Safale S-33 Yeast

I personally have not brewed with S-33. From the S-33 Spec Sheet, Fermentis states: “General purpose ale yeast with neutral flavor profiles. Its low attenuation gives beers with a very good length on the palate. Particularly recommended for specialty ales and trappist type beers.”

I personally can’t reconcile the words “neutral flavor profiles” and “Trappist type beers” .

Hopefully somebody who has brewed with S-33 will chime in.

Cheers!

 

I'm sorry but I only have second hand info on this dry yeast. According to internet lore, this yeast is the strain formerly supplied by Edme (http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/bmg/edme.html ), in homebrew kits, I suppose. Several years ago, I was sampling all the dry yeast I could find, and I was considering this one when Dunkelfester slammed it (in an old BA forum thread) for the abuse that it heaped upon his wort. While it is hard for me to imagine it is an irredeemably inferior product, Dunkelfester seemed like quite an accomplished brewer, and
his unmitigated denouncement has kept me away from it. I have seen other reviews of this yeast and am hardpressed to recall anything positive. One thing all reviews that I have seen agree on is that this is not a yeast for Belgian styles, despite some advertising to the contrary.

 

I've used it a couple times and it sucks. It is nothing like a trappist yeast. It is under attenuating and takes forever to clear. It is fairly neutral though, but I'd never use it again. It is reportedly the EDME strain.

 

Are there any good dry yeasts for a belgian beer? I was getting ready to brew an american stout with that yeast just to experiment, but looks like I shouldn't. I wanted to get belgian phenols and esters and stuff. Any recommendations on an alternative? Sorry for the thread-jacking.

 

T-58 might get it for you. I've never used it in a stout but have used it in a Bel. Blonde, a Singel and various other bastardized styles like wheats and IPA and it is nice. It is spicy (pepper) and has some light fruit but it can get bubblegum heavy if you elevate the ferm temps. I pitch it lower than most 62-65F and hold it there for a few days then let it get up to around 70. If you pitch low and hold it low it will be very clean with very little belgian type flavors but if you can find the sweet spot, similar to what I do, it is pretty good. For a stout you likely want it to be more pronounced to power into the roast malts so the bubblegum might clash, up to you.

 

I used S-33 in an old ale. In turned out pretty well. I didn't want a high attenuating yeast. It cleared adequately. It was a little estery but I'd never use it for a Belgian. I have used T-58. T-58 is ok--a bit one dimensional, spicy and little else. T-58 does not clear well.

 

After two brews with the new Belle Saison, I would definitely recommend it for saisons. Very close in flavor and performance to 3711.

 

Forgot about this. I'm interested in trying it, but may not have a chance for a while.

 

I have brewed with 3711 a couple of times. I enjoyed the Saison beers but they were a bit one dimensional; heavily biased towards the spicy end with muted citrus flavors. Would you state that the Danstar yeast is heavily biased towards the spice end of the spectrum?

Cheers!

 

I would say that it is different in that the fruitiness in my brews moved just a tinge over toward the banana from citrus in my brews over 3711, and that the phenolic spiciness is slightly more aggressive, which, combined with the dryness, leads to a higher perceived bitterness. One of the guys at Keystone went so far as to describe it as smokey, which I didn't experience. But, with how plastic the various farmhouse and trappist yeasts can be, this may just be a product of my environment. I will definitely be using it in this winter's stab at a biere de garde, though, and it may be joining US-05 in my fridge as something to have on hand at all times (I like saisons).

 

“One of the guys at Keystone went so far as to describe it as smoky …” Interesting, I have never seen the word “smoky” to describe a Saison yeast before.

Thanks for your input!

Cheers!

 

I hadn't either. In a similar vein, Garrett Oliver has described the phenols that a Bavarian hefeweiss strain can produce as "smokey" as well, which I have also never experienced. It may just be a perception thing.

 

I've used s-33 on many occasion. Nothing wrong with this yeast. drives like maniac. While I usually under-pitch wheat brews.. with s-33 I slightly over-pitch and stress-it with temp instead and get the esters I'm lookin' for... especially if you're looking cheap, non-hydrate, no starter... it is a little sluggish if you under-pitch-it, but what isn't.

 

recommend more for dunkel-weizens than anything else... a slightly less-aggressive ester/phenolic profile fits the style nicely.

 

IMO? S-33 sucks. Bland, bready, blah. You can quote me on that.

 

Ha! Good memory.

 

When it comes to yeast strain selection you are a man of strong convictions!!

Cheers!