Fermentis Safbrew dry yeasts

[cidertimebaby]

Are they notoriously bad yeasts? I used a Safbrew S-33 in my last batch because that's what came with the kit. After brewing was done I started reading up on this yeast and read experiences of people saying it kicks off very rapidly and comes to a hard stop after about 2 days. Sure enough I had the same result and very poor attenuation. With the product advertised as high attenuation and alcohol tolerance(even on the HBT wiki) The beer turned out very sweet and pretty gross with some harsh off flavours, so needless to say I'm skeptical of using Safbrew anymore.

Now I ordered some new kits and it seems they come with Safbrew t-58. Soo I ordered a couple sachets of Nottingham Dry Ale yeast on the side with my order and am thinking of using that instead. The beer kit is a 5.25 gallon Belgian Strong Dark Ale.

Anyone have experience using the Safbrew S-33 and/or T-58 or any other Safbrew yeast and how were the results? Should I go with the T-58 because the Nottingham is no good for this style beer?

 

[bleme]

I use Safbrew yeasts almost exclusively and have never had a problem. What are you using for temperature control?

I definitely wouldn't use Nottingham on a Belgian.

I've only used T58 once and never used S-33. Belgian styles is the one time I usually use a liquid yeast.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I've never had a bad experience with Fermentis yeasts. They do exactly what they are designed to do, as far as I can tell.

 

[Miraculix]

Fermentis is one of the most reliable dry yeast producers I tried. Their classic workhorses are safale 04 and safale us 05. The first one with more fruity esters, the second one cleaner. I love both. 04 would be my "choose one yeast for the lonely island" yeast.

 

[Minky]

I used US-05 for several years then, suddenly, I noticed a very strange taste and smell when using it. I'm apparently the weird one, because I haven't heard others complain about it.

I LOVE W34/70.

 

[FunkedOut]

US-05 and W34/70 have always been good to me.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Are they notoriously bad yeasts?

You can't generalise to a whole range like that. S-04 and US-05 are very heavily used, including by many big-name commercial breweries. It has to be said that S-33 doesn't seem to be used much, it's possibly the least-well regarded of the range. While a lot of people like liquid yeast for Belgians, it's worth noting that Struise use T-58 for many of their beers like Pannepot and it even seems to be used as part of a blend in some of the famous New England IPAs, I'd suggest if it's good enough for Struise then it's good enough for you. Certainly I''d use T-58 over Nottingham for a Belgian. As it happens I have a T-58 beer in the fermenter at the moment, I really ought to be bottling it... But it''s not meant to be the "shoutiest" Belgian strain, but that's probably no bad thing.

 

[cidertimebaby]

Ok then I have used the Safale US-05 in the past and had a great result. Then what is the difference between Safale and Safbrew, because there is nothing on Fermentis website listing any Safbrew yeasts. Safale is their ale line and SafLager are their lager strains. I was actually under the impression that Safbrew was some off-brand copy of Safale.
All I know is Safbrew S-33 was terrible and also read bad things here. Didn't want to ruin another batch with safbrew yeast but if I will give the T-58 a try if it's recommended and the better yeast for this style of beer.

 

[chickypad]

They are the same, they used to call some of them safbrew and now I think they are all either named safale or saflager. If you peruse the fermentis sight there are still places that refer to safbrew strains- like on the tips and tricks page. Also see the S-33 spec sheets below, looks like the one titled safbrew is from 2012 and the safale from 2016 but they have identical info. Sounds like you just don't like that strain.

http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFBS33.pdf
http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/SafAle-S-333.pdf

 

[Northern_Brewer]

No, Safbrew is just what they call all their Belgiany and specialist yeasts.

While S-33 isn't the easiest yeast to work with, if I was you I'd be asking myself if there was anything I had done to make things worse - what kind of temperature were you fermenting at, did you rouse it, what mash profile did you use, that kind of thing.

 

[thehaze]

SafAle S-33 is an all purpose yeast ( the old EDME strain ) which is a poor attenuator, but I have made heavily dryhopped IPAs with it, high FG, but never felt gross, uninspiring, etc. It was actually pretty good.

The rest of the yeast from Fermentis are also good. T-58, although not the most estery and phenolic yeast, it does make belgian beer, both light and dark. S-04 and US-05 are very reliable yeasts, along with teh aforementioned 34/70. I also tried K-97 and have been very happy with it.

 

[Pkrd]

I used US-05 for several years then, suddenly, I noticed a very strange taste and smell when using it. I'm apparently the weird one, because I haven't heard others complain about it.

Some people complain about all of a sudden getting a peach flavour from US05.

 

[Lefou]

The viability of the Fermentis yeast is fairly impressive. One of my sealed, unopened packets of Belgian was in the refrigerator almost one year. After re hydration that particular starter was pitched and was active within a few hours, finishing in 4-6 days at 20C/70F ambient.
I do have certain preferences for yeasts but they have to be used under the right temps for best performance.

