# Best Yeast For A Dry Stout?



## mfdes

Hi there,

Reading around and listening to the Jamil show podcasts it seems like the Irish Ale yeast from Wyeast and White Labs may not be the best choice for fermenting an Irish dry stout, as it throws off some diacetyl if you're not careful, and does not attenuate enough. I've seen a few things recommended from good old Cal Ale WLP001 to Edinburgh Ale to Dry English to London Ale.

I am keen to do a couple of dry stouts and was wondering whether it's worth splurging out on an Irish Ale or other yeast specifically for this or whether I'm better off using one of the two appropriate ones I already have: Cal Ale, or Burton Ale, both of which are good attenuators.

As an aside, what is your favourite yeast for:

a. a dry Irish stout, and 
b. an Irish red ale.

Thanks!

MFS.


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## bconnery

I read somewhere suggesting a good english ale yeast can work well in a dry stout. 
Following this I used Burton ale in mine to give some nice background to the roast flavours and it came out very well. 
That would be my recommendation of the two you have listed their. 

As for general yeast choice...
People use all sorts here. Nottingham, US56 or s04 in the dry, Irish Ale in the liquid is still a very popular choice but I will be using English ale yeasts in all mine...

For an Irish ale Irish Ale is the most obvious choice but again people use different ones. English ale yeasts, Us56 etc. I'd go Irish or else probably Nottingham or s04 myself.


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## domonsura

Danstar Nottingham


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## warrenlw63

domonsura said:


> Danstar Nottingham



+1 what the beer bellied one said. B) 

Warren -


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## niceshoes

I use White Labs WLP002 English Ale.
This is reported to be a strain from Fullers.


Ian...


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## craig maher

warrenlw63 said:


> +1 what the beer bellied one said. B)
> 
> Warren -



+2 I'm with BB and Warren.

Have one in primary right now with Nottingham :super: 

Craig


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## SJW

+3 what BB, Warren and Craig said


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## warrenlw63

Just make sure you leave a bit of room in your fermenter.

I tossed a Craftbrewer twin pack into 42 litres of stout in a 60 litre fermenter and the thing went beserk!  

"Just" managed to creep a wee bit into the airlock. Love its performance but. Fermented out and dropped bright in 3 days. B) 

Warren -


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## randyrob

what temp should this hugh grant yeast be fermented at?


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## warrenlw63

I did the standard 18 degrees Rob. Supposedly can ferment well below 15 degrees though.

Warren -


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## craig maher

randyrob said:


> what temp should this hugh grant yeast be fermented at?



Brewing mine at 16 atm but still get huge krausen as described by Warren.

Cheers,


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## SJW

I use this stuff at 10 and it still goes nuts


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## Beer Guy

Had brilliant results with SO4 at a certain beer show in Melbourne last time I brewed a stout. Can get lazy towards the end of ferment though that being said I tend to use that yeast at the lower range of the temp scale. I think the hardest part though is balancing the roast flavour so maybe look at some of the wayermann huskless roasts they tend to give nice smooth roasted notes particulary with equal amounts of T2 caramunich.


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## mfdes

My grain bill will be a traditional dry Irish Stout one:

70% Pale
20% Flaked barley
10% Roast


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## drsmurto

mfdes said:


> My grain bill will be a traditional dry Irish Stout one:
> 
> 70% Pale
> 20% Flaked barley
> 10% Roast



I made one with the same grist as this using wyeast 1084. Its on tap now. I had intended on calling this a Guinness clone but its a lot roastier than Guinness. Not that thats a bad thing! Bittered with a combo of NB and EKG. Tasty drop.


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## PostModern

You _could_ go neutral or you could go characterful. I made nice FES's with WLP023 Burton a couple years back. The fermentation is a little sulphury (read smells like dog poo) but the beer has a nice subtle ester character, especially if you Burtonise the water.


