RVA Yeast Labs

[KBVC]

I have used RVA yeast (http://www.rvayeastlabs.com/) in a couple of beers so far. I like the fact that each package has greater than 200 billion cells. I have used the chico strain and was impressed. My son and I were scheduled to brew a dark saison last Saturday October 4th and contacted two homebrew shops around Richmond, VA and asked if they carried RVA saison yeast. Neither had it in stock. We contacted one of the owners of RVA Yeast Labs on September 26th and asked if they had any of the saison I yeast in stock and he told us "no" but he would grow us up some that we could pick up on Friday, October 3rd. We were splitting the batch and my son decided to go with a different strain (RVA 263, Ghost Saison) that was new so they grew up the Saison I for me and the Ghost Saison for him. We brewed on the 4th and I pitched my yeast at 7:00pm. My airlock was going steady at 11:00pm that night. That was some fresh yeast! I use one of the modified stc-1000's and set a profile that started at 70 degrees for 24 hours and ramping up to 85 degrees over the first week. It is still going strong. I highly recommend them.

 

[Sparge]

I've used RVA for my last three brewing sessions. Good folks with a good product. Lots of choices. I'm really loving how the Richmond area is becoming a craft beer city.

 

[stru]

I've been wanting to try their yeast but my homebrew shop doesn't even carry it. I live almost two hours north of Richmond... hope it makes it's way near me sometime soon.

 

[KBVC]

Go to their website and contact them. I am pretty sure they will grow up what you need and ship it to you. I read on here that someone else had some grown and shipped to them. Here is the link to that thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/pac-man-yeast-451265/index2.html

 

[stru]

Go to their website and contact them. I am pretty sure they will grow up what you need and ship it to you. I read on here that someone else had some grown and shipped to them. Here is the link to that thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/pac-man-yeast-451265/index2.html

Thanks! I'll look into that.

 

[Lupulinds]

Glad to hear a good review about their yeast. On a whim, I just bought a vial of their Dunnottar Castle Scottish ale yeast at myLHBS in Falls Church. You should be able to order some online from them if for some reason you can't get it right from the source.

Here's the list of what strains myLHBS has: http://www.mylhbsblog.com/2014/10/new-rva-yeast-labs-varieties.html?spref=fb&m=1

 

[cernst151]

I'll admit it's tempting just to avoid the hassle of yeast starters but since they cost twice as much I think I'll just stick to the starters.

 

[j1n]

They stock it at the Homebrew shop (MYLHBS) i go to but never tried it. 200 billion cells is nice but id make a starter anyways just to save some yeast for later cause yeast washing looks annoying. might try some of their lager yeast next time.

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

I'm in on this RVA yeast labs, next time I buy yeast it will be that. Stone is even coming to Richmond.

 

[Fermented_minds]

Aside from the one native strain and a probiotic Lacto, do they have any unique yeast strains? Seems like all the same stuff already available through White Labs and Wyeast. I'm guessing they're hoping to get customers with the higher pitch rate, but personally I make a starter for every beer, so for me I suppose there would be little advantage to a higher initial cell count in the package. I do like the native yeast capture service though. Wonder how they charge for that?

They also imply that they are the only ones offering 200 billion cells/package ("With twice the numbers of cells as our competitors (200 billion)"), which is disingenuous. GigaYeast also offers 200 billion cells/package for homebrewers, and were in fact that first to do so.