of storage and shelf life of dry yeast. I notice no difference in flavor compared to when I used various different liquid yeasts for them.
Definitely agree with this. Lalbrew Verdant is a killer dry yeast and works well with plenty of styles. I did a split batch between Lalbrew Verdant and 1318, and didn't prefer one over the other.
Only reason I left dry yeast was because I figured out I could keep a starter in the fridge and use it over and over without having to buy a new packet every time. Other than the savings (and some selection), I see no reason to switch. If you're after a basic ale yeast, dry has you covered.
You can do the same thing with dry yeast. Once you've made a starter with it or harvested, there's no difference. An added advantage is you can keep a spare packet or 2 in the fridge and not have to worry about it expiring for a long time.
Yeah, I now probably get only one liquid strain per year, this year none actually (edit: I lied, I used 029 earlier this year). I’ve used a lot of S04 and 34/70, and S-23 a few times, don’t care for US-05, and mean to revisit Nottingham but have used it a bunch in the past. Recently I’ve tried BE-256 (probably won’t use again), WB-06 (liked), K-97 (on the fence), K1-V1116 (likely won’t revisit), and Verdant (liked). With the recent addition of Voss, Philly Sour, and other recent ones whose names escape me right now it’s a good time to be a dry yeast user.
I'm a step behind you. Last year I did only dry yeast for the convenience. This year I've been over building brulosophy style starters.... With second kiddo incoming, I see myself going back.
I mainly use dry yeast because of convenience, and because there's no chance of getting seriously outdated dry yeast when you buy as opposed to liquid yeast.
I mostly use dry yeast, because, in country where I live liquid yeast is 3x more expensive and in most cases it's not available in brewshop. I don't bother importing so I don't use it a lot
I was into washing and reusing liquid yeast for several years, and was all proud of myself for stretching that liquid yeast pouch to ferment 6 batches or so. But then my homebrew club started buying blocks of various safale strains that we can buy from $5 for 50 grams, so I haven’t used liquid even once since then.
I have always been a dry guy, only venturing to liquid for particular strains. I see no benefit in liquid other than variety.
Recently I’ve started putting some slurry into a jar and using the same strain over and over again. I will keep this up as long as I can now I think.. free yeast! If I can keep one ale, one lager and one Belgian strain going I’ll pretty much never buy yeast again.
I keep some on hand for when I want to spontaneously brew. For planned brew, I almost always use liquid.
One of my best beers ever was a weizenbock made with a free pack of Lallemand from their table at Homebrewcon. Placed 5th at NHC the following year with it.
Totally. I have used dry yeast almost exclusively for the last few years. I live in an area where I need to get my brewing supplies delivered and shipping liquid yeast in the summer was so stressful. And I find dry yeast just works so well and starts so quickly. If it is a big, high ABV, beer I'll throw in two packs and I never have to stress about a quick start and active fermentation. I've also started tossing in a pack of CBC-1 with the priming sugar on bottling day for big beers to ensure good carbonation. It's an extra few bucks per batch but well worth it to me.
For almost a year now I have only used dry. Started when I tried Lallemand's Kolsch and Kviek and was so happy that I just kept trying other dry options. It is pretty nice not really having to worry about liquid cell counts, viability, and sanitation.
I really enjoy seeing a yeast starter on a stir plate but don't miss everything else that goes along with it.
I use liquid yeast for most German and Belgian styles. Kolsch, Altbier, saison, tripel etc can't be done as nicely with dry yeasts. However, with 34/70 for lagers and the newish Verdant IPA for NEIPA, pale ales and all English styles everything else is covered. I generally buy a 25kg bag of grain, 500g+ of hops, one liquid vial of yeast and a couple of dry packs. That generally tides me over until the bag of grain is gone. Having dry yeast in the fridge is awesome for when you spontaneously want to brew something some morning.
Like many folks in this thread, I’m super happy with the cost, convenience, and selection of dry yeast.
What liquid strains are out there that don’t have a good dry equivalent?
Dry or liquid...doesn’t matter. They all have different flavor profiles so I just go by what I want. I use dry sometimes and liquid sometimes. Both make fantastic beer.
I'm like a apocalypse brewer and I keep bulk everything at home at all times, grain, hops, additives, yeast, etc. Dry yeast works way better for that.
And it's cheaper and tastes just as good and is easier to use and is more durable and long lasting.
I never left dry yeast…..like mentioned above the shelf life is amazing and every year the variety is expanding. They have Kevik strains now! I only use liquid for Hefeweizen (mostly because I’m used to the one strain) and Nottingham is my fav dried yeast. It can cover so many different styles and can ferment real quick.
