How Does Yeast Variety Affect My Beer?

[1974Alby]

How much effect on flavour will a different Yeast give my beer?



Ive lately been making a few kits n bits and stovetop BIAB with ok results. They are all very drinkable and Im happy with them, but they are all tasting a bit the same....and they have all used US05. I was wondering what impact a different yeast (maybe a liquid yeast?) would have on the flavour of my beer.



There are so many variables it is hard, if not impossible to isolate the flavour contributions of each of the elements. To date I have been varying hop varieties and schedules, steeping grains with kits and using different grains in BIAB brews. My beers all taste a bit different to each other, but their is also an underlying sameness . Ive been avoiding liquid yeasts as I have had poor success with reculturing coopers bottle yeast (had to ditch 2 batches :blink: ), but am now wondering if taking that plunge will open up a new world of flavour and points of difference to my beer?



What do you guys reckon? Ever made identical batches but fermented with different yeasts? Was there a notable difference in final taste?



Cheers :drinks:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

It's not necessarily the yeast being liquid vs dry (though often it is), it's the variety of yeast.

A German Weizen yeast will produce cloves and banana (though liquid will produce banana more), in a wheat beer, whereas a US-05 won't produce the right flavours.

The answer is variety of yeast is uber important.

Think of it this way - yeast converts wort to beer. It's the most important ingredient, because the whole process hinges on it.

Temp control is the other major issue.

Goomba

 

[VBisGod]

Absolutely a notable difference in taste. A good starting point would be to have a look see at the Wyeast website where they provide flavor characteristics and types of style a particular yeast may suit. I have found us05 to be a little bland and difficult to punch the malt flavor on the palate

 

[Swinging Beef]

Belgian brews are a world apart from using different yeasts.

For many classic American, Australian or English beers, yeast character is less of an issue.

You most definately should try other yeasts to see what you think.

If liquid yeasts are impractical in your area, consider the Danstar dried yeasts.
Perhaps make another batch of your favorite brew up that always tastes a little samey, and compare it with a London style yeast.

 

[ekul]

depends on the yeast. US05 is pretty clean so i won't be able to pick it in a beer, however something like coopers yeast... I'll pick that straight away because the yeast adds so much to a beer.

I use us05 in 80% of my beers, and my beers don't all taste the same. Are you using the same malts to make a beer?

 

[bignath]

A good test would be to brew two "generic aussie lager" type things, ferment one with US05 and the other with a true lager yeast. Lots of brewers (myself included) use US05 to do "fake lagers" as it's quite a neutral yeast in that it doesn't really highlight malt, or strip hop flavour. You'll pretty much just taste "the recipe".

Ive done a 90/5/5 Base malt, Carapils, Sugar bill as a generic aussie lager with US05, S189, and W34/70 and all are different beers. Probably the most authentic to what we typically drink from a flavour point of view would be the s189 version. Came out almost bang on Carlton Draught. The other two variations were different. Not worse, just different.

There are so many more liquid yeast strains available compared to dry, so you could imagine the scope you'll have to play with once you get into them.

 

[going down a hill]

One of my early brews I did a split batch with kit yeast and Windsor yeast. I split the wort into two fermenters and the results turned out to be so different that the kit yeast from that point on was yeast nutrient.

You are right about the massive amount of variables that sometimes get a bit overwhelming. A couple of things I did were source beers that have only one variety of hops in them so you know what that hop tastes like. Try to find beer styles that you like and break down what's in them and then brew using those ingredients to emulate them.

BTW re-culturing Coopers yeast and buying liquid yeast are two different things, your equipment to re-culture might not have been 100% sterile to build yeast in, I don't know how you did it, but it does work well when done correctly. As VBisGOD said look at Wyeast website, lots of good info on what their yeast is good at doing, you will definitely see massive change in flavour and even mouth feel with different yeasts.

 

[petesbrew]

As per last responses, it's worth splitting a batch and trying different yeasts. I hear where you're coming from with infected yeasts. All I can say is keep trying, try a fresh liquid yeast, and follow the instructions exactly when pitching.
I do keep a few dried yeasts in my fridge, just in case...

 

[MarkBastard]

IMO I wouldn't bother with liquid yeasts if you're doing kits and bits.

 

[hsb]

So long as you only change one 'variable' at a time, you'll see the results for yourself.
I think the trick is definitely only to change one thing at a time until you have a handle on the effects.

FWIW, yeast is the magic ingredient, nothing is going to have such a 'big' effect on the end product.

For the sake of $5-6 or whatever the difference between a pack of liquid v dry yeast is in your area, it wouldn't hurt to try if you're interested.
I would think you would definitely notice a difference but maybe getting a bit of grain in there with your BIAB experiences might be a quicker 'return on investment' for you.
Might be easier to just throw a liquid starter pack in first time rather than trying to culture yeast.

Certainly different strains of yeast, be they liquid or dry, are going to effect the end product - see the wyeast website for detailed descriptions on each yeast.

LRG answered your question really, I'm just avoiding work here. Temp control >>> everything else.

 

[Bribie G]

A couple of years ago the BABBs club went to Mt Tamborine brewery and did a brew which got split into cubes and each participant took home a cube and fermented it with a different yeast - then a month later there was a tasting night, and you wouldn't have picked it as the same wort, it was like 15 different beers. A good place to start is to look at Craftbrewers' yeast pages which list all the manufacturers, dry and liquid although not Whitelabs.

Liquid yeasts are dead easy, I don't fanny around with stir plates or anything like that. You smack the pack to burst the yeast nutrient "widget". This wakes up the yeast and the pack swells to rock hard.
open the pack and tip into a sterilised bottle with some food (spare wort, sterile LDME solution etc etc). Shake well to oxygenate and leave it overnight then pitch.
Also liquid yeasts are sub- $10 at the moment anyway, and you can get a few generations out of them - I go up to 4 generations and up to 10 brews out of a smack pack. I would guess that most dry yeast users don't reculture and just open a new pack each time, so cost isn't really an issue with liquid yeast.

 

[Nick JD]

US05 is probably the "cleanest" yeast out there. It eats sugaz and spits out alcohol at 18C ... and nothing else. This suits a hop-driven APA perfectly and it's been selected to do just that - be bland.

I would suggest getting a pack of Wyeast 1214 or 3787 and making a Belgian Blonde Ale.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style18.php

This will graphically show you how important yeast is in beer, and also open a whole world of beer to your tastebuds.

 

[Janelle Kerr]

That's the way to conduct an experiment!

 

[hoppy2B]

I just scored 128 grams of fresh yeast from the supermarket for 65 cents. :lol: