I’ve recently started trying to brew my own wine and beer. I’ve seen various types of yeast sold, supposedly wine yeast, and beer yeast, and separate from bakwers yeast. But does it really make a noticeable difference? It’s all saccharomyces cerevisiae, isn’t it?
I am aware that lager yeast is entirely different species, [saccharomyces pastorianus](Saccharomyces pastorianus).
Check out the various strains offered by White Labs or Wyeast, and you’ll see the answer is yes, definitely. Yeast strains differ by things like ideal temperature range, alcohol content they can survive in, and - quite importantly - the flavor they impart to beer. For instance, the exact yeast strain makes the major flavor difference between a classic German cloves-and-banana wheat beer vs a lemony wheat beer.
And a chihuahua is the same as a mastiff, right? They’re both just canis lupus familiarus.
Was posting from my iPhone earlier - just check out the yeast strain guide for beer yeasts from White Labs, for instance. They really are as different as chihuahuas up to Great Danes.
Just expanding on this - I have one beer in the carboy right now and two up in line to brew next.
My first is a very simple American honey wheat beer, so I’m going with Wyeast’s American Wheat yeast. It produces a crisp, tart beer - the lemony taste that you want in certain wheat styles. This will complement the honey and wheat. Using a Germanic banana/clove wheat yeast like their Weihenstephan Weizen yeast would be completely wrong for that style (though delicious when used in the right beer).
Next I’m going for a simple southern English brown ale, and using Wyeast’s NeoBrittania yeast, which is good for a lot of English beer styles. It has some good ester (lightly “fruity”) flavors.
Finally, a bourbon-and-oak-infused porter, so a Wyeast Scottish Ale yeast is a good candidate here. It can tolerate a higher alcohol content than the other yeasts I’m using, and has a cleaner flavor (unless you ferment it warmer).
Now, there’s nothing wrong with using a very basic “generic” ale yeast, but you may well find that your beer’s flavor doesn’t come out quite like you’d hoped. Considering the number of things that can be done not quite right when brewing beer, it pays to try to at least get certain things done as well as you can.
But in the words of Charlie Papazian (quite possibly the godfather of American homebrewing), “Relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew!”
Yeah, I wouldn’t even worry about imitating styles of beer until you’ve produced a few drinkable batches. If you’re just starting, technique will make a bigger difference than the finer points of yeast. But as Ferret Herder says, different strains impart different flavors and have different alcohol tolerances. They also have different life cycles and water chemistry preferences. But general-purpose ale or lager yeast will produce a potable beer, no problem. I get the impression that wine is a lot more complicated in such particulars, though.
If you haven’t already, get your hands on a copy of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing or any of Papazian’s books. Well worth the few bucks it cost.
As a beginner, Papazian is the guy to rely on. Just realize that Charlie is very basic. You will very quickly move past where he is of any help.
The Brewmaster’s Bible is the one I loved. I read Papazian first but this one is better in my view.
Different yeasts flocculate(?) differently, produce differing diacetyl amounts, have differing alcohol tolerances which in turn drives the final flavour profile of the beer. It makes a difference but when you’re starting out, relax, have a homebrew and use a basic one. When you get into partial and full mash brewing then you may want to step it up a notch.
See also the entire Palmer book, How to Brew available for free online.
Palmer’s online version of How to Brew is a superb starter work. It’s what got me into brewing.
My husband had bought one of those “Mr. Beer” kits on a whim but wasn’t having real success with what he brewed. He said that I’m good at recipes but he isn’t, so maybe I should take a look at it. I read the instructions then searched online for more info, and came upon Palmer’s site. It really opened my eyes. From there I bought a real brewing starter kit, and just kept going.
I’d lost Palmer’s site! Well … I’d stopped brewing for a while, lost the site in the interim and then never went looking but I’m glad to see it pop up.