Yeast Strains from Various Labs
There are many different kinds of yeast. Choosing the strain of yeast
you want to use is every bit as important as choosing the right grains
and the right hops. Changing the yeast will change your beer. How much
it changes, of course, depends on the similarity, or lack thereof, between
the two yeasts. This sub-page is aimed at providing as much information
as I can find about different yeast strains and descriptions of their
characteristics, so that, if you DO use the "wrong" yeast, you
will be doing so by design to get a desired variation on a style.
The ones we, as brewers, are most concerned with are Saccharomyces
cerevisiae for ales, S. uvarum and
S. pastorianus—which is also known by the (outdated)
synonym, S. carlsbergensis—for lagers, and, while not
directly related to making beer, S. bayanus (Pasteur Champagne
yeast) is often used for making cider. Oh, and let's not forget the
Belgians! Belgian beers, particularly lambics, often use, along with
S. cerevisiae, various combinations of Brettanomyces (a wild
yeast, characteristic flavors described as "horse blanket", "horsey", and
"horse sweat"), and Pediococcus and Lactobacillus (both normally thought
of as beer-spoilage bacteria)—but the Belgians, through centuries of
experience (and, if you ask me, magic!), combine these normally serious
flaws and produce some very nice beers).
- BrewTek Yeast Strains Brewer's Resource
(BrewTek) no longer exists, but their yeasts are still around if
you can find them. I have a fair (but not complete) selection of
their ale yeasts, along with some of the Belgian strains, wheat beer
yeasts, and so on. In most cases, I have found their yeast strains
to be outstanding (the CL-50 American Ale yeast was a major
exception–use WY-1056 or WY-1272 instead).
- Wyeast Labs - Definitely a
good selection of good yeasts.
- Yeast Strains - Identifies
(where possible) the brewery source for White Labs and Wyeast yeast
strains. Also includes charts showing Wyeast vs. White Labs
and White Labs vs Wyeast. Great reference...too bad it
doesn't also include BrewTek.
- White Labs
My first impressions of White Labs yeast strains were not that good,
and I must admit, those impressions, which may still be valid for the
few strains in question, do NOT fit what I've gotten from other
strains. Two in particular, WLP-007 and WLP-037-P, have made the
now-second-best, and THE best (respectively) Nut Brown Ale I
have ever made (or, for that matter, had). My
notes on WLP-037-P provide more detail on this fantastic yeast.
- Yeast Strains - Identifies
(where possible) the brewery source for White Labs and Wyeast yeast
strains. Also includes charts showing Wyeast vs. White Labs
and White Labs vs Wyeast. Great reference...too bad it
doesn't also include BrewTek.
A Bit of History (BrewTek)
Back in the good ol' days, there was a combination homebrew shop and
yeast lab called, respectively, Brewers Resource and BrewTek (the two
names are generally used interchangeably). Brewers Resource sold the
BrewTek yeast strains on slants—in two sizes, mini-slants for
master slants, and normal-sized slants for working slants. They also
sold blank slants of both sizes, and blank plates, already prepared with
their fast-growth agar, at very reasonable prices. All was well in the
brewing world. Then, at some point ca. 2001, they vanished without a
trace. Sadly, the days of inexpensive prepared culture media went out
with BrewTek.
