EarlyAmateurZymurgist
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- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
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Purchasing a yeast culture from a culture collection is huge leap of faith in that cultures start at $70.00 and go up to $300.00+. That's a lot of money for a yeast culture. Unlike the cultures that are available via the home brew trade, very little fermentation data is available for most of the yeast cultures that are stored in the major culture collections. Usually, the only data that one has to work with is the species to which a culture belongs, a date of deposit, and the name of the depositor. Sometimes, the origin of the culture is included in a data base entry.
Why would an amateur brewer risk spending $70.00+ dollars on a culture from a culture collection? Maybe, it's because I am looking for the ultimate house yeast. Maybe, it's because I like wasting time and good wort. In reality, the reason why I do it is because pitching an unknown yeast strain brings back that feeling that I had when I first started to brew. There is that "How is this batch going to turn out?" mystery that goes away after one masters the basics of consistent brewing.
With that said, I have been working my way through several yeast cultures that I acquired from a research-oriented culture collection. Thus far, I have found a Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale) yeast strain from an old European brewery that I really like. It has a complex candy-like ester/flavor profile. However, the true surprise has been a Saccharomyces pastorianus (lager) yeast strain from a defunct American brewery that has been in the collection from which I acquired it for a very long time. This yeast strain produces a beautiful beer at 15C (59F). I made single decoction-mashed Pre-Pro Pils that has the malt backbone of a continental lager with just enough esters to be interesting. I am rarely satisfied with a yeast strain, but this culture may be a first that completely blows my socks off. At this point, I am considering it to be the BRY 96 of lager yeast strains.
Why would an amateur brewer risk spending $70.00+ dollars on a culture from a culture collection? Maybe, it's because I am looking for the ultimate house yeast. Maybe, it's because I like wasting time and good wort. In reality, the reason why I do it is because pitching an unknown yeast strain brings back that feeling that I had when I first started to brew. There is that "How is this batch going to turn out?" mystery that goes away after one masters the basics of consistent brewing.
With that said, I have been working my way through several yeast cultures that I acquired from a research-oriented culture collection. Thus far, I have found a Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale) yeast strain from an old European brewery that I really like. It has a complex candy-like ester/flavor profile. However, the true surprise has been a Saccharomyces pastorianus (lager) yeast strain from a defunct American brewery that has been in the collection from which I acquired it for a very long time. This yeast strain produces a beautiful beer at 15C (59F). I made single decoction-mashed Pre-Pro Pils that has the malt backbone of a continental lager with just enough esters to be interesting. I am rarely satisfied with a yeast strain, but this culture may be a first that completely blows my socks off. At this point, I am considering it to be the BRY 96 of lager yeast strains.