For many years, dried beer yeast were basically the same old organism: we considered them all-purpose "mutts" in the purebred world of highly-specialized cultured yeast. Well, that is beginning to change. As always, in business, the weak shall perish, and the strongest will thrive.

All of the "below-average" varieties of generic dried yeast that existed for the past decade have faded away. The dried yeasts of 2006 are much higher in quality and much more specialized than ever. Here is a rundown of what we carry, and some hints of what is to come....

Danstar Nottingham: A great, hard-working alcohol-tolerant fermenter. This is currently our most poular dried yeast, and will ferment most beers down to a crisp, clean, dry finish. Great for IPA, pale ales, stouts or any beer where you want to emphasize hops, and leave little to no malty sweetness...
$1.50 per pack

Danstar Windsor: The sister strain of Nottingham, this goes to the other side of the spectrum. This dried yeast emphasizes rich, sweet, malty flavors, and will mask hop bitterness. It does not ferment high alcohol beers very well (under 6 or 7 % is fine), and will leave beers fuller-bodied and thicker. Great for goldens, fruit beers, alts, brown ales and any beer that you do not want to have dry and/or bitter.
$1.50 per pack

Coopers: This is our most all-purpose beer yeast. Relatively dry, and relatively clean, it has been very popular over the years, but has recently been displaced in popularity by Nottingham, which has a more "professional" finish. Still, there is nothing wrong with this old stand-by, and will ferment most beers to dryness. $1.50 per pack

SAF US-56: This is our newest strain, it is the dehydrated form of Wyeast 1056, our most popular liquid yeast. Its origin is the Sierra Nevada Brewery, and is often called the Chico strain. It is very alcohol-tolerant, ferments beers clean and dry, and can be used for any microbrew-style beer, particularly IPA's, pale ales, porters, stouts, ambers and blondes. SAF dried yeasts are propogated in laboratories, and thus they can -- and do -- approach the quality of liquid yeasts. But since they are dried, they will ferment beers to completion faster than liquid cultures...
$3.00 per pack

SAF S-04: This is our other newsest strain. S-04 is an English-strain that is known as a highly flocculant (fast-settling) variety, yet with malty and complex fruity flavor. Great for English-style pale ales, porters, stouts and brown ales, this will produce true English characteristics in any beer. SAF dried yeasts are propogated in laboratories, and thus they can -- and do -- approach the quality of liquid yeasts. But since they are dried, they will ferment beers to completion faster than liquid cultures...
$3.00 per pack

SAF T-58: This is a dehydrated Belgian-style yeast that has a very "Chimay" quality. Spicy, estery and complex, this strain benefits from warm-temperature fermentation and will leave that distinctive Belgian character in your beers.
$3.00 per pack