Least favorite yeast

French saison, just because I like the flavor profile of the Belgian saison strains so much better.

 

Belgian yeast when used in an IPA. The failures far outweigh the successes.

 

x2.

I say this with the caveat that I am not very familiar with specific yeast strains but do know the difference between these two.

 

I second that. I've made a beer with it then made another with a friend of mine. The beers weren't bad but without the ringwood they could have been a lot better.

 

Brettanomyces. Why ruin an otherwise bright and hoppy IPA with Brett? Its far outstayed its welcome.

 

What are some popular beers with Ringwood that I may know?

 

Whatever yeast gives beer an artificial banana flavor.

 

Shipyard. A handful of English breweries make it work but for the most part it should be avoided.

 

This thread sounds too clever for me

 

anything from Shipyard supposedly uses Ringwood, b/c Alan Pugsley brought it over from England....

and yes, +1 on ringwood being less than preferable.

 

The complete general distaste (by some) for the purported nasty flavors imparted by Ringwood yeast is funny. It almost seems like some kind of bandwagon. I love all kinds of English ales that use this catalyst, but I certainly cannot account for everyone's taste. To categorically state that Ringwood yeast makes nasty beer, or is not a good yeast, ignores great beers from lots of places that employ this key ingredient.

 

I think Geary's also gets good results from it.

 

Never much cared for any of Shipyard's offerings, save for Shipyard Export, which I thought was solid. Everything else was lousy.

 

Shipyard reputedly cold-crashes their beers in order to speed up production. Brewers who let the yeast finish cleaning up the beer naturally will not have those same issues (which are usually blamed on the yeast instead of the process.)

 

So, would you call Shipyard's purported practice of repressing yeast reverse bottle conditioning?

 

Reverse? Nah- they're not messing with the space-time continuum or anything. Maybe more like premature bottle-ation; and it's pretty unsatisfying for all involved.

 

I grew up in Maine, where all the original 'microbreweries' used Ringwood, so it reminds me of home. Geary's is still a favorite, though Shipyard has always been a little shaky. I don't mind a yeast that requires some finesse.

I also prefer French biere de garde to Belgian saison, but that may be more about technique than yeast strain. Dupont yeast is a pain to work with, actually.