Ebay yeast?

[bottlebomber]

Muntons, Danstar, Coopers... do any of these names carry any kind of reputation? I am new to brewing and have just gotten then botique expensive liquid yeasts with my kit. However as I am partial to big beers I am seeing that I am going to be needing 400-500 billion cells, adding yeast before bottling to get carbonation etc so in short I need to be keeping a lot of yeast around. Some of these dry yeasts are available on ebay for as little as a dollar for a 5 gram packet, but are they any good? Obviously production date and treatment all play a role, but assuming the yeast is in good condition, is it good yeast?

 

[ArcaneXor]

Regular Muntons is awful. Muntons Gold and Coopers are decent, but not particularly exciting. I don't use Danstar any more because they have had way too many QC issues during the last couple of years, but when it works, Nottingham is awesome, Windsor is so-so, and Munich is pretty good.

A standard 10.5 satchel of yeast has about 220 billion cells, with roughly 86% of those viable if they are properly rehydrated.

 

[janivar123]

I like some of the danstar ones

 

[samc]

Fermentis is my choice !

 

[bwomp313]

+1 on Fermentis. S-04 and S-05 are both awesome yeasts. You should also look into learning how to make starters with liquid yeasts because there are many yeasts that are only available in liquid cultures and you'd be able to up your cell count that way. And also, washing and reusing yeast is a good, and incredibly cheap option.

 

[frazier]

... adding yeast before bottling to get carbonation etc so in short I need to be keeping a lot of yeast around.

Unless you are doing a 6-month secondary, there is no need to add yeast at bottling time. There are plenty of cells in your apparently clear beer to do the job of carbonation.

 

[bottlebomber]

+1 on Fermentis. S-04 and S-05 are both awesome yeasts. You should also look into learning how to make starters with liquid yeasts because there are many yeasts that are only available in liquid cultures and you'd be able to up your cell count that way. And also, washing and reusing yeast is a good, and incredibly cheap option.

I have flasks and a stirplate, but a 2 liter starter is probably only going to get you into the 2-300 billion range, where some beers require almost twice that. Am I wrong with my calculations? I definitely want to get into washing yeast but it is as yet uncharted territory for me.

 

[bottlebomber]

Unless you are doing a 6-month secondary, there is no need to add yeast at bottling time. There are plenty of cells in your apparently clear beer to do the job of carbonation.

One particular beer 115th dream from Northern Brewer I am making half the people in the feedback are saying either it didn't carbonate, or to make sure you pitch something when you bottle. Ill make sure to bottle a couple without the yeast to see if there's a difference. Its hard to take a gamble against so many peoples experiences with a 60 dollar batch of beer on the line. Very new at this, still highly in the experimentation phase

 

[bottlebomber]

I picked up some "Lalvin" champagne yeast 10x5g for 8 bucks. It says its good for fixing stuck fermentations among other things

 

[Backporchbrewery]

I grabbed a 5-pack of Nottingham for like $7.50 shipped. All had fresh mfg dates.