Wyeast Yeast

Many brewers believe this to be the strain from Hoegaarden that gives Blue Moon its unique spice and tartness. Whether this rumor is true or not, this yeast is certainly our choice for classic witbiers, and makes excellent Belgian ales as well. It produces dominating phenolics, allowing spice notes, such as clove and peppercorn, to stand out over the more subtle esters this strain creates. It can be tart in the finish and ferment out somewhat dry. Because of this, it is well suited for use in beers with heavy amounts of  wheat and oats, though you might try this with a rye beer as well. Belgian Witbier is a very vigorously fermenting yeast, and excess headspace of 33% is recommended in the primary fermenter, as well as a blowoff assembly. However, it has been known to be a strain that can take some time to fully attenuate, especially when fermenting cool. For making classic witbiers serves with a slice of citrus fruit, there is no substitute for this strain!

Beer Styles: Belgian Dubbel, Belgian Tripel, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Witbier.

London Ale III is Wyeast's strain cultivated from the Boddington's brewery, long famous for their creamy pub ale. This yeast can be used to make similar ales, fruity and rich with a flavor profile allowing malt and hops to dominate in harmony. It can leave a slight sweetness and may not be quite as highly attenuative than other strain that leave beers drier. This makes London Ale III perfect for sweeter, more malt forward styles as well as rich, hoppy pales where malt sweetness is desired to balance out hop character. It is known to be a vigorous fermenter which leaves a thick krausen behind due to high flocculation. Cold-conditioning beers fermented with this strain will cause the highly flocculant yeast to drop out, leaving behind incredibly clear, delicious beers.

Beer Styles: American Amber Ale, English Barleywine, English IPA, Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale), Mild, Oatmeal Stout, Old Ale, Scottish Export 80/-, Scottish Heavy 70/-, Scottish Light 60/-, Southern English Brown, Special/Best/Premium Bitter, Standard/Ordinary Bitter, Sweet Stout.

Wyeast's West Yorkshire strain of yeast is known for balance. While producing the characteristic British profile full of fruity esters with some nuttiness, its dry finish keeps these notes in check, making for beers that are delicious and quite pleasing to the palette. It has been said by some to have a slight mineral note that is common in some English and British style beers. Cask-conditioned beers and traditional British beers will benefit from this yeast, as the flavors produced by the yeast lend to the fullness of such styles. A great choice for English pales, bitters, browns and stouts.

Beer Styles: English IPA, Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale), Oatmeal Stout, Southern English Brown, Special/Best/Premium Bitter, Standard/Ordinary Bitter, Sweet Stout.

Planning on making an English-style special bitter? Wyeast has the perfect yeast for you, and Great Fermentations is proud to bring it to you as part of Wyeast's Private Collection, for a limited time! This yeast functions a lot like their 1968 London ESB yeast. While still a highly flocculant strain, it is ever-so-slightly less flocculant than 1968. It works well in classic English pale styles of beer, such as ESBs, pales, it's namesake special bitters, and ordinary bitters. However, it is also recommended for use in old ales. It is very clean, with a soft maltiness that is fairly neutral, with a slight bit of fruity ethanol character.

Bohemian Lager is one of our favorite lager strains. It is malty with a crisp bite to it that serves well in the production of a wide range of lagers, from light European and American style Pilsners to rich, malty Bock beers. This strain exhibits a slightly pronounced ester profile. It does very well on all lagers at its recommended temperature range, but it can also be fermented warmer to produce California Common beers and other styles as well. Wyeast recommends utilizing a diacetyl rest with this strain in order to produce as clean a beer as possible.

Beer Styles: Baltic Porter, Bière de Garde, Bohemian Pilsner, Classic American Pilsner, Dark American Lager, Doppelbock, Dortmunder Export, Eisbock, German Pilsner (Pils), Maibock/Helles Bock, Munich Dunkel, Munich Helles, Oktoberfest/Märzen, Schwarzbier (Black Beer), Traditional Bock, Vienna Lager.

Wyeast's Bavarian Lager strain produces malty, rich beers, and as such is a great choice for a number of malt-forward German lagers. This yeast produces rich, malt-forward beers that clear and attenuate well. Many brewers use Bavarian Lager yeast for bock beers, Munich dunkels and Oktoberfest/Märzens with astounding results. While Wyeast recommends a diacetyl rest after fermentation, many brewers report that this yeast performs a very clean fermentation that throws little to no diacetyl. Pitching rates and temperature can affect results with this strain (or any strain, for that matter). Treat this yeast well and the results will impress the lederhosen off you!

Beer Styles: Classic Rauchbier, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Maibock/Helles Bock, Munich Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Märzen, Schwarzbier (Black Beer), Traditional Bock.

Pediococcus, A.K.A. pedio, is a lactic acid producing bacteria, and as such is often used in a blend to create complexity and sourness in sour beers, lambics and gueuzes. Because it is known to produce diacetyl, many brewers and breweries pitch it together with a strain of Brettanomyces, which can clean up the diacetyl, as well as add more layers of complexity to a beer. Over time, acid production will increase in beers inoculated with pediococcus. Used when more acidity is desired, pediococcus can be utilized for just this purpose.

Beer Styles: Fruit Lambic, Gueuze, Straight (Unblended) Lambic.

