On a UK forum I posted that Ringwood is a good yeast for Yorkshire Bitters because it's originally a Yorkie yeast from the old Hull Brewery in East Yorkshire. I got flamed by people who (apart from being suspicious of foreigners like Poms tend to be) stated that these dastardly foreign knock offs from Wyeast and WLabs are not really the genuine article.
I don't know what they base that on, but I didn't reply because really I have no idea whether this is true or not. It got me thinking that we trust - at least I trust implicitly - that if we order a West Yorkshire Bitter or a Whitbread, we are actually getting a genuine strain. Are they really authentic strains that they have obtained from breweries or other labs, or are they strains that Wyeast et al have developed themselves to closely mirror the originals?
Who actually 'owns' yeast? I'm also thinking about these new Perth Yeasts. For example if I culture up a 1768 from WYeast can I brew up a bath tub full and sell it as Bribie Extra Special Bitter?
Something I've never read much about.
I don't know what they base that on, but I didn't reply because really I have no idea whether this is true or not. It got me thinking that we trust - at least I trust implicitly - that if we order a West Yorkshire Bitter or a Whitbread, we are actually getting a genuine strain. Are they really authentic strains that they have obtained from breweries or other labs, or are they strains that Wyeast et al have developed themselves to closely mirror the originals?
Who actually 'owns' yeast? I'm also thinking about these new Perth Yeasts. For example if I culture up a 1768 from WYeast can I brew up a bath tub full and sell it as Bribie Extra Special Bitter?
Something I've never read much about.