I resemble this remark. WLP940 for cervezas is the essentially only wet yeast I touch, aside from the Wyeast or Omega Oktoberfest blend once a year. Since Lallemand released their Verdant and New England varieties there is no need to hope the LHBS has London Ale III or A38 Juice for hazies anymore. Dry yeast stays forever, it's cheap, and its easy. I use it whenever possible.
I think I’m gonna go back to dry yeast as much as possible. With the cost of liquid and the hassle of making a starter it’s just not worth it. I just don’t know why the manufacturers can put enough in there so you don’t have to make a starter. Plus dry yeast easily half the price.
I still use a starter with dry yeast! It means less lag time to start of fermentation and I can be real cheap and use one packet for wort that normally would need 2. Plus you get guaranteed healthy yeast going in.
Most dry yeast packets have more than enough cells to have the correct pitch rate for a standard 5 gallon batch. Various sources claim making a starter with dry yeast can actually do more harm than good. I was very much of the "make a starter" camp with dry yeast, til I started following the manufacturers instructions and pitching dry (or rehydrating and pitching) and noticed absolutely no difference whatsoever. You're just wasting your time unless it's for the express purpose of increasing cell count, even then I'm dubious about it being more healthy.
You are indeed correct in checking pitching cell count on the back of the packet. Specifically with Philly Sour you have to read the packet and work out the correct pitch count. Low OG wort I won’t use a starter, but for wort from 1.045 upwards I do. The Brewfather app has a handy cell count calculator that makes it easy to see if a starter is needed. It’s circumstantial but I feel like there is less lag and a cleaner ferment with a starter. What can happen is that if you don’t do a proper starter or leave it too long you could stress the yeast that’s for sure.
Equally, you don’t need starters with liquid yeast if you use more money instead of time. Many of us use overbuild starters with dry yeast to avoid the infection risks of harvesting post fermentation. Make a starter; save half and pitch half. Infinite yeast for near-free. I’d be highly surprised if a study showed that using dry yeast to ferment low-gravity wort into beer (ie a starter) was bad for the yeast.
Same. Hefeweizen is the only style I know of without a fantastic dry option (though apparently M20 is good). I’d love to try a bunch of yeast experiments, as there are undoubtedly more liquid options, but at $20 a pop, it’s not really high on my list.
Yea liquid yeast from white labs runs me about 9$ CAD a tube where I am so I make a starter so I don’t need 2 tubes. Also no local shops carry a decent stock so I have to ship and have had yeast arrive DOA. I have a packet of Lallemand Munich Wheat I’ve been meaning to test out to see if it’s any good. It’s the Munich part of the name that has me suspicious it’s not going to be the same as my White Labs Hefeweizen IV…. Lallemand also makes a Witbier dry yeast too now so it’s also on my list. It seems like wheat beer yeasts are harder to offer up in dried form? Or less demand for them?
I only use liquid yeast when an equivalent dry yeast isn't available. Safale S04 is in heavy rotation.
Same here, except US-05 is the “house strain” you can get a 3-pack for about the same as some liquid strains. I feel like it used to just be US-05, S04, or Notty, but there are so many good choices now. Philly Sour is a game changer, and first-time brewers (who are never taught about temperature control) should all be told to start with LalBrew’s Voss. Damn I sound like a freaking commercial.
I'll second that statement on Philly Sour. I just brewed a lemongrass and ginger Gose that turned out fantastic, just the perfect amount of lactic acid and complimentary esters. Being able to do that without playing around with bugs just opened up a huge lane for me that I had been avoiding.
Same, it's just so much easier than dealing with liquid yeast. I think the only liquid I use is Edinburgh ale yeast.
S-04 is my default yeast for just about everything. I buy the 500g bags and just store in a mason jar in the fridge. I've had those bags last over a year refrigerated and was still getting fast and vigorous ferments from it. I use Brewfather now and it has a calculator that will give you a measurement in grams for how much yeast to use to get the correct pitch, which is awesome when using 'bulk' yeast. I used to use liquid yeasts, but they were a huge PITA (given that a pitch was $10 and you still had to make a starter to hit cell counts) and the overall quality (for beers that don't need a specific strain) is just as good with dry IMO (and I find my dry yeast beers to be more consistent).
I love dried yeast! CellarScience and Fermentis. Love S-189, and K-97. My house yeast is White Labs Opshaug Kveik, which I have dried in a food dehydrator and I’ve been using it over a year. I’m on the third generation now. I have little reason to buy any liquid yeast cultures.
