Yeast choice makes a big difference.

[The departed]

I have the luxury a few conical fermenters with dump valves.  I rack my beers 4 times over 30-45 days fermenting at the very lower end of the yeast operating range. I've made many side by side brews with Coopers yeast in 1 fermenter and a known commercial yeast in the 2nd fermenter, and the taste between the two is instantly noticeable.  Before going down the path of boiling/steeping various hops I would recommend first trying a different yeast in addition to the packed yeast. If you like a drier, cleaner tasting bear, use a dry enzyme as well, I always do.  I've had good results with Saflager SO5 for American style Pale ales you can also use Mangrove Jack M36, SO4 for English ales, or for a clean neutral taste the lets the malt shine through use Saflager S33, and for Stouts/Porters, Mangrove Jack M15, do the research there's so much more....

[Kegory]

Many of the ROTMs and recipes in the Recipe section call for different yeasts. 

[jennyss]

20 hours ago, Vincent said:

I've made many side by side brews with Coopers yeast in 1 fermenter and a known commercial yeast in the 2nd fermenter, and the taste between the two is instantly noticeable.

@Vincent, I'd be interested to hear more about the differences you taste between the same two brews with the different yeasts.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Yeah i havent used a coopers ale yeast in years. Not really a fan of it at all. The lager yeast i used to use quite often as it gave a nice clean taste. The coopers yeasts will not be as good as the others because the yeasts are meant to be all rounders rather than style specific yeasts. 

Have a look at the liquid yeasts too. There is so much variety out there and if you learn to make yeast starters you can use them for years.

[Kegory]

12 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

Yeah i havent used a coopers ale yeast in years. Not really a fan of it at all. The lager yeast i used to use quite often as it gave a nice clean taste. The coopers yeasts will not be as good as the others because the yeasts are meant to be all rounders rather than style specific yeasts. 

Have a look at the liquid yeasts too. There is so much variety out there and if you learn to make yeast starters you can use them for years.

How many batches and how many generations do you get out of a single liquid yeast packet @Greenyinthewestofsydney?

In How To Brew, Palmer says he doesn't go beyond the 7th generation of a yeast (saying that yeast behaviours/characters can change [mutate?] over time) but he gives also provides an example where he has 15 batches (up to a maximum 7th generation) propagated from the original yeast packet.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

10 hours ago, Kegory said:

How many batches and how many generations do you get out of a single liquid yeast packet @Greenyinthewestofsydney?

In How To Brew, Palmer says he doesn't go beyond the 7th generation of a yeast (saying that yeast behaviours/characters can change [mutate?] over time) but he gives also provides an example where he has 15 batches (up to a maximum 7th generation) propagated from the original yeast packet.

I had a WY2000 Budvar into the 20s. I still have a WY1214 Chimay yeast now which I bought in 2016. It would be in the high 20s or early 30s. I dont even count now. The Budvar I threw as it gave a weird taste on a batch which didnt suit the pilsener style. The chimay mutated as well about 10 or so batches ago and got this nice little sweetness in the batches which I actually enjoy more than the original. The key in my opinion is to overmake the starters so you get clean yeast to make your next starter and so on. Trying to keep it from trub you won't get too many before it goes pear shaped. One of the guys who has been here a long time @Otto Von Blotto posted his process a few years ago. Have a search for it. It's a good read.

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

I had a WY2000 Budvar into the 20s. I still have a WY1214 Chimay yeast now which I bought in 2016. It would be in the high 20s or early 30s. I dont even count now. The Budvar I threw as it gave a weird taste on a batch which didnt suit the pilsener style. The chimay mutated as well about 10 or so batches ago and got this nice little sweetness in the batches which I actually enjoy more than the original. The key in my opinion is to overmake the starters so you get clean yeast to make your next starter and so on. Trying to keep it from trub you won't get too many before it goes pear shaped. One of the guys who has been here a long time @Otto Von Blotto posted his process a few years ago. Have a search for it. It's a good read.

Thanks, that's very interesting.

[Shamus O'Sean]

8 hours ago, Kegory said:

Thanks, that's very interesting.

Here is @Otto Von Blotto's version.  https://community.diybeer.com/topic/12084-reusing-yeast-the-starter-method/#comment-151073

Here is one I did more recently.  Lots of photos and a pdf version you can download.  https://community.diybeer.com/topic/17004-using-a-magnetic-stirrer-for-yeast-starters/#comment-280259

 

[Kegory]

35 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Here is @Otto Von Blotto's version.  https://community.diybeer.com/topic/12084-reusing-yeast-the-starter-method/#comment-151073

Here is one I did more recently.  Lots of photos and a pdf version you can download.  https://community.diybeer.com/topic/17004-using-a-magnetic-stirrer-for-yeast-starters/#comment-280259

 

Thanks Shamus, that's awesome.

[RDT2]

18 hours ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

I had a WY2000 Budvar into the 20s. I still have a WY1214 Chimay yeast now which I bought in 2016. It would be in the high 20s or early 30s. I dont even count now. The Budvar I threw as it gave a weird taste on a batch which didnt suit the pilsener style. The chimay mutated as well about 10 or so batches ago and got this nice little sweetness in the batches which I actually enjoy more than the original. The key in my opinion is to overmake the starters so you get clean yeast to make your next starter and so on. Trying to keep it from trub you won't get too many before it goes pear shaped. One of the guys who has been here a long time @Otto Von Blotto posted his process a few years ago. Have a search for it. It's a good read.

I started doing what Otto was doing it’s works great. My southern German yeast is probably about a year and a half old now. I reckon I have made close to thirty batches with it now! I harvest like Otto does but I also dirty batch with it which makes it even more worthwhile so I reckon I have harvested about 13 times roughly. I now have the London ale yeast and the coastal haze yeast  which I bought for half price as they were out of date but a quick starter and boom  I’ve just made a small starter for an American Hefeweizen which I also got for half price probably won’t harvest that one though!

