In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Lane--the technical sales manager of the United States and Canada for Fermentis--to discuss yeast and the misunderstandings many brewers have about attenuation and flocculation. Fermentis is the supplier of many of your favorite dry yeasts, including Safale US-05 and S-04. Two of the most commonly used yeasts in homebrewing. And Kevin is a product expert. In fact, he will be presenting a seminar at the upcoming National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego entitled Selecting Yeast Based on Strain Characteristics and Applying Environmental Conditions to Promote Flavor and Aroma Production. So, if you’re going to NHC this year, be sure to check him out and ask the questions you need answered.
In fact, check below the podcast links for some footage of Kevin's presentation at NHC.
And if you're an AHA member, then here's a link to a recording and PDF of his presentation or scroll through the list of seminars and look for The Longest Title.
If you haven't had the opportunity to try all of Fermentis' beer yeast products, then you might be interested in checking out our stock:
Safale US-05 A ready-to-pitch dry neutral American ale yeast. Safale US-05 produces well balanced beers with low diacetyl and a very clean, crisp end palate. Attenuation: Medium Flocculation: Low - Medium Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59 – 75F
Safale S-04 A well-known, commercial English ale yeast, selected for its fast fermentation character and its ability to form a very compact sediment at the end of the fermentation, helping to improve beer clarity. This yeast is recommended for the production of a large range of ale beers and is specially well adapted to cask-conditioned ales and fermentation in cylindro-conical tanks. Attenuation: Medium Flocculation: High Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59 – 75F
Safbrew Abbaye Safbrew Abbaye is recommended for brewing abbey beers with higher alcohol content. This strain ferments very quickly and gives your beer a subtle and well-balanced aroma. Top fermenting yeast recommended to brew abbey type beers, known for their high alcohol content. It ferments very fast and reveals subtle and well-balanced aromas. Also suitable for bottle conditioning. Staff suggestion: Use a blowoff tube. Attenuation: High Flocculation: High Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59-77°F
Safbrew S-33 A very popular general purpose yeast, displaying both very robust conservation properties and consistent performance. This yeast produces superb flavor profiles and is used for the production of a varied range of top fermented special beers (Belgian type wheat beers, Trappist, etc.). Also recommended for bottle-conditioning of beers Attenuation: High Flocculation: Medium Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59 – 75F Alcohol Tolerance: Excellent performance in beers with alcohol contents of up to 7.5% but can ferment up to 11.5%.
Safbrew T-58 A speciality yeast selected for its estery somewhat peppery and spicy flavor development. Also recommended for bottle-conditioning of beers. Attenuation: High Flocculation: Medium Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59 - 75 Alcohol Tolerance: Excellent performance in beers with alcohol contents of up to 8.5% but can ferment up to 11.5%.
Safbrew WB-06 A speciality yeast selected for wheat beer fermentations. The yeast produces subtle estery and phenol flavor notes typical of wheat beers. Recommended styles: Dunkelweizen, Fruit Beer, German Hefe-Weizen, Roggenbier (German Rye Beer), Weizen/Weissbier, Weizenbock. Attenuation: High Flocculation: Low Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 59 – 75F
Saflager S-23 This bottom fermenting yeast is originating from the VLB (Berlin) in Germany and is known under the code RH. The strain is used by Western European commercial breweries and has been reported to produce lagers with some fruity and estery notes. Attenuation: 73 – 77% Flocculation: High Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 48 – 59F, ideally 53
Saflager W-34/70 This famous yeast strain from Weihenstephan in Germany is used world-wide within the brewing industry. Thanks to its technological properties, this strain has become the most popular strain for lager brewing and is used by industrial breweries and brewing groups around the globe. Attenuation: 73 – 77% Flocculation: Medium Optimum Fermentation Temperature Range: 48 – 59F
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