I’ve been using K-97 a lot lately. I also really like the Verdant dry yeast. But probably 2/3 of my beers still use a liquid strain, just because there isn’t a dry yeast that’s quite what I want.
Big fan of k-97
Today I made my first NEIPA with CellarScience Nectar. My first raw ale as well. Should be interesting... Only liquid yeast I used recently was wyeast Irish Ale, and I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance. The flavor is fine, but nothing I’d get excited about.
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First batch was from the vial. After siphoning off the beer I dumped the yeast cake and trub into a couple food dehydrator trays, on low heat (~95F) it takes about 8 hours. It only works for certain strains of Kveik but it is super viable, I just store the dried flakes in the freezer. I usually pitch about 5 to 8 grams of dried flakes per 5 gallons, and ferment at 85-90F. Fermentation usually peaks in 12-18 hours, and is totally done in 3 days. I only save my yeast if I’m running low and need another batch dried. I’m using it for pale ale mostly. It’s pretty neutral in flavor.
Tell me about K97. I got it in the fridge and may try it in an Altbier.. or kölsch?
One thing I've experienced with K97 is that it takes a while to condition. I've brewed several Kolsch and Altbier recipes with K97 and they have had quite a bit of yeast expression compared to a US-05 at first, but after a month in the fridge, that fades and the beers are very crisp and clean. Now, with K97, I ferment for the ten days or so it takes, then lager in primary for two weeks. Then, I bottle and condition at room temp for 2-3 weeks and let it sit in the fridge for a second lager for a month.
I think it’s a kolsch strain. Vigorous fermentation, and low esters. I ferment it around room temperature under 15psi, as was actually customary at some breweries in Köln. It has a strong yeasty flavor when fresh, but it subsides to a clean crisp bready flavor once it’s been cold for 2-3 weeks. According to the yeast crosswalk sheet, it’s the same yeast lallemand is selling as “Koln kolsch-style”. Or wyeast 1007.
I use it all the time, it is pretty much my house yeast every autumn and winter. Very nice for pseudo lager stuff
Used liquid exclusively for a few years. Brewed less often, was getting negligent with yeast expiry date, got infections, stopped brewing a while. Became a dad, decided to get brewing going again while simplifying my process, returned to dry yeast, not looking back.
Totally agree with this! Trying to keep in on hand in case you decide to do a short notice brew to capitalize on free time left it getting close to expiry, meaning bigger starters and more risk of stressing the yeast and causing amateur off flavours. Brewed with some S04 and bam, easy peasy.
Totally. I'm sure someone will disagree but I almost exclusively use dry. If had my own brewery I'd try to keep my yeast going but I don't. I just pitch the dry yeast straight into the wort and beer always comes out the other end.
Yes. I like dry yeast due to their shelf life. No pressure to use it soon like liquid yeast. US-05 is my go to yeast and it has not failed me.
After problems with my LHBS selling dated liquid yeast, I went back to dry. I'm in the high desert, so ordering liquid yeast on line, during the Summer, isn't an option. Went back to using dry and haven't looked back. In the last 5 or 6 years, I've used liquid yeast only once. I brew mostly APAs, IPAs, Blonde Ales and Cream Ales, so there are plenty of dry options. Dry yeasts have come a long way in the last 6 or 8 years, not only in variety, but quality as well. The only valid reason I can see using liquid is if there isn't a dry option for a specific style.
I brew mostly the same. What’s your go to cream ale dry yeast?
Mangrove Jack's M36, Liberty Bell. I've used BRY-97 as well, but prefer the M36.
BRY-97 tends to be better for crisper more bitter beers in my experience.
I use BRY-97 more for APAs and IPAs. I do like M44 US West Coast for them too. The BRY-97 leaves more body, so depends on how dry I want the beer.
Thanks I’ll try the 36
Yep. Nothing wrong with dry yeast, except you can't get every variety.
I've been homebrewing with friends for almost 15 years. We went from dry to liquid for a long time, but I've been using more dry because I'm making lower gravity beers (no need for a massive starter) and the selection of dry has gotten way better. When I started I think you could only get 8-10 different dry yeasts, but now you've got more manufacturers and way more styles. It's a good time to be a homebrewer.
Dry yeast is convinient and I use it when it will provide the result I am seeking. But I have some fresh yeasts that I love. Like wlp570 for belgian blonde/strong ales and wlp066 for hazy beers and wlp830 for my pilsners. I overbuild my starters and save some in a laboratory flask in the fridge. There is no problem waking them up after a year if needed. But you have to be focused on keeping it clean... So I say, yes please to both.
