@akrennmair I see White Labs will release dry WLP860. Lately my favorite lager yeast, and what I’m going to use in my next Vienna Lager. If I can get in dry form in NZ then I will switch to that instead of harvesting and managing liquid yeast.
I still have a love/hate relationship with WLP800, recently using WLP802 instead. Tempted to switch to Mangrove Jack M84 for my Czech beers and just be done with liquid yeasts for those also.
Only remaining - WLP810 for Anchor Steam. Maybe will try M54
@sumisu3 White Labs is venturing into dry yeast now? Cool!
As for Mangrove Jack, I've not had much luck with their bottom-fermented yeast, on two occasions, the yeast just stopped working way too early, ending up with a poorly attenuated beer. I've heard similar stories from other German homebrewers. I hope the quality of their product is better in NZ.
@akrennmair that is concerning about your experiences with Mangrove Jacks. We also now have a local liquid yeast producer here in New Zealand, Froth Technologies. Just brewed a Czech Pale Lager with their Bohemian yeast, Budvar strain evidently, and it is approaching 30 days of lagering so I will be giving it a taste. Local, fresh and supporting a Kiwi business so if this brew turns out well I may use their yeast. They also have a German Lager yeast that I should try.
@akrennmair my understanding is that there's basically 2 historical lager strains (saaz and frohberg) and everything being sold is just a variation of one or the other. Maybe there are some minute differences but...
@Mutedog I‘ve seen this mentioned before, that lager yeast in the grand scheme has very little genetic diversity. One thing to worry less about, I suppose.
As for Saaz-type yeast, I‘m also fairly sure that it‘s basically commercially unavailable to home-brewers. I‘ve spoken to two yeast producers, one of them said their bottom-fermented yeasts are all Frohberg, no exception, while the other one said that Saaz-type yeast just has no commercial relevance anymore b/c of reasons.
@Mutedog the reasons are apparently poor attenuation and poor diacetyl reduction, even though it ferments otherwise cleaner than Frohberg and can deal better with lower temperatures.
@Mutedog hmm, that now makes me wonder whether Wyeast 2001, which I remember as a very distinct diacetyl producer, is actually a Saaz-type yeast. Somebody should ask Wyeast.
@akrennmair I've also gone to dry yeast for all the reasons you mentioned, and because I'm now only doing very small batches (7L). I was wondering you would use for an Altbier if using dry yeast?
@Liam Gozdawa, a Polish manufacturer, has a dry Altbier yeast strain, but I‘ve never tried it. From the strains I know, I‘d most likely choose LalBrew Köln. I used it for a Wiess, and it came out incredibly clean even at 20°C fermentation temperature.
I just looked up this yeast and found the following, “ Lallemand Brewing will no longer be producing LalBrew Köln™ in the foreseeable future. We invite you to contact your local supplier(s) to know if they have stocks left or to reach out for replacement options within the LalBrew range.”
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