Danstar Diamond Lager Yeast in 11g Sachets

[RobB]

This yeast has been around for a long time, but only in 500g packages. It appears to have been released to the US market in 11g sachets earlier this year.

Has anyone used it before and has anyone seen the 11g sachets on Australian shelves yet?

On a side note, there seems to have been a boom in dried yeast in the last five years. I'm wondering if this has been driven by new technology or if it is purely a response to a growing market.

 

[Jack of all biers]

Haven't used it yet, but downloaded this a few weeks ago and am also interested in trying some.
View attachment lallemand-tds-diamond-022817-1.pdf

 

[Yob]

Can't get it here yet in sachets, I tried to stock it a little while back when HDA was still going but no dice.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Got a free pack of this. Anyone used it?
Sounds like it might be good so if there is good feedback Ill build some up and give it a go.

 

[peter.b]

Couldn't find a newer/more appropriate thread, so this will do.
I've decided to a brew some Helles batches and decided on Lallemand Diamond, as I have never used it. My first brew was ~40L and I decided to do a 2 stage 1.040 stir plate starter of for a final cell count ~1.75M cells/L/deg plato. I used 2 x 11g packs of yeast to start with.

The starters seemed to get away ok and build suitably. When pitched into my beer I had a 22 hour lag phase, ok but not busting through the gates. The yeast seemed to shut up shop around 1.020 after ~8days. I roused the yeast and lifted the ferm temp from 10 - 18 degrees for a diacetyl rest. The beer finished ok and is currently lagering. It smells and tastes ok, just young and needing time. Brew day to lagering approx 3 weeks.
I brewed the same beer again on the weekend although a 65l batch and pitched the yeast from the previous brew, ~1L of settled/compacted yeast, which had 5 days in the fridge between brews. 48hrs after pitching there are no signs of activity. The first brew I oxygenated with pure O2 for about 40 secs, second brew had some splashing and 60secs of O2 as it is a larger beer. I pitched after O2 on both occasions with wort at 10deg C.

Has anyone got any experience with Diamond??

 

[razz]

I’ve always had good consistent results with this yeast Peter. I always use dry yeast, once only, so no experience with using it as a second gen. Generally speaking about slurries, more than likely your 1lt of compact yeast would be well short of the required amount for your 65 lt batch. It would have trub in it also. A warmer pitch may have helped it, say 12-14 degrees for the 1st 48 hours and then reduce to 10 over 48 hours. Looking at your first use of the yeast is where my experiences differ from yours. I always use diamond lager yeast at a minimum of 1 gram per litre. Most of my beers have been under 1.050 SG. I usually pitch dry and ferment at 12 degrees and the beer hits terminal gravity at about 4-5 days, usually 78-80% ADF.

 

[peter.b]

I’ve always had good consistent results with this yeast Peter. I always use dry yeast, once only, so no experience with using it as a second gen. Generally speaking about slurries, more than likely your 1lt of compact yeast would be well short of the required amount for your 65 lt batch. It would have trub in it also. A warmer pitch may have helped it, say 12-14 degrees for the 1st 48 hours and then reduce to 10 over 48 hours. Looking at your first use of the yeast is where my experiences differ from yours. I always use diamond lager yeast at a minimum of 1 gram per litre. Most of my beers have been under 1.050 SG. I usually pitch dry and ferment at 12 degrees and the beer hits terminal gravity at about 4-5 days, usually 78-80% ADF.

Pitch dry, you don't rehydrate??
One thing that comes to mind, I could not see a Mfg or best before date on the dry packs which I thought was a bit unusual. The dry yeast was a lot darker than i expected, probably 2-3 times as dark as US-05, and this darkness came through in the cultivated yeast from the batch. What's your experience of the colour compared to most other yeasts?? I bought three packs of yeast about 1 week before and used 2 to make the starter. Maybe an old batch of dried yeast??

Any other thoughts??

 

[razz]

I have rehydrated before but lately I haven’t bothered. I get the same result in terms of days to ferment out. Mfg is usually 12 months before the date on the package. The darker yeast is from the malt substrate (?) they have been using for sometime now. Check the date on the packet you still have.
Other thoughts.
Use the pitch rate guide on the packaging. That particular yeast is 1-2 grams per lt of wort. Stronger beers or cold pitch is 2g per lt. Brewfather has a good yeast pitch calc in its tools. I use it and it generally confirms with the 1-2 g per lt. Lallemand also have a calc on their website.
If you pitch the right amount of this yeast for the wort gravity you won’t need a D-rest.
Don’t skimp on yeast! It’s the most important of ingredients and brewers should treat it that way.
happy brewing.

 

[peter.b]

Went via the brew shop on the way home to get some more yeast. I get home and low and behold it's blow off tube is going pretty hard. Not a fan of these slow starts.

I checked the exp date on the original packs and the ones I bought today from a different brew shop, same batch and date as each other, exp Jan 2023. At least the brew is on it's way.
Cheers @razz