$2 Brigalow dry yeast

[Malter White]

The tightwad in me needs to ask this:
Has anyone used the Brigalow 5g yeast available at BigW for $2 ?
Would there be negative impacts combining it with Coopers 7g yeast that comes with each kit?
 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Never used it. I don't know what strain it is but it's most likely an ale strain; it may work well combined with the usual kit yeast depending on the kit and fermentation process. You wouldn't combine it with a lager yeast at usual lager temps as it would do nothing at those temps, but it could go alright with the ale yeast.

[Malter White]

2 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Never used it. I don't know what strain it is but it's most likely an ale strain; it may work well combined with the usual kit yeast depending on the kit and fermentation process. You wouldn't combine it with a lager yeast at usual lager temps as it would do nothing at those temps, but it could go alright with the ale yeast.

It says on Brigalow website it's Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These means nothing to me but I'm sure you'd be all over it, Otto.

[Malter White]

Brigalow Brewing Yeast is a pure yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), specially selected for its tolerance to wide temperature variations (16 degrees to 35 degrees), however the ideal fermentation temperature is 25 degrees.

[jackgym]

12 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

Brigalow Brewing Yeast is a pure yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), specially selected for its tolerance to wide temperature variations (16 degrees to 35 degrees), however the ideal fermentation temperature is 25 degrees.

16 degrees to 35 degrees variation would be why Brigalow was popular years ago when we sat the fermenter on the kitchen bench in varying temps.

Back then some home brewers still used the top fermentation method brewed in a plastic garbage bin under a towel where you had to scoop the dead yeast off the top of the wort every so often.

[Malter White]

4 minutes ago, jackgym said:

16 degrees to 35 degrees variation would be why Brigalow was popular years ago when we sat the fermenter on the kitchen bench in varying temps.

Back then some home brewers still used the top fermentation method brewed in a plastic garbage bin under a towel where you had to scoop the dead yeast off the top of the wort every so often.

That's how I used to brew about 20 years ago, Jack, and also why I gave it up pretty darn quickly too. Soooo many failures.

[jackgym]

4 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

That's how I used to brew about 20 years ago, Jack, and also why I gave it up pretty darn quickly too. Soooo many failures.

I started with the bottom fermenting Brigalow kits but got sick of drinking vinegar.

Interestingly enough, I was patching roads in those days and an old bloke came out from one of the houses and said he had a beer for us when we were finished.
So in under his house we went and had a couple of glasses. It was a really good drop. After we'd tried it he said it was home brew.  He showed us his setup
which was the old garbage bin method. Proves it can be perfected if you were retired and had the time.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is just ale yeast. It could be any strain so that in itself doesn't really narrow it down. All of them will ferment between 18 and 35 as well, in fact the yeast actually prefer hotter temps but unfortunately they also produce a lot of shitty flavors at those temps, hence why we tend to ferment them lower around 18-20. Even 25 is too warm really. At a guess it's probably Mauribrew 514.

I wouldn't think a garbage bin would be too different from the current Coopers fermenter in reality. No reason why it couldn't produce nice beer other than the temperature getting ridiculously high like any other fermenter.

[Hairy]

Yeah, my Dad apparently brewed some beer with a mate in the late 60s / early 70's using a garbage bin.

I'm guessing that it would have been appropriate for that beer to stay in the garbage bin.