YEAST!!! I've Gone Full Circle...

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

YEAST!!! I've Gone Full Circle...Back to Safale-04 or Safale-05

Since getting back into brewing after a short break I've done the rounds trying various yeasts...I've done Brewlabs, Wyeast, Windsor, and a few others and guess what? good old S-04 blows them away. :clap:

Good Points...
1. Vigorous reliable fermentation.
2. No escaping from FV (might do with a Guinness type brew)
3. 4 -6 day fermentation
4. Crystal clear after 2 weeks
5. Great for bottled beers (solid sediment)
6. Great all round yeast :clap:

Bad Points...
1. NONE

Worst yeast I've ever used is Windsor, Escapes the FV, bad to bottle (loose sediment) and a B**tard to clear. :nono:

Anyone agree??
John...

Wez · Feb 1, 2009

I like the reliability of s04 I agree with the good points you've listed. I do want to experiment with liquid yeasts though - it's one of my "I want to's" for this year.

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

I've done liquid Wyeast and Brewlabs split into starters using dried spray malt, no problems with fermenting except for the fact that it's real brewery yeast with a 10-12" head formation whilst fermenting, great if you have loads of head space but not so good if you only have standard size equipment.

Wyeast 1469 (TTL) was a nice yeast, good solid sediment but that also tried to escape the fermenter.

John

Wez · Feb 1, 2009

falafael · Feb 1, 2009

wow..thats crazy!! :shock:

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

falafael said:
wow..thats crazy!! :shock:

The wife went crazy, I got in from work 16hrs after pitching the yeast went to check on my baby brew and the lobby carpet was a right mess, I got a right tongue lashing!! :)

Windsor did the same on a dark ale type brew.

John

Buzz · Feb 1, 2009

I've had problems with S-04 going ballistic in the past too. Fitting a blow off tube helps. :thumb:

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

Only problem I've had with S-04 was on a Guinness clone fernented in a 5 gallon bucket, went over slightly.

Buzz · Feb 1, 2009

Here's my S-04

Aleman · Feb 1, 2009

SO4 is no use in a pale ale . .. SO5 is a B*sta*rd to clear. . . . .. Nottingham is good but a bit too neutral . . . . . Windsor is spot on in pretty much any beer, and not that difficult to clear IME . . . . Climbing out of the FV I would question Fermentation Temps . . . I've seen it happen in a 2.5BBL fermenter when that got rather warm but not at the usual temperatures

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

Buzz said:
Here's my S-04

Bet that was a stout... :hmm:

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

Aleman said:
SO4 is no use in a pale ale . .. SO5 is a B*sta*rd to clear. . . . .. Nottingham is good but a bit too neutral . . . . . Windsor is spot on in pretty much any beer, and not that difficult to clear IME . . . . Climbing out of the FV I would question Fermentation Temps . . . I've seen it happen in a 2.5BBL fermenter when that got rather warm but not at the usual temperatures

Why no good in a pale ale Tony?? :hmm:

The best thing for me about Windsor was the fruitiness it added to the brew, cow bag clearing and not very good to bottle with.

John

Buzz · Feb 1, 2009

barnsleybrewer said:
Bet that was a stout... :hmm:

Indeed it was. Fermentation kept at 19deg so temp not responsible for the climb out. I put it down to good aeration

Aleman · Feb 1, 2009

The flavour profile just isn't right . . . it's good in dark beers and even milds, but pale ales, bitters and the like its not quite 'right'

I love Windsor for that fruitiness, SO4 promises the same but then leaves you high and dry . . . . I find dropping the temp to 2C at the end of fermentation pretty much drops most yeasts . . . . Stir in 30ml of aux finings, crash cool, and leave for a couple of days . . . more or less clear beer from the FV . . . . . . Both my ordinary and Premium bitters were done with Windsor and there was no problem with the bottles of that I took to NCBA or The Crown Afterward

Stouts are renowned for 'enthusiastic' ferments have a look at my Imperial Russian Stout Brewday and you will see that I too have experienced that . . . Windsor

MartialAnt · Feb 1, 2009

Well ive gone back to S-04 for ale as the Wyeast smackpack Thames valley 1275 has proved to be a disaster. Still got a DJ full of an ale thats been fermenting since the 4th of Jan & its only dropped by 10 points.
AG#18 is also very slow. Been fermenting since the 11th. After a week i tipped another 1275 starter in but it had no effect. But with a little S-o4 added earlier this week its sped up a bit. Thats now down to 1017 from 1045.
Ive put the last 3 starters ive got into a DJ with 500g of spraymalt & its hardly done a thing.
Either its been a bad pack or ive done something drastically wrong.

Oh the ease of dried yeast sachets.

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

MartialAnt said:
Oh the ease of dried yeast sachets.

That's what I like too, easy to use, cheap @ 90p, no growing of yeast slopes with the view to splitting into more starters, no need for more spray malt for starters, no pissing about 2 days before brewing with a starter.

Packet yeasts have come on a long way since the 80s & 90s. :clap:

EskiBrew · Feb 1, 2009

I have to agree 100% - S04 is superb :thumb:

A T · Feb 1, 2009

Beat this

BarnsleyBrewer · Feb 1, 2009

What were you brewing, type of yeast were you using, how far did it rise? kin-hell. :shock:

John

Wez · Feb 1, 2009

This was my most explosive ferment, 1.060 98% pale, 2% crystal

YEAST!!! I've Gone Full Circle...

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