Beer Forum

As a new, frugal brewer, I use the recommended dry yeasts in my extract kits. How much better would the beer be with the recommended liquid yeasts? Are they worth the considerable price difference in extract brewing? Now when I get into all-grain soon I think I will go with the liquid. Are my thoughts off, or?

It depends on the beer/yeast. US-05 is a wonderful replacement for WLP001/Wyeast 1056. Not sure you are going to find a proper Belgian strain as a dry yeast though.

I've tried using liquid yeast for a couple of bitters and not found much of a change in quality.

I only use liquid yeast when I need a very specialised type that I cant get a dry yeast equivalent, e.g. a belgian ale or wheat beer.

What I would say is that the liquid yeasts are always of a very high quality, whereas there are some dry yeasts that come with kits which are fairly non-descript and may have been sat around on a shelf for a while. So as long as I get a brand of dry yeast that I know, and that isn't too old, then I've never had a problem.

Being a frugal brewer have you looked into re-pitching yeast from previous batches?

The price difference seems to be shrinking, though if you consider the cost of starters dry yeast is still a bit cheaper. The only exception I think is lagers where a single liquid yeast and a starter probably costs a hair less than the two packs of Saflager W-34/70.

The only real reason I see for using liquid yeasts is the vast selection of liquid yeast strains. Other than that it all seems the same to me.

I use liquid yeasts almost exclusively. I repitch, so I get 2-4 batches of beer from each vial/pouch of yeast. I plan ahead so I will brew successive batches that will work well with the same yeast. The first is always something lighter in color with an OG under about 1.055. The yeast cake can then be split to brew any number of other beers, either by pitching directly or by propagating a small amount in another starter. This drops the cost of yeast down to where it is comparable with dry yeast.

Wayne

Great info...yes I am learning how to reuse yeast, and thanks Wayne for that info. My next question is saving the yeast cake for my next couple of brews. How long can I save this yeast and what method is best?

Thanks again!

If you have a local brewpub/brewery, reach out to the brewer and see if he'll supply you with some yeast if you bring in a sanitized container. I've done that multiple times and although I never actually stopped in, the brewers were happy to oblige. You'd potentially have a decent selection of viable liquid yeast strains.