Brewery Yeast Choices

@breadwinner I can't really answer your questions, but I agree with you that I'd like to see a few more breweries experimenting with yeast strains. I'd even be down for a mixture of yeast strains to the same fermentation tank to see what happens. Brewers mix all sorts of malts and hop varieties into a beer, but I've only ever see a beer fermented with a single yeast [that I've noticed at least]. I don't brew though, so maybe there's a logistical reason not to mix yeast strains.

Along the lines of interesting contributions of yeast I highly recommend trying to find La Trappe Bockbier. In a nutshell, the beer has the malts you would expect of a classic German doublebock, but brewed by a trappist with their Belgium-style yeast. You can really pick out the classic German vs Belgium beer characteristics and all due to the yeast used. It's a really good beer too! I had always heard that yeast played a major role in beer flavor, but that beer really opened my eyes to it.

 

Yes most breweries use the same strain for lots of different style beers, that is why although different style they will still have the same clean profile.

Nothing prevents breweries from making other styles of beer with different strains. Some emerging trends are to use Belgian yeast strains but make them into IPA or some other imperial American hop bomb themed beer.

Craft beer producers who have the money can and do experiment with yeast choices. Small craft brewers you will often see the classical three styles Pale,amber,stout...because you can use the same yeast strain with consistent results and save money.

Lot's of people are asking about yeast strains, but few American breweries are making exclusive claims to having a house grown strain. This isn't to say the American brewers don't keep house strains. It's just that the reliability of white labs and wyeast contribute to a durable and consistent product. Without the commercial yeast producers, the brewing industry would not have an insurance policy. Small independent craft breweries face the burden of not having the labs necessary to maintain great consistency for long term propagation.

We do actually see yeast strains and different combinations in many breweries, but the strains are typically the commercially harvested. Many breweries use mixed strains, other cultures. The reason one style of yeast is used, is simply because that's what you use to make the style. The right tool for the right job.

I have gotten repeated criticism from highly respected brewers for suggesting that their sour beers are very manufactured in flavor profiles. What is remarkable about yeast is the living culture and environments they thrive in. If we compare a Cantillion sour beer to an American sour beer, one has distinct house character.

The yeast is really the heart and soul of beer. It's no coincidence that we see so many overlapping flavor profiles from American craft brewers. But then there are certain breweries like Orvall, Chimay, Dupont, Cantillion...etc...they have something that just doesn't seem to overlap stylistically with anything out there.

 

It's a shame that some of the same yeasts are used so often I think, but it's an expensive mistake I suppose for breweries to make if they can't get good consistency or if the new beer they make doesn't suit the yeast

The best english breweries all have quite distinctive multistrain yeasts (Adnams, Harveys, etc) and some of my least favourites have the dullest (like Robinsons or the many who just use Nottingham etc )

So many interesting yeasts must have been lost down the years as breweries moved to single strains to get more consistency/save money, or they get bought out and their new parent company decide to brew with their own yeast.

Also as honkey mentioned modern conical fermentors don't help with proper top cropping strains


There is certainly more scope for a brewery to try a bunch of different english yeasts at least in a bunch of beers, they can vary a huge amount in flavour profiles

 

I don't work in a brewery but my assumption is the amount of work managing multiple yeast statins, and the costs Having so many different strains. Also, I would think the familiarity of the yeast If you are familiar with how a yeast performs and what to expect if X yeast is used for IPAs then a brewery could consistently produce the flavors they want.

Sometimes I wish breweries like Sierra Nevada would use different yeasts because all their IPAs have a similar taste.

 

Yeah exactly. I mean they still don't use too much variety. Basically they've said they use English ale yeast because it does create a different type of juicyness in their IPAs. Otherwise I'm pretty sure they use California Ale Yeast. But the English yeast is meant to mock some of the beers they've had in the East Coast. But even if you look at: https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp001-california-ale-yeast, it discusses the fact that Ca. Ale yeast accentuates hops, so just because yeast isn't a dominant flavor in certain styles doesn't mean that all yeast doesn't serve a explicit purpose in the style.