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## Beer Guy

78%Pale(Galaxy)
14%Carafa Special
8% T2caramunich

SO4 deliberate under pitch for ester development 
ferment 18.9

Beer	
OG 13.5
PG	4.42
ABV%	4.92%
IBU	47.5
EBC	250
ph	4.57

infusion mash 66.9
4:1 ratio


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## mfdes

DrSmurto said:


> I made one with the same grist as this using wyeast 1084. Its on tap now. I had intended on calling this a Guinness clone but its a lot roastier than Guinness. Not that thats a bad thing! Bittered with a combo of NB and EKG. Tasty drop.



I think the source of the Roasted barley is important in how it affects character. What OG did you use? I think if you go above 1.040 you need to leave the roasted barly total quantity the same and just increase the base malt.

MFS.


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## petesbrew

I just put down a simple K&K coopers stout last night with WLP005 British Ale. 
Hoping for the best now.


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## KoNG

Pitching a dry stout tonight for my wedding ...
Danstar Nottingham.....
Finishes dry and lets the roast malts come through, too easy.


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## drsmurto

mfdes said:


> I think the source of the Roasted barley is important in how it affects character. What OG did you use? I think if you go above 1.040 you need to leave the roasted barly total quantity the same and just increase the base malt.
> 
> MFS.



JW roast barley. OG 1.046, 40 IBUs. I like it, its just not the Guinness i thought i was making. It was for a mate living in Dublin who was over for xmas - he enjoyed it so jobs done. I tasted a few cans of the imported stuff last week and its such a subtle roasted taste, almost non existent. Mine smells and tastes like an espresso!


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## warrenlw63

Just to pull this thread a tiny bit OT. (Hard not to in pursuit of a good stout).

I find the standard pale, roast and flaked barley stouts to be a little on the boring side.

I've had good results with my 3 and 4 Shades of stout recipes which go for the standard pale malt and flaked barley but differences being the roast additions.

I liked to blend varying amounts of Roast Barley, Carafa III, Pale Choc and small amounts of Brown or Amber Malt.

You still get a jet black, opaque stout. Difference being the flavour and mouthfeel of the roast. Seems to give a more complex flavour.

Just a case of taking the standard pint a little outside the box.  

Warren -


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## drsmurto

Now your just teasing Warren. :icon_drool2: 

After the so so success of my one and only stout i am keen to brew a few now and put them down for the winter, any chance of a few recipes of these shades of stout?

Cheers
DrSmurto


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## warrenlw63

DrSmurto said:


> Now your just teasing Warren. :icon_drool2:
> 
> After the so so success of my one and only stout i am keen to brew a few now and put them down for the winter, any chance of a few recipes of these shades of stout?
> 
> Cheers
> DrSmurto



No worries Dr. Smurto. They're in the recipe section.

4 Shades
3 Shades

Warren -


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## drsmurto

Am liking the look of 4 shades. I have a porter brewing away now with amarillo in it..... cascade in a stout sounds like a winner to me!

Cheers for that
DrSmurto


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## warrenlw63

Dr. Smurto.

Hops are all 60 minute additions. Any highish AAU hop will do (I usually prefer Target).
Cascade was all I had in the fridge at the time. Won't contribute much to the character.  

Warren -


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## therook

warrenlw63 said:


> No worries Dr. Smurto. They're in the recipe section.
> 
> 4 Shades
> 3 Shades
> 
> Warren -




I can vouch for these 2 recipe's, but in my opinion the 3 Shades shits on the 4 shades, but that just my mere opinion.

My father in law tasted Warrens 3 shades and said it was better than anything he tried over in the British isles

Rook


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## bconnery

I'd second the use of things like carafa special. I used a combo of roast barley, black patent and carafa special I in my first stout and it came out beautifully. 

Mine is in the recipe section as FES. I got third, I mean fourth, in the AABC with this one. Extract and all...  
Working on the AG version now but I will definitely stick with the carafa and the munich to add something different. 
I used flaked barley and flaked oats to add some smoothness too.


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## Keith the Beer Guy

mfdes said:


> I am keen to do a couple of dry stouts and was wondering whether it's worth splurging out on an Irish Ale or other yeast specifically for this or whether I'm better off using one of the two appropriate ones I already have: Cal Ale, or Burton Ale, both of which are good attenuators.


