Hey guys, can anyone give suggestions on yeast I should use for the following style recipes: Witbier Beer? Brown Ale (think Bell’s Brown Ale)? Farmhouse Ale (think Apex Predator by Off Color brewery) Raspberry Wheat? Stout (people have suggested wlp001/1056, us-05, wy 1028, irish ale yeasts, Nottingham, Windsor, mangrove jack m15 empire ale, s-04)? Also, these are all 1 gallon batches. Should I make a starter for these beers? If not, what’s the rule for making a starter? This is my first attempt at 1 Gallon batches (all grain) any tips/tricks? Thanks in advance
I won't go into all of these. There are a lot of good suggestions that can be found with a little research. I'll throw in a couple... Bell's ale yeast is capable of being harvested from bottles. Personally, I would go that route for Best Brown. I really like WY1028 for stouts. That "mineral" profile is a home run for me. But for this style there are a lot of good options and YMMV I never do 1 gallon batches, so I'll pass on that question
Wyeast 1084 Irish yeast is a yeast I have around my house all year. It's great for a sweet bready contribution. General advice for AG brewing: Stir stir stir your grainbed. Doughing in usually takes me 5 to 10 minutes for a 5 gal batch. Make sure you break up all the dough balls in there or your efficiency will suffer. Have some extra hot water and ice cubes on the ready for temperature adjustments for your mash. With doing a small batch like that I'd preheat an oven to 170F, turn it off, and place the mash in the oven for the hour rest. This will help stabilize your mash temp. I'm assuming you'll be working out of a metal stock pot. Careful, the handles are hot after that hour. Have some DME on hand in case you need to up you OG. It's easy to add this in at the beginning of your boil. Don't make a light beer just because of a mistake.
Unless your yeast is old or mishandled, there usually is no need for a starter on a 1G batch. Even with a higher OG you still will need less than one sachet/vial/pack on direct pitch. PS FWIW I like M15 better than S-04 for a brown. For a stout it depends which kind you want to make.
