Re: Wyeast or white labs

Jonathan, Very interesting point. Initially, I observed some similarities to your results and did try a few "side by side" comparisons. What I found in early cases was the Whitelabs seemed to take off more rapidly and finish more quickly. Then I started tracking the time in storage between yeast packaging and the innoculation of my starter. I discovered the stored Whitelab yeast culture seem to loose potency faster than smack packs. I concluded it is not practical to rely on liquid yeast that has been in a package for more than 2 months. After discarding old yeast and purchasing fresh clutures, my starters start faster and my beer takes off very well and seems to finish at appropriate gravity levels. I have noticed some differences between the "similar" cultures and over the years have made notes on repeated recipes. OK, it is a low tech thing to use but results count. An example is the Bohemian Pils I served last week. The 2206 culture may be wrong for the style but I have had excellent results with clarification. It was a 2 week old smack pack stepped up to a liter and then 3. The starter was equally divided into two carboys of bitter wort. Fermentation started in 6 hours and by the next morning, fermenting temperature had reached 52°. I am personally not able to taste the difference between the actual recommended yeast and my choice but visually, when I brew a light colored pilsner, the beer looks much nicer if it is clear. For almost all brewing, I have returned to Wyeast small smack packs due to their functionality and low cost. I especially appreciate Midwest's practice to order the yeasts they don't normally stock. Add a column to your experiment and include the production date or the best by date. There may be a little confusion between the way those guys date their products but remember, it is an experiment. My Nickel Rick O has anyone tried side by side recipes, or at least repeated the same recipe, and compared Wyeast to White Labs? Recently I started brewing recipes with White Labs yeast that I've repeated several times before with Wyeast and I've noticed differences in how quickly (or slowly) they ferment but I don't know if it is just my luck, system or recipes. 1) starter solutions seem to take longer to step up. I like to step the starter up a few times, pouring off the "beer", to gather lots of yeast. With the same basic sterile wort solution and fresh yeast the White Labs seems to take long to complete the cycle and drop out. Some varieties (pilsner) don't drop well at all. 2) the initial fermentation (both starters and real recipes) seem to start faster with White Labs which is a good thing. I often see good activity in less than 6 hours. 3) fermentations seem to take much longer to complete As I repeat recipes that I have made several times before with Wyeast I can see a significant difference (days) in time to complete fermentation with the White Labs. Aeration, yeast nutrient, recipe, starting gravity, temperature - all as close to the same as I can control. As I think back to the first few recipes I tried with White Labs I do remember having to be very patient while waiting for the fermentation to complete, but I didn't have anything with which to compare. Somewhat like watching a kettle boil. If anyone else has experience with switch between yeast brands on a recipe, or other suggestions I'd appreciate the response. The faster start and the slower finish is what really has be confused. Since this is working out to be such a great basis for an experiment I think I will try the next step. One of my next brews I will try a side by side comparison. I will make starter solutions from each brand and split a batch to really compare differences (including taste) from what should be the same. Thanks Jonathan