Buying yeast

Umm.... Mail order.

Edit: Here are three online homebrew stores I have used. Brewmaster's Warehouse moreso than the others, but good experiences with all.

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/
http://www.northernbrewer.com/

 

You could buy yeast and plate them. Basically creating your own library of yeast to use at home. Then you can grow them up in a starter when you need them. It has a high starting cost but after you get the equipment it is rather cheap and you will always have healthy yeast for brewing.

 

Perhaps a bit advanced for someone about to brew their second batch.

 

he can also buy direct from white labs https://www.yeastman.com/Login/Default.aspx

 

Go big or go home.

 

Of course you are being tounge in cheek... Invest the time, buy the quipment, learn the process, be committed to the schedules to plate and store the yeast, be detail oriented at all levels, and relax with the knowledge that you have relatively pure source of yeast that you will have to step up before you can use.

Or you can buy by mail.

 

I have personally had no trouble with brewmasterswarehouse.com either. In the summer, I get the ice packs shipped with my order to help keep the yeast cold. Every batch of yeast from them has been quite good enough for my purposes. Also, their grains and extracts have been fine by me too. Shipping is cheep at 6.95 for most orders.

 

There are quite a few excellent dry yeast options for reasonable prices. They work well for the beginner and the more advanced. I use S-05 for the majority of my ales, dependable and versatile.

 

Dry is a great alternative. It's inexpensive, has a good variety, and ships well. I'm not sure where you are from, but to ship liquid yeast to me in south Louisiana in the summer by 100 degree truck is expensive if I want it here quick enough to be alive. My LHBS does not carry liquid yeast. Dry yeast does not have that issue.

 

You can also make starters from bottle conditioned beers. It's no harder than any other starter, just takes a little more time to get up to pitching quantity sometimes.

 

I'd also find the online shop that is closest to you (or ships fastest to your location) as noted at different times of the year depending on your location yeast can get baked and killed or frozen and killed...

 

For me that is Williams Brewing in San Leandro, CA...flat rate $6.95 shipping...1 day delivery...warrantied bulk yeast packaging available...great selection.

 

ask local microbreweries for some, plenty will happily give you a jar if you show some interest in their beers. Or ask them where they get their supplies in germany. Or if you have a cask serving pub near by, ask for the dregs of the cask

or just use the dry stuff, they are a great if limited selection

 

If you always plan in advance so you can propagate enough cells. Also, starter wort isn't free.

 

If you want a EU supplier, Brewlabs in the UK hold a lot of yeast and you can ask them for a specific yeast - they'll send you a slant that you have to step up. They do have a commercial line but they also have a lot of other yeasts that they'll happily supply if you ask the correct questions. I think it's about £4 a slant. They might even send you a stepped up sample but I imagine it might get a bit pricy

 

In a sense it is if you get it by sparging and boiling down runnings you would otherwise throw out with your grains, which is what I do. Get 1.020 third runnings and freeze them for future use. I will grant you that the electricity to boil it on your stove isn't free, but it almost is.

 

It's always winter in Canada. Brewing is just an excuse to heat the house.

 

Just shovelled for the first time today. Winter wonderland has begun, and will last until April. And to make this brewing related, I am now trying to figure out how to use my NG burner outside this winter and chill my wort so I brought my hoses in so they aren't frozen when I need to hook up my CFC .

Oh yeah, and I point this out when I teach about global warming issues: Light bulbs create heat when the sun is down. This is good for 75%+ of the time in Canada, especially when our electricity is from hydro dams so it is CO2 free!