Beer Forum

So I've been brewing for just over a year and enjoying many good batches of amber ales - dark ales - porters - lighter cream ales. But I've been keeping it simple with dry yeasts. I want to start using some liquid yeasts in the next year. I'm sure many of you use both dry and liquid yeasts --- what do you use to decide when to use liquid over dry ?

Also - the brochure I picked up from White Labs says their vials are pichable for standard ales (I'm guessing for brews less than 1.060). Or are starters always needed -- and what size.

starters are not always necessary, but recommended. and there's just some strains that are more available in liquid form. not really a question of liquid over dry. it comes down to personal preference. US-05 and S-04 are great dry yeasts and last a long time in the 'fridge. but sometimes you want different profiles from the yeast like from different Belgium strains for example. experiment a bit with liquid and dry in split batches. that will help you find what you're looking for.

Dry yeasts don't require starters and it's actually recommended not to do starters with them. I really like them when I decide to brew on the spur of the moment so I don't have to plan 1-2 days ahead to get my starter going. I've made a decent hefeweizen with the Safale 06 wheat yeast, a decent ESB with the 04 english yeast and a nice saison with the T-58 belgian yeast. 05 is great for anything that require a neutral american yeast...always have at least a couple packets of that in the fridge.

Billy and Rhino are spot on with their comments. I didn't have time yesterday to get to the homebrew shop, but I wanted to brew, so I just made up a basic kitchen-sink blonde ale recipe with the DME and LME I had on hand, added some leftover hops and threw in one of my 05 packets. It's hard to do that with liquid yeast because freshness is an issue.

Liquid is best for specific flavor profiles because of the selection.

Old_Skool wrote:Also - the brochure I picked up from White Labs says their vials are pichable for standard ales (I'm guessing for brews less than 1.060). Or are starters always needed -- and what size.

1.060 is too high to go without a starter (or at least two vials/smackpacks), but you should be safe with anything under 1.045. Starter size varies for some people (see http://www.mrmalty.com for Jamil's pitching rate calculator), but I'm lazy and just do 2L every time.

Dry is "fine." Liquid is better. For most ales, you'll do fine with one liquid pack. It's better to make a starter, sure, but I've made plenty in a pinch by just using a single Wyeast smack pack on ales below 1.050 and waiting ~5 hours after activating. Dry is fine if you're making a beer that makes sense with the variety of dry yeast you have access to, but any other varieties you should really consider liquid yeast.

I wouldn't say liquid is 'better'. Liquid can be different, and have more variety, but 34/70, S-189, -05 are all great dry yeasts that rival equivalent liquid yeasts.

mr x wrote:I wouldn't say liquid is 'better'. Liquid can be different, and have more variety, but 34/70, S-189, -05 are all great dry yeasts that rival equivalent liquid yeasts.

I agree. I keep some US-05 and s-04 in my fridge at all times. I've also had great results pitching a vial or smack pack direct with a packet of 05 with medium gravity beers.

So when using dry yeast I understand not making a starter. Those buggers are all juiced up and ready to go. However I have seen suggestions to pitch two packs at once and rehydrate in a sterile but warm water slurry first. I believe the enhanced pitch rate reduces your odds of a stuck or slow fermentation. Is that necessary, or is it fine to just pitch a single envelope right into your wort (assuming 5 gal batch)?