I see no problem with mild peachy impressions in a summer ale. On the other hand, if it's at an oppressive level as found in some seasonal brews from commercials I've bought, such beer goes down the drain.

 

[brewbama]

S-33 is an English strain that does not utilize maltotriose. Several other English strains such as S-04, Windsor, London ESB, etc also do not use this simple sugar. The result will be fuller body and residual sweetness in beer. Be advised to adjust gravities and mash temperatures according. This is why most English recipes call for invert, demerara, turbinado and other sugars that these yeasts can use. English breweries also pump the fermenting wort thru a fish tail to keep the yeast active. If you plan well you can get a great English style beer from this strain. Several liquid English strains are in the same boat so to attribute this to Fermentis is misplaced.

This is a pretty good recipe that takes the English yeast characteristics into account:

View attachment IMG_1003.jpg

 

[Minky]

Some people complain about all of a sudden getting a peach flavour from US05.

I had heard that US-05 would cause a peachy flavor at certain fermentation temps, and that may be what I'm tasting.

I first noticed the weird flavor and odor approximately 3 years ago. So, is it your impression that the people complaining about the peach taste were also describing it as a sudden change to the US-05?

I used to swear by that yeast, and now I can't stand it.

 

[day_trippr]

ime US-05 run cool will do that peach thing; combined with an under-pitch it will do it even more.
imo it's not a good peach, so I run a solid pitch of US-05 at 67°F wort temp for the first 3-4 days and avoid it entirely...

Cheers!

 

[z-bob]

My favorite general purpose ale yeast is K-97. I've also had good luck with T-58, especially when brewing in summer.

I used S-33 for the first time a few weeks ago. The beer was finished fermenting in 3 days, or so I thought. I tasted it; it was good. The hydrometer said it was done. I added some gelatin to drop out the yeast, and it started fermenting again and climbed out the airlock. When that subsided I moved the carboy out to my unheated garage to drop out the yeast. Was going to bottle it today, but only the top half is clear so I will give it a few more days. I could bottle it now, but i don't want that much sediment in the bottles.

I put a gallon of apple juice and 3 oz of sugar on a little of the S-33 I collected from the primary. It fermented very nicely; no drama. It's clearing now and about ready to bottle. It might be finished before the beer, even tho' the beer had a 10 day head start. The cider is definitely clearing faster.

 

[brewbama]

ime US-05 run cool will do that peach thing; combined with an under-pitch it will do it even more.

imo it's not a good peach, so I run a solid pitch of US-05 at 67°F wort temp for the first 3-4 days and avoid it entirely...



Cheers!

Bry-97 Ballatine’s Ale Yeast is a good substitute for US-05 Chico without the esters IMO. I prefer Bry-97 over US-05 but if you try it expect a significant startup lag. YMMV

 

[eric19312]

My biggest question with Safale yeast is pitch rate.

If you read the product literature Fermentis certifies >6 billion cells per gram getting you to about 70 billion cells per pack. But I routinely see claims of 200 billion cells per package online (Mr Malty etc). I guess most of the pitch rate calculator development is driven by the manufacturers of liquid yeast but would be nice to get a better handle on how to use these calculators for dry yeast too.

 

[ericbw]

For some reason, I think S-33 was a go-to yeast years ago. It can go to sleep after a week or so, then starts back up in a few days. Personally, I won't use it again because I think there are better choices for all of its positive attributes. (I have had bad luck with WB-06, too, although others say it makes a nice hefeweizen.)

If you use Nottingham, you will have a disappointing Belgian ale. Much of the character of Belgian styles comes from the yeast. I have never used T-58, but I don't think it has the bad rep that S-33 does. I would try it before using Nottingham.

 

[BugEyedValiant]

I made a cream ale and used S-33 for the yeast because I had it laying around. Came out with a spice flavor that I wasn't expecting. I did drink the batch, but it was the second worst beer I have made. Won't use that yeast again unless it's a Belgian beer. Was a real lesson that yeast REALLY affects the beer.

 

[z-bob]

I'm about to bottle my S-33 beer. It was settling out and the top half of the carboy was clear 2 days ago. Now the whole thing is cloudy again. I'll put it up in large plastic bottles. Don't think I'll ever use the yeast again for beer even if it tastes good, but I might use it in cider. That gallon of cider will be ready to bottle in a few days.

 

[augiedoggy]

I was speaking with a brewery owner just last night who uses s-33 for many of his house ales ( cream ale and wheat beers as well as his IPA) and was swearing by it pointing out a brick of it is less than half the cost of the 05 for some reason and that it attenuates better in his opinion.

Its basically there version of the san diago super wlp090 or California common yeast.