I love the Wyeast London ale. Pitch a healthy amount and it's a beaut little worker. A little bit of tweaking the temperature changes the ester profile from very clean to a decent amount of character (At 18C it is very clean). I brewed a dry irish very recently and had 86% apparent attenuation in less than 4 days. 

Hmmmm, black beer.

Happy brewing,


Keith
ps My congrats to Kong on your forthcoming marriage, and any marriage celebration that includes a stout has got to be winner. All the best for the future.


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## choppadoo

Anyone used the Wyeast 1728 scottish ale in a stout before? I am planning a dry stout and was thinking of pitching onto a cake of the 1728 which is munching on an 80/ now.
Also, what sort of mash temps do people aim for? Do you get your dryness primarily from high attenuation or dark grain additions?
Cheers,
chops


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## warrenlw63

choppadoo said:


> Anyone used the Wyeast 1728 scottish ale in a stout before? I am planning a dry stout and was thinking of pitching onto a cake of the 1728 which is munching on an 80/ now.
> Also, what sort of mash temps do people aim for? Do you get your dryness primarily from high attenuation or dark grain additions?
> Cheers,
> chops



Hey choppadoo. I've not used Wyeast 1728 in a stout before but I'd be inclined to think it would work well as most British Ale yeasts do.

Generally speaking I always mash at 65 degrees as a standard procedure. Just to keep it dry as possible more than anything. Going a couple of degrees higher shouldn't hurt though I'd say.

Enjoy the stout.  

Warren -


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## choppadoo

Thanks Warren, I figured it should be a goer, might even get a bit of this mythical 'smokey' character that the 1728 is supposed to impart, which would be more than welcome  . 
Cheers,
Chops


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## Jazzafish

I get good results with WLP005 (two 3rd places in 2 comps) and also with S04(not entered in comps yet).


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## bugwan

I'm another 3 Shades fan - although the Wyeast Euro Ale (1338 from memory) was a bit disappointing in its performance after day 3 7. Attenuation isn't what it should have been at 18 degrees throughout the fermentation. I've still brewed up a really nice stout though and it's drinking well on these chilly Melbourne nights :icon_drool2:


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## warrenlw63

bugwan said:


> I'm another 3 Shades fan - although the Wyeast Euro Ale (1338 from memory) was a bit disappointing in its performance after day 3 7. Attenuation isn't what it should have been at 18 degrees throughout the fermentation. I've still brewed up a really nice stout though and it's drinking well on these chilly Melbourne nights :icon_drool2:



Hey Dave

She's a malty yeast for sure. B) 

When I initially used it I split the batch (42 litres) between 1338 and US05. Talk about contrasting performances... The US05 was the preferred stout early in the equation, given a bit of ageing time I'm inclined to think the Euro Ale was by far the better choice though. Gave the malt more complexity and "polish" than plain boring old US05.

Glad you're liking the recipe. My current entity is done with S-189 at lager temps and it's bloody tasty. :icon_chickcheers: 

Warren -


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## THE DRUNK ARAB

bugwan said:


> I'm another 3 Shades fan - although the Wyeast Euro Ale (1338 from memory) was a bit disappointing in its performance after day 3 7. Attenuation isn't what it should have been at 18 degrees throughout the fermentation. I've still brewed up a really nice stout though and it's drinking well on these chilly Melbourne nights :icon_drool2:



bugwan, the Euro Ale yeast is a slow worker mate. I give the beers I brew with it 3 weeks in primary at fermentation temps.
A stout with that yeast does sound interesting though........

C&B
TDA


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## white.grant

Sometimes the search feature works. :icon_cheers: 

Exactly the answer I was after. Thanks DA (got a biere de garde that has only dropped 32 points in 2 weeks - Euro Ale is bloddy slow)

cheers

grant


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## Let's Brew Beer

I find s04 is great for stouts and porters


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## kaiserben

What's with the multiple thread necros about S-04? 

EDIT: 
2 others this afternoon: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/46829-yeast-for-stout/#entry1391175 and http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/54009-safale-s-04/page-2#entry1391157.


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