 

One big reason that breweries use the same yeast strain is to develop a specific flavor profile for their beers. For example when you taste almost any Sierra Nevada beer you think "yup, that tastes like SN" another brewery that has a very definable flavor profile is Anchor. This also has to do with the water they use, and how its treated.

Another reason is consistency. This is very important to most brewers who brew on a commercial scale. You don't want any variation between batches and using the same yeast is one huge step to creating that.

Yeast is the most important ingredient in brewing IMO. It defines your beer. In fact some brewers say they don't brew beer, they brew wort, yeast makes it beer!

 

Sierra Nevada does use different yeasts. Maybe not for the IPAs? But they do Belgian styles and Lagers that require unique yeasts.

 

It is everything they do. Russian River uses The Chico yeast strain WLP-001. Founders uses the equivalent strain,Wyeast-1056. Same basic yeast, but do you say those beers all taste the same?

Edit - I do agree with what you say, as the yeast run the brewery.

 

it seems like they use the same strain for their hop forward beers like their pales and iPas. Not sure if they use the same yeast for other beers like narwhal or Bigfoot.

Sierra brews so many different styles that for sure they use other yeasts. They brew lagers so they can't use an ale yeast.

 

You also need to realize they have their own yeast Propigators.

@sierranevadabill may comment.

 

I

I know they do this at the White Labs tasting room in San Diego. Iv always wanted to try it.

 

One thing to keep in mind: After many batches of beer with the same yeast; Brewers truly get to know their yeast strains, which helps with recipe formulation, keeping the yeast as healthy as possible in turn making the best beer possible, and last, it helps production time. If you know just what temp the yeast drops out at and just how long it needs to be at that temp before clearing for packaging, it really speeds up production.

A brewery also spends a lot of money and time either buying a yeast pitch from a lab or growing it up in their in house lab. To use that strain for one batch would be very wasteful. Also, You can't just let yeast sit around in a cooler either, you have to keep it working to keep it healthy. Breweries only have so many tanks and so much time to keep different yeast strains going. It's a pretty big hassle to deal with more than 2 or 3 strains at one time.

 

I was thinking just the other day that I think I've discovered Ithaca Brewing Co's distinctive yeast flavor. I can't really describe it but all of their beers have that little funky-fruity twinge note in common.

 

I always like to remember: "Brewers make wort, YEAST make beer."

Even in styles that rely on flavors coming in great quantities from other things like hops, the yeast will impart tons of flavor. I know 1968 when I taste it. I can tell when I'm drinking a Lagunitas or Stone beer from the dry English strain they use. The reason I love Half Acre beers the most is because I love a hoppy ale brewed with that Anchor Liberty Ale strain. Cali V, 1272, whatever. As a brewer I would WANT to continue using the yeast that I feel imparts the best flavor, AND creates an identity for my brewery.

 

I see it as a two fold issue. For one person alone doing all the cellar work. Why have six plates spinning in motion at the same time when really just one or two will suffice?
Secondly. The more people you invite into a kitchen where specificities are king, the greater the chance that something will get screwed up.
i.e. keep it simple stupid.

 

We use a few strains at BLVD. I'll list the strain and the beers (from our 2016 production schedule http://www.boulevard.com/beers/2016-release-calendar/) it ferments.

English Ale:
Unfiltered Wheat Beer, Pale Ale, Bully! Porter, 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer, Pop-Up Session IPA, Single-Wide IPA, Heavy Lifting IPA, The Calling, Irish Ale, Nutcracker Ale, Ginger Lemon Radler, Early Riser Coffee Porter, Deep Dive

House Belgian:
Dark Truth Stout, The Sixth Glass, Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, Long Strange Tripel, Tell-Tale Tart, Funky Pumpkin, Tripel Julep, Love Child, Saison-Brett, Funkier Pumpkin, Bourbon Barrel Quad

Scottish:
Snow & Tell, Imperial Stout, Rye-on-Rye, Chocolate Ale

Lager:
KC Pils, Bob's '47 Oktoberfest

Brettanomyces:
Saison-Brett, Love Child

We think it's cool to coax an amazing variety of profiles from a few yeast strains.