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, RDT2 said:

I started doing what Otto was doing it’s works great. My southern German yeast is probably about a year and a half old now. I reckon I have made close to thirty batches with it now! I harvest like Otto does but I also dirty batch with it which makes it even more worthwhile so I reckon I have harvested about 13 times roughly. I now have the London ale yeast and the coastal haze yeast  which I bought for half price as they were out of date but a quick starter and boom  I’ve just made a small starter for an American Hefeweizen which I also got for half price probably won’t harvest that one though!

Which London Ale yeast is it? There seem to be a few getting around.

[RDT2]

55 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Which London Ale yeast is it? There seem to be a few getting around.

Wlp013 Whitelabs meant to give oak esters which it seemed to in my brown porter but it seemed to mute the coffee aroma taste which I get when I use S04 so i prefer S04 at this stage as it didn’t over power the malt. Will try it in an Irish red ale with rye and if I don’t like I will toss it.

[Kegory]

14 minutes ago, RDT2 said:

Wlp013 Whitelabs meant to give oak esters which it seemed to in my brown porter but it seemed to mute the coffee aroma taste which I get when I use S04 so i prefer S04 at this stage as it didn’t over power the malt. Will try it in an Irish red ale with rye and if I don’t like I will toss it.

Very interesting, cheers. Let me know how it goes with the Irish red. I chose the Wyeast 1084 for my Irish red ale but that's still a few brews away.

[Back Brewing]

I'll just go get some and settle in

[Kegory]

10 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

I'll just go get some and settle in

Looks like you won't be needing that popcorn now.

[Aussiekraut]

On 8/24/2023 at 9:47 PM, Vincent said:

You could look up a member's profile before discrediting someone. Save some embarrassment. I imagine those interested in a simple way to change a brews taste profile would've looked me up and made a sober assessment.

???

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, Aussiekraut said:

???

A post got removed, whether by the author or by an administrator I don't know.

[Pale Man]

16 minutes ago, Kegory said:

A post got removed, whether by the author or by an administrator I don't know.

By me. I stand by what I posted, but I came across as rude. Each to their own.

[Pale Man]

On 8/24/2023 at 9:17 PM, Vincent said:

You could look up a member's profile before discrediting someone. Save some embarrassment. I imagine those interested in a simple way to change a brews taste profile would've looked me up and made a sober assessment.

I was sober when I posted what I posted thankyou very much. I apologise for coming across as harsh.

But I stand by my opinion. Its a very long stretch to advise the average home brewer to rack their beers 4 times over 45 days, instead of extra hopping. I think its actually ridiculous. But fair enough if thats what you do.

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

I was sober when I posted what I posted thankyou very much. I apologise for coming across as harsh.

But I stand by my opinion. Its a very long stretch to advise the average home brewer to rack their beers 4 times over 45 days, instead of extra hopping. I think its actually ridiculous. But fair enough if thats what you do.

I must have missed that post 

[Cheap Charlie]

Interesting thread. I will try some Coopers kit yeast that I have stockpiled in a batch of AG, maybe 2 sachets and do a comparison when ale season finally arrives. I have only ever tried half a dozen different yeasts. A lot of brewers (online) advise to chuck the kit yeast, which a lot of the time I do, but would love to know the difference between yeasts in a similar batch.

[Kegory]

On 8/27/2023 at 5:57 AM, Cheap Charlie said:

Interesting thread. I will try some Coopers kit yeast that I have stockpiled in a batch of AG, maybe 2 sachets and do a comparison when ale season finally arrives. I have only ever tried half a dozen different yeasts. A lot of brewers (online) advise to chuck the kit yeast, which a lot of the time I do, but would love to know the difference between yeasts in a similar batch.

At the home brew club meeting last Friday the guy I was talking to at the end had a very hazy beer in one hand and a standard looking beer in the other hand. The hazy was a Co-Conspirators hazy IPA that was on tap, fermented with Vermont yeast, and a homebrew of the same recipe that was fermented with Nottingham. They looked like very different beers but he said he couldn't separate them by taste.

[RDT2]

On 8/27/2023 at 3:57 AM, Cheap Charlie said:

Interesting thread. I will try some Coopers kit yeast that I have stockpiled in a batch of AG, maybe 2 sachets and do a comparison when ale season finally arrives. I have only ever tried half a dozen different yeasts. A lot of brewers (online) advise to chuck the kit yeast, which a lot of the time I do, but would love to know the difference between yeasts in a similar batch.

Rather than just chucking the yeast you can throw it in the boil as a yeast nutrient!

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

32 minutes ago, RDT2 said:

Rather than just chucking the yeast you can throw it in the boil as a yeast nutrient!

 

Yeah, I would agree with that, there is nothing wrong with Coopers Yeasts, they do what they are intended to do.

Whenever I do an K & K I add more fermentables & grain additions so quite often I will add 2 x pkts instead of buying a 11-12gm pkts from the LHBS.

The current Real Ale was with 2 pkts & it is a very nice beer, doesn't taste yeasty at all.

[Classic Brewing Co]

20 hours ago, Vincent said:

Apology not accepted, as your conditional apology restated your opinion that my post was 'ridiculous'. I take this as offending.  I reserve the right to consider referring to the moderator. My extensive commercial brewing employment and further home brewing experiments are listed in my profile for all to see. I note you profile is a blank page.

That's a bit precious mate, sounds like an ego thing to me. @Pale Man is a good bloke with years of brewing experience & helped many on this forum over the years, we have all crossed the line sometimes. I would toughen up Princess.