An excellent choice in the production of stouts and other dark beers, Wyeast's Irish Ale strain is the classic strain from the Guiness Brewery. Although it is most popularly used in stouts, it can produce a number of wonderful beers and can be used to great effect with high gravity worts. At lower temperatures this yeast is crisp and dry, with an underlying fruitiness that becomes more evident and estery with higher fermentation temperatures.

Beer Styles:   American Barleywine, Baltic Porter, Dry Stout, Foreign Extra Stout, Imperial IPA, Irish Red Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Other Smoked Beer, Robust Porter, Scottish Export/80, Scottish Heavy/70, Scottish Light/60, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Strong Scotch Ale, Sweet Stout, Wood-Aged Beer.

Wyeast's American Ale yeast is the definitive American ale strain. A clean, neutral profile with low ester production makes this the ideal choice for a wide range of beers, American or otherwise. This strain is used popularly in many breweries and homes alike as a house strain. While it is often used in American Pale Ales and IPAs, its versatility means it can produce many other styles with ease. Medium-to-low flocculation means that yeast will stay in suspension longer than more flocculant British strains, but will produce clean and crisp beers of exceptional quality.

Beer Styles: American Amber Ale, American Barleywine, American Brown Ale, American IPA, American Pale Ale, American Stout, Braggot, Brown Porter, Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer, Cream Ale, Dry Stout, Fruit Beer, Imperial IPA, Irish Red Ale, Other Smoked Beer, Russian Imperial Stout, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Strong Scotch Ale, Wood-Aged Beer.

A yeast strain originating from the McEwans's brewery, Wyeast's Scottish Ale yeast is used classically in all Scottish style ales. However, it is a highly versatile yeast with a good alcohol tolerance and high flocculations, making it suitable for beers of just about any style. Indeed, many brewers (including a few of us here at Great Fermentations) routinely use this as a house strain. Malt character is allowed to shine when this yeast is used. It has an incredible temperature range and can ferment at any temperature between 55-75°F. A cleaner, less estery profile will be created at lower temperatures, and more ester production will occur at higher temperatures. Try this yeast on the suggested styles, or in just about anything you feel like!

Beer Styles: American Barleywine, Baltic Porter, Braggot, Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer, Foreign Extra Stout, Imperial IPA, Old Ale, Other Smoked Beer, Russian Imperial Stout, Scottish Export 80, Scottish Heavy 70, Scottish Light 60, Strong Scotch Ale, Wood-Aged Beer.

Wyeast's Belgian lambic blend is a very unique and complex blend of belgian ale yeast, lactobacillus, pediococcus, a sherry strain, and two brettanomyces strains. With all these different yeast and bacteria in one conveneint smack pack, brewers are sure to produce Belgian-style lambic beers and other traditional sours of unsurpassed quality. Because of genetic drift over time, it is not recommended to collect and reculture this blend if a consistent end product is desired. This blend is also known to be very highly attenuative, and beers often finish extremely dry, especially with extended conditioning times. A great choice in traditional Belgian style beers that are traditionally spontaneously fermented.

Beer Styles: Flanders Red Ale, Fruit Lambic, Gueuze, Straight (Unblended) Lambic.

German wheat yeast is an interesting strain to use when producing German wheat beers. While many brewers go with Bavarian or Weihenstephan strains when making wheat beers, Wyeast's German Wheat strain can also be a good choice due to many positive fermentation characteristics. More highly flocculant than either of the former strains, it tends to lend banana and clove characters to beers as Weihenstephan does, but these may be more balanced in pronunciation. It is capable of producing clear beers without filtration, as it drops out of suspension easily and more quickly than other wheat strains. Use this when clearer German wheats are desired without sacrificing esters and phenolics. Also recommended in use in German rye beers.

Beer Styles: Dunkelweizen, German Hefe-Weizen, Roggenbier (German Rye Beer), Weizen/Weissbier, Weizenbock.

Roselare is another great blend of yeasts and bacteria from Wyeast, designed to produce excellent sour beers, from fruit lambics and Gueuze to Flanders browns and red. The full gamut of yeast and bugs have been included in this blend: a Belgian ale strain, pediococcus, lactobacillus, flor sherry and two Brettanomyces strains. These all contribute their unique flavor and aroma to the beers in which they are utilized, creating uniqueness and depth of character. A sour pie cherry note is often associated with Roselare, and is very useful in the creation of representative Flanders beers. This blend does well if allowed to come into its own over a period of at least 18 months. Like the Belgian lambic blend by Wyeast, Roselare will change character over time if propagated due to genetic drift, and ferments beers extremely dry, especially with proper time and conditioning.

Beer Styles: Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin, Fruit Lambic, Gueuze, Straight (Unblended) Lambic.

Wyeast's German Ale strain has a wide temperature range and can ferment down to 55°F. Maltiness is accentuated, though some mild fruitiness can be expected at higher temperatures. Beers using this strain mature rapidly, even when fermenting cool. This German ale strain is less flocculant than many ale strains and may stay in suspension for longer than a British or American strain. A good choice for a wide range of German Ales.

Beer Styles: American Wheat or Rye Beer, Berliner Weiss, Bière de Garde, Düsseldorf Altbier, Kölsch, Northern German Altbier.