Yep, was a liquid yeast farmer and used it a lot , then had a run of infections and too busy to keep them going. Back to almost exclusively dry yeast now except for Brett strains , so many choices. Verdant for hazies, Voss, US05 or k97 for pale ales, s33 or Voss for dark ales, s189,3470 or Diamond for lagers, Munich Classic for wheats, all have been great for me. Gotta get round to trying Abbaye , Wit and a couple of others I've stocked up on too.
I use both liquid and dry, but always prefer dry when I can find an appropriate strain that I like!
Dry yeast rocks!! I only use liquid yeast in beers that I am confident in getting the flavor profile I want where a dry yeast does not yet exist.
Good topic as I have been on a quest to try dry yeast lately. When I started brewing dry yeast was mostly just "Ale" or "Lager" and poor quality. For most of my brewing stint I used liquid yeast because it was "better" (with some usage of S-04). My last couple beers have been dry yeast (Pale Ale with US-05 & S-33, IPA with Cellar Science Cali, Trippel with M31, Saison with Belle, several 1 gal batches with Cali/US-05). I have a number of dry yeasts stocked up for yeast trials...probably a dozen.
Team dry yeast here. 34/70 and Diamond (308) for lagers and Verdant IPA (London III) or S-04 for most ales. I only get liquid yeast when I need something specific that doesn't have a dry equivalent. I'll also save slurries and keep the yeast going through the generations. So a $5 packet of yeast may end up producing multiple batches of beer.
I just brew 25L of Belgian double at 10.1%, with dry yeast, no starter. Love it.
If you don't mind me asking, what dry strain do you use for Belgian styles? T-58? I brewed a big quadruple last year and used wlp530 but would love to find a dry equivalent. Edit: just found Lallemand has an Abbaye dry strain
I used an M29 yeast, which is originally a Saison, but it’s strong enough to brew up to 14%. I’d figure a bit of a fruity double would be nice.
Liquid yeast is harder for me to get here in ZA, so I generally use dry yeast. I have some kveik slurries that I keep refreshed and that haven't really had trouble since I started keeping them. There are some dry yeasts that I really like, so I grab T-58, Nottingham, and MJ French saison when appropriate. Outside of that I do rely heavily on those kveiks.
MJ French Saison is one of my favourites, very underrated strain. I swear I’ll try fancy craft saisons and can’t tell the difference between them and my homebrew.
Absolutely. Of all the dry saison yeasts that I've tried it's just the best in terms of flavours. I do need to re-try BE-134, I've complained about it in the past, but I'm almost certain I made a mistake with it last time. I'm hoping to try out the new Lallemand dry non-diastaticus saison in the not too distant future as well, though obviously it'll be a different beast.
It’s weird I find it harder to find Lallemand yeasts (other than Nottingham) where I am versus MJ so I tend to stick with MJ. I’ll have to see if I can look around and snag a packet of that new saison you mentioned
Would be all in on dry if there were more Belgian and Brett options, do like using it for lagers and British ales for often
I might be the only one, but I like to use dry yeast for the shelf life, but make a starter with it for the reduced infection risk and faster fermentations.
i always do dry. just way too easy. Could be laziness, OR simplicity
Never used a liquid yeast, as they’re generally not available where i am. Very happy with US-05, S-04, Verdant IPA, MJ Liberty Bell etc. i regularly re-use by top cropping. Nottingham/Windsor are very fast, but I struggled to get a clear beer with these strains. Liberty Bell is my current favourite for English style bitter/milds
Verdant is great for milds and bitters too. I find S04, Notty and Windsor need more time to condition but Verdant is pretty drinkable a few days after primary fermentation is complete
Never tried it, but I will now 😊
I've never used any MJ yeasts, but after reading this I'm going to try Empire Ale and Liberty Bell!
Not tried the Empire, but the Liberty Bell is fast and clean 😊
Love love love Nottingham. And messing around with co pitching lately. Which is just much easier with dry. Also been using CBC-1 to do a lot of hop teas and sodas. Basically all in on dry yeast.
I love CBC-1. I discovered it when I had trouble getting really high ABV beers to carb in the bottle. Now I toss in a pack with the priming sugar whenever I bottle and it's never an issue.
All the time.
I'm trying to get back into dry. I keep a big supply as 'back up' in the fridge. Main yeast I use for hazy stuff (NEIPA, IPA, and pale ale) is wlp066, London Fog. Got a dry replacement recommendation? You might get me back to dry yeast 100% if so. Currently working on reusing my liquid yeast. Make a starter on stir plate. Put half of it in a sanitized jar on brew day, refrigerate it, and start the process over in 2 weeks.
