Wyeast Yeast

Forbidden Fruit produces beers that sounds just like its name: fruity, slightly dry and tart, and of course, extremely desirable (just like forbidden fruit!) Fruity esters balance seamlessly with spicy phenols in beers utilizing this yeast strain. These characteristics can lend well to additions of coriander and orange peel, as as such it is a wonderful choice when making traditional witbiers, as well as Grand Cru. It has been noted that this yeast produces an "old sock" smell during fermentation that goes away with time, leaving what has been has been characterized as a traditional witbier aroma. This yeast tends to lend some Belgian, fruity notes that can be strong and dominant, yet are appropriate for the style. Low flocculation means a longer conditioning phase can help with clarity.

Beer Styles: Belgian Specialty Ale, Witbier.

Pilsner-Urquell is known as the original light golden-colored Pilsner beer. This yeast comes from the source, via Wyeast, to you! Light fruit and flower notes come through in the nose, giving way to a crisp, clean and very dry flavor profile on the palate. Light malt with a nice, full mouthfeel, it is a very neutral yeast that makes very pleasing beers. While Bohemian Lager is the standard beer often produced with this yeast, its characteristics make it a fairly safe choice for many types of light lagers.

Beer Styles: Bohemian Pilsner

Octoberfest Lager blend is a specialty blend of lager yeasts that were specially selected to produce classic Oktoberfest and Märzen beers. Deep, rich, malty and somewhat sweet, Wyeast's Octoberfest Lager strain produces excellent traditional festival beers of the spring and fall. It is also a wonderful strain to use in other beers where a pronounced malt character is desired, such as Vienna Lagers and Rauchbiers. It has been noted that this strain produces a relatively low level of sulfur, as compared to some other lager strains. It is also not usually used in making Pilsners, as the malt character is thought to interfere with the cleanliness of Pilsners that allows hop character to become pronounced.

Beer Styles: Baltic Porter, Classic Rauchbier, Oktoberfest/Märzen, Vienna Lager

Wyeast's classic Kölsch yeast combines the clean character of a lager with notes of fruitiness usually reserved for ales. A wide temperature range that borders on the cool side ensures this yeast will be sufficiently active at low temperatures, enabling it to produce beers with a lager-like cleanliness when fermented on the low end. However, ale characteristics are preserved on the warm end, with little to no diacetyl produced under standard fermentation conditions. This yeast has been described as "powdery" and, as a low flocculator, will require an extended clarity rest or other clarification practices, such as fining or filtration, to produce clear beers. That being said, this yeast produces extremely fine examples of its namesake style, as well as many other German and American ale styles.

Beer Styles: American Wheat or Rye Beer, Berliner Weisse, Bière de Garde, Cream Ale, Düsseldorf Altbier, Fruit Beer, Kölsch, Northern German Altbier, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

A yeast strain hailing from the land of the famed German Oktoberfest, Munich Lager yeast is often used in the production of the famed festival beers, as well as rich bock beers. Beers made with this strain tend to be rich and full-bodied, balanced on the palate while being smooth and delicious. As with many lager strains, a post-fermentation diacetyl rest is recommended. This yeast is unique and capable of making extremely high-quality, malty lagers.

Beer Styles: Classic Rauchbier, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Maibock/Helles Bock, Munich Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Märzen, Traditional Bock, Vienna Lager.

Wyeast's Pilsen Lager yeast is rumored to be a strain originating from the Budweiser brewery. It is often the first (and some might argue, best) choice for doing American lagers, whether classic or contemporary. This strain is described as neutral, producing crisp beers with a pronounced maltiness and a mellow, rounded flavor that is dry in the finish. Producing little sulfer or diacetyl, it can be used to produce more than just light American style lagers. Let your imagination run wild with this classic American yeast!

Beer Styles: Classic American Pilsner, Dark American Lager, German Pils, Lite American Lager, Premium American Lager, Schwarzbier, Standard American Lager.

