How do microbrewers get away with few yeast strains?

[cyanide]

I heard that despite the number of yeast strains out there, most microbreweries make all their styles with one lager and one ale yeast, sometimes even a third strain. I was watching a show about Goose Island and they admit despite all the beer the make, they only keep three strains.

I thought yeast strains were very important, how can they get by with only a few? Does anyone know anything about this?

I'm wondering about this because I'd like to harvest and reuse my old yeasts, but it'd be hard to keep so many different strains. I'd like to be able to make all my ales in the warm months using one strain and all the lagers using another. But I don't see how I could make a Kolsch and a buttery Scotch Ale using the same strain :confused:

[brewmonkey]

It is done for economics and for the beer. The first problem you have to worry about with more then one strain in a brewhouse at a time is cross contamination. Over time one will overtake the other and you do not have the same beer you might have at the begining. While you would think that it would be so slight that you would not notice it, you will start to when you have attenuation and/or flavor problems.

The economics side of it (especially for pubs) is the cost of setting up and maintaining a lab or even buying a pitch from a supplier. I pitch 7bbls and a new slurry is $200 every time I order (or more depending on the yeast).


You can also make do with a single ale strain by choosing wisely and then letting mash temps and fermentation temp do the work for the character of a beer. The same can be said with a lager strain.


Funny you should mention the two beers you did. I make them both and I use the same exact strain of yeast. I have had other brewers (from the area pubs) comment favorably on both. Recipe is your first part, mash temps is the second part and then fermentation temp. There are strains out there that have a fairly large range that they like to work in. For your needs check out White Labs WLP002 strain. It is an English ale strain, but if you check the charts it is well suited for what you would like to do. Go for a lower mash/ferment temp on your Kolsch and higher on both for the Scotch. It is a fast attenuator, Very High Flocc'er and will ferment well at 64F or 70F.

I know others may/will disagree, but you learn to make do with the things you have around. Keeping multiple strains is just not feasible for most of us.

Hope this helps.

[Theakston]

A friend of mine is the brewer at a local brew-pub. He uses Wyeast for pretty much all of his creations and will only capture and reuse the ale yeast (from his main sellers - the IPAs etc.) for 2 maybe 3 brews.

After that it starts to change character and he doesn't have a team of bio-chemists on hand to identify and control the evolving cultures or sub-strains. And Wyeast do.

Whenever he creates a Belgian ale and has a strain with Brettanomyces ( a hardy wild yeast ), he has to essentially sterilize his entire operation for fear of cross contaminiation.

Admittedly this is only a small-ish operation (doesn't bottle or anything but has a good turnover of drafts).

Is this what most microbrewers do, I wonder? taking their yeast from commercial suppliers. It makes sense to me that this would be the most practical way for a small operation.

I'd be interested if Brewmonkey's experiences are similar.

[paul84043]

I think that is one main reason why alot of micro's will have a similar flavor profile to several of thier beers. I believe that many of them also stick to only a few, or even one type of hop.

There are many ways to change the flavor and character of the beer. The yeast is extremely important, but there is also temperature, types of grains used (The main difference between a pilsener, an amber ale and a stout is more or less roasted grains) and adjuncts. Hops also have a huge impact on the flavor, aroma and character of your beer.

[croc4]

That is one of my biggest complaints about micro's, at least the ones in silicon valley. They tend to tase all the same, if you lined up their beers and tasted them with the intention of naming who brewed them you would be very hard pressed. Maybe the reason is the lack of variety in the yeast?

I would love to be able to go to 5 different brew pubs and be able to taste a unique signature beer that was different from any other.
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