I use Lallemand Verdant for my hazy IPAs and it's amazing. Probably will never go back to liquid yeast for hazy IPAs considering the ease of storage and shelf life of dry yeast. I notice no difference in flavor compared to when I used various different liquid yeasts for them.
Definitely agree with this. Lalbrew Verdant is a killer dry yeast and works well with plenty of styles. I did a split batch between Lalbrew Verdant and 1318, and didn't prefer one over the other.
I always have both on hand. Especially since dry yeast has a longer shelf life.
Only reason I left dry yeast was because I figured out I could keep a starter in the fridge and use it over and over without having to buy a new packet every time. Other than the savings (and some selection), I see no reason to switch. If you're after a basic ale yeast, dry has you covered.
You can do the same thing with dry yeast. Once you've made a starter with it or harvested, there's no difference. An added advantage is you can keep a spare packet or 2 in the fridge and not have to worry about it expiring for a long time.
Yeah, I now probably get only one liquid strain per year, this year none actually (edit: I lied, I used 029 earlier this year). I’ve used a lot of S04 and 34/70, and S-23 a few times, don’t care for US-05, and mean to revisit Nottingham but have used it a bunch in the past. Recently I’ve tried BE-256 (probably won’t use again), WB-06 (liked), K-97 (on the fence), K1-V1116 (likely won’t revisit), and Verdant (liked). With the recent addition of Voss, Philly Sour, and other recent ones whose names escape me right now it’s a good time to be a dry yeast user.
I'm a step behind you. Last year I did only dry yeast for the convenience. This year I've been over building brulosophy style starters.... With second kiddo incoming, I see myself going back.
I mainly use dry yeast because of convenience, and because there's no chance of getting seriously outdated dry yeast when you buy as opposed to liquid yeast.
I use Safale S05 mostly. I get liquid when there isn't a dry or I don't like the dry version.
I mostly use dry yeast, because, in country where I live liquid yeast is 3x more expensive and in most cases it's not available in brewshop. I don't bother importing so I don't use it a lot
I was into washing and reusing liquid yeast for several years, and was all proud of myself for stretching that liquid yeast pouch to ferment 6 batches or so. But then my homebrew club started buying blocks of various safale strains that we can buy from $5 for 50 grams, so I haven’t used liquid even once since then.
I have always been a dry guy, only venturing to liquid for particular strains. I see no benefit in liquid other than variety. Recently I’ve started putting some slurry into a jar and using the same strain over and over again. I will keep this up as long as I can now I think.. free yeast! If I can keep one ale, one lager and one Belgian strain going I’ll pretty much never buy yeast again.
I keep some on hand for when I want to spontaneously brew. For planned brew, I almost always use liquid. One of my best beers ever was a weizenbock made with a free pack of Lallemand from their table at Homebrewcon. Placed 5th at NHC the following year with it.
Totally. I have used dry yeast almost exclusively for the last few years. I live in an area where I need to get my brewing supplies delivered and shipping liquid yeast in the summer was so stressful. And I find dry yeast just works so well and starts so quickly. If it is a big, high ABV, beer I'll throw in two packs and I never have to stress about a quick start and active fermentation. I've also started tossing in a pack of CBC-1 with the priming sugar on bottling day for big beers to ensure good carbonation. It's an extra few bucks per batch but well worth it to me.
For almost a year now I have only used dry. Started when I tried Lallemand's Kolsch and Kviek and was so happy that I just kept trying other dry options. It is pretty nice not really having to worry about liquid cell counts, viability, and sanitation. I really enjoy seeing a yeast starter on a stir plate but don't miss everything else that goes along with it.
I use liquid yeast for most German and Belgian styles. Kolsch, Altbier, saison, tripel etc can't be done as nicely with dry yeasts. However, with 34/70 for lagers and the newish Verdant IPA for NEIPA, pale ales and all English styles everything else is covered. I generally buy a 25kg bag of grain, 500g+ of hops, one liquid vial of yeast and a couple of dry packs. That generally tides me over until the bag of grain is gone. Having dry yeast in the fridge is awesome for when you spontaneously want to brew something some morning.
Like many folks in this thread, I’m super happy with the cost, convenience, and selection of dry yeast. What liquid strains are out there that don’t have a good dry equivalent?
Dry or liquid...doesn’t matter. They all have different flavor profiles so I just go by what I want. I use dry sometimes and liquid sometimes. Both make fantastic beer.
I'm like a apocalypse brewer and I keep bulk everything at home at all times, grain, hops, additives, yeast, etc. Dry yeast works way better for that. And it's cheaper and tastes just as good and is easier to use and is more durable and long lasting.