Special London ESB is a yeast with a wide range of applications in the beer making world. Several breweries and brewpubs use this yeast as their house strain, and it's easy to see why. This is one of the most flocculent strains offered by Wyeast, and produced some of the most clear beers without filtration. Less attenuative than other British yeasts, Special London ESB can leave a slight residual sweetness that plays well with the fruity English character inherent in beers produced with it. This makes it ideal for almost any beer style from the British Isles, and is sometimes used in American beers as well, when fruitiness and clarity are desired. Levels of fruit character can be heightened or lessened by fermenting at cooler or warmer temperatures. It is recommended to treat this beer with a diacetyl rest, giving the yeast time to clean up diacetyl that may be produced by the yeast during fermentation. If treated right, this yeast will reward you with delicious, crystal clear beers with lots of rich character.

Beer Styles:  English Barleywine, English IPA, Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale), Fruit Beer, Mild, Old Ale, Southern English Brown, Special/Best/Premium Bitter, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Standard/Ordinary Bitter, Wood-Aged Beer.

Danish Lager yeast is a good choice to use on Dortmund Export lagers and Munich Helles, as well as a number of American style lagers. It can ferment slightly cooler than some lager strains, and lower attenuation means a longer conditioning phase can be utilized to further clear beer. However, it is known to create excellent beers that are crisp and dry on the tongue, rounded and smooth in the mouth, with a relative hop-forwardness. A good yeast that is often underutilized by brewers...give it a try!

Beer Styles: Classic American Pilsner, Dark American Lager, Dortmunder Export, Lite American Lager, Munich Helles, Premium American Lager, Standard American Lager.

Roselare is another great blend of yeasts and bacteria from Wyeast, designed to produce excellent sour beers, from fruit lambics and Gueuze to Flanders browns and red. The full gamut of yeast and bugs have been included in this blend: a Belgian ale strain, pediococcus, lactobacillus, flor sherry and two Brettanomyces strains. These all contribute their unique flavor and aroma to the beers in which they are utilized, creating uniqueness and depth of character. A sour pie cherry note is often associated with Roselare, and is very useful in the creation of representative Flanders beers. This blend does well if allowed to come into its own over a period of at least 18 months. Like the Belgian lambic blend by Wyeast, Roselare will change character over time if propagated due to genetic drift, and ferments beers extremely dry, especially with proper time and conditioning.

Beer Styles: Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin, Fruit Lambic, Gueuze, Straight (Unblended) Lambic.

Wyeast's West Yorkshire strain of yeast is known for balance. While producing the characteristic British profile full of fruity esters with some nuttiness, its dry finish keeps these notes in check, making for beers that are delicious and quite pleasing to the palette. It has been said by some to have a slight mineral note that is common in some English and British style beers. Cask-conditioned beers and traditional British beers will benefit from this yeast, as the flavors produced by the yeast lend to the fullness of such styles. A great choice for English pales, bitters, browns and stouts.

Beer Styles: English IPA, Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale), Oatmeal Stout, Southern English Brown, Special/Best/Premium Bitter, Standard/Ordinary Bitter, Sweet Stout.

Weihenstephan yeast is the classic German wheat beer strain and is used worldwide to produce Hefeweizeins, as well as other weizen and weissbiers. These beers are famed the world over, and as such, are produced in many countries across the globe. This is the perfect strain to use in the production of such beers, as distinct banana esters and clove phenolics are produced by this strain. Production of these compounds can be manipulated through controlling fermentation temperature; a cooler temperature will produce a beer with less banana esters and will allow clove phenolics to dominate, while a warmer temperature, as well as lower pitching rates and a higher wort density will increase ester production. Wyeast has stated that ove-rpitching can nearly eliminate banana character in the finished beer. While this strain will produce a significant amount of sulfur, this will usually dissipate with conditioning. This beer is a very vigorous fermenter, and as such, a lot of headspace and/or a blowoff tube are recommended when fermenting with this yeast. Try this strain when making flavorful, traditional German wheat beers, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the results!

