Wyeast Private Collection

[donburke]

i was wondering why wyeast have a seasonal release of some strains and why arent they available all year round ?

they dont charge any more for these particular strains, yet they can be quite popular

take for example the recent re-release of 1469 that craftbrewer sold out quickly

why isnt this particular strain available all year round ?

i'm trying to understand why would a business (wyeast) deliberately hold back supply ?

If they were manipulating price i'd understand, but the limited release strains sell for the same price

can anyone shed some light on this business practice ?

 

[Stuster]

As producers of a perishable product, they need to limit the range of yeasts they produce. Having some seasonal products means they can increase the range of yeasts available and trial out some yeasts which can then become year-round products. I think the biggest thing though is that we are all suckers for a special offer and want to get some of these cool yeasts before they are gone (forever?).

 

[bconnery]

They can change these things too if they are popular enough.
WY3711 went from the PC to year round and I'm sure there's been others...

 

[QldKev]

Could also be because a lot of brewers keep test tubes of yeast, the less popular yeasts would have virtually no turn over if they were available all the time, and noone wants a 6month old smack pack. Something like the 1469 (I call it the hop thief) is a one off yeast for me, I'll brew with it and not reuse it for another 3 months. So my 6 test tubes will last me over a year.

QldKev

 

[Swinging Beef]

Restricting availability of a product increases desirability and the perceived value of the product, even if the product remains at the same selling price.
Consumer response is often to substitute at a greater price or increased quantity to satisfy the spending urge on the unavailable product, only to return at a later date and purchase the desired product in greater volume.

 

[OzBeer_MD]

Im told by Wyeast that the Pacman gets released when Rogue say it can. Apparently Wyeast have no say in it.

MD

 

[elduderino]

You've got to wonder how many yeast strains they have archived... If they have 600 yeast varieties and they are already brewing up 50 or whatever (wine and beer), it's not surprising they don't make more available... I never do but it would be cool to start ranching the rare strains...

 

[DUANNE]

Im told by Wyeast that the Pacman gets released when Rogue say it can. Apparently Wyeast have no say in it.

MD

:icon_offtopic: this i cant understand. ive seen interviews were rougue says wy pacman is not there yeast at all then you see something like this were rougue wants control over the strain. what makes it more confusing for me is from my understanding a yeast strain cant be patented as its a living organism only the name can as in "a famous chico strain" wich is us -05 ,1056 or wlp001.

 

[Sydneybrewer]

I hope the bring the pacman back i have been dying to test it out on a brown ale

 

[donburke]

Restricting availability of a product increases desirability and the perceived value of the product, even if the product remains at the same selling price.
Consumer response is often to substitute at a greater price or increased quantity to satisfy the spending urge on the unavailable product, only to return at a later date and purchase the desired product in greater volume.

this makes the most sense, they have a clever marketing department

 

[donburke]

:icon_offtopic: this i cant understand. ive seen interviews were rougue says wy pacman is not there yeast at all then you see something like this were rougue wants control over the strain. what makes it more confusing for me is from my understanding a yeast strain cant be patented as its a living organism only the name can as in "a famous chico strain" wich is us -05 ,1056 or wlp001.

if it isnt their yeast strain, someone has the name 'pacman' on it, and like you said, they can control it only because of the name thats been put on it.

 

[elduderino]

I sent the following email to Wyeast's labservices...

Can you tell me how many beer brewing yeast strains in total you have available and archived? I think I remember hearing something like 600, but I'm curious after reading someone question why you offer certain popular strains only infrequently through the vss program. I tried to make the point that there are certainly too many strains to make everyone's favorite available all the time...


I got this response...

Close to 300 (at least the last time I looked). Yes, we have our quarterly PC program where we offer three special strain for 3 months, 4 times a year. You are correct. Based on the demand of the home brewers, for us to be able to offer fresh, high quality yeast, we have to be selective about the strains we offer. Sometimes we drop a strain from our standard list due to low demand and sometimes we put new ones on the normal line-up based on high demand. I guess once again, its the supply and demand deal. Have them drop me a line and let me know what they want to see. We would love to hear from them.


I've sent them an email or two before, and am always amazed at how quickly they respond, which leads me to think that if enough of you email a request, it could happen.