Yeast Questions

I wouldn't look to White Labs or Wyeast as authorities on LME. I'm not saying any of the above mentioned businesses or products are bad, just that a company that slaps a packet of dry yeast in a box with extract does not carry the same level of authority on yeast as a commercial yeast lab in the same sense that White Labs and Wyeast are not experts on extract merely because their yeast eat it and they use it in the lab.

What all the above-mentioned companies provide with their products is time-tested advice that is simple to follow, easily understood by people in the hobby and produces a decent result. Some of them advocate cheaper methods that allow them to compete at a price point enticing to entry level brewers (e.g. coopers). We can agree/disagree on the value of that business model but we would likely agree that not all people who try homebrewing are going to build a yeast lab at home and really explore the science behind it. So there have to be simple explanations that let those people produce a drinkable beer and enjoy the hobby without having to get a biology degree first. That doesn't make them all equal authorities on all things brewing nor does it mean that the general advice given towards homebrewers generally is the best practice. So no, I don't think it's appropriate to discuss yeast and put Coopers and Wyeast or White Labs on equal footing.

I think this is the same concept expressed above by multiple people.