Beer Styles: Dunkelweizen, Fruit Beer, German Hefe-Weizen, Roggenbier (German Rye Beer), Weizen/Weissbier, Weizenbock.

Wyeast's American Ale yeast is the definitive American ale strain. A clean, neutral profile with low ester production makes this the ideal choice for a wide range of beers, American or otherwise. This strain is used popularly in many breweries and homes alike as a house strain. While it is often used in American Pale Ales and IPAs, its versatility means it can produce many other styles with ease. Medium-to-low flocculation means that yeast will stay in suspension longer than more flocculant British strains, but will produce clean and crisp beers of exceptional quality.

Beer Styles: American Amber Ale, American Barleywine, American Brown Ale, American IPA, American Pale Ale, American Stout, Braggot, Brown Porter, Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer, Cream Ale, Dry Stout, Fruit Beer, Imperial IPA, Irish Red Ale, Other Smoked Beer, Russian Imperial Stout, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Strong Scotch Ale, Wood-Aged Beer.

All-American is a proper moniker for this yeast, as it is the perfect choice not only for IPAs, but nearly any American style of beer. With a cleanliness at lower fermentation temperatures that gives rise to refreshing fruit notes at higher temperatures, American II yeast is one of our favorite strains for hop-forward beers. However, with a soft tartness and slight nut aromas, this strain is capable of making excellent American-style blondes, ambers, browns, and stouts as well. A perfect house strain yeast, it is well-attenuating and, given proper time and temperature, drops out of suspension nicely to create clear beers.

Beer Styles: American Amber Ale, American Brown Ale, American IPA, American Pale Ale, American Stout, Blonde Ale, Fruit Beer, Imperial IPA, Wood-Aged Beer.

Many brewers believe this to be the strain from Hoegaarden that gives Blue Moon its unique spice and tartness. Whether this rumor is true or not, this yeast is certainly our choice for classic witbiers, and makes excellent Belgian ales as well. It produces dominating phenolics, allowing spice notes, such as clove and peppercorn, to stand out over the more subtle esters this strain creates. It can be tart in the finish and ferment out somewhat dry. Because of this, it is well suited for use in beers with heavy amounts of  wheat and oats, though you might try this with a rye beer as well. Belgian Witbier is a very vigorously fermenting yeast, and excess headspace of 33% is recommended in the primary fermenter, as well as a blowoff assembly. However, it has been known to be a strain that can take some time to fully attenuate, especially when fermenting cool. For making classic witbiers serves with a slice of citrus fruit, there is no substitute for this strain!

Beer Styles: Belgian Dubbel, Belgian Tripel, Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer, Witbier.

From the Budvar brewery in the Czech Republic, this strain is a malty yet dry-finishing yeast that creates wonderful Pilsner beers. Malt and some fruitiness are often detected on the aroma end of beers fermented with this strain, Malt character comes through in the flavor as beer weighs in on the tongue. Hops burst forth during the finish, which is often balanced well between malt and dryness. A good, well-rounded yeast strain for use in all types of pilsners, it is also a good choice for American lagers as well.

Beer Styles: Bohemian Pilsner, Classic American Pilsner, Dortmunder Export, Lite American Lager.

Wyeast's German Ale strain has a wide temperature range and can ferment down to 55°F. Maltiness is accentuated, though some mild fruitiness can be expected at higher temperatures. Beers using this strain mature rapidly, even when fermenting cool. This German ale strain is less flocculant than many ale strains and may stay in suspension for longer than a British or American strain. A good choice for a wide range of German Ales.

Beer Styles: American Wheat or Rye Beer, Berliner Weiss, Bière de Garde, Düsseldorf Altbier, Kölsch, Northern German Altbier.