Do some yeasts work better with specific beer styles than they do others? For example, would some yeasts work better in an Irish Stout than an English Bitter even though they’re both ales?
Yes and no. There are some yeasts that work on many styles and some that are more style specific. I’ve used S-04 on stouts, bitters, barleywines, and milds with good results.
Yeast character is often a hallmark of a beer style. Whether it be clean, funky, estery, or phenolic, different yeasts more often than not produce a different beer. Choose wisely.
Some styles are all about the yeast, like german hefeweizen or pretty much any Belgian beer. Other styles are more yeast neutral. If you wanted to you could use US05 for pretty much any american style ale. For those more yeast neutral styles it all comes down to personal preference.
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm
I suggest visiting Wyeast’s website and just clicking on a few strains to see the variety of things they are good for. For the most part it can be easy guessing. Scottish Ale yeast for a scottish ale or Irish Ale yeast for a stout but that said if you click on some other things they can also be used in their place.
IMHO yeast will have the single greatest impact on a beer. From the strain you choose, to the amount you pitch, to the temperature you ferment at.
[quote=“inhousebrew”]http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm
I suggest visiting Wyeast’s website and just clicking on a few strains to see the variety of things they are good for. For the most part it can be easy guessing. Scottish Ale yeast for a scottish ale or Irish Ale yeast for a stout but that said if you click on some other things they can also be used in their place.[/quote]
I would suggest downloading EZ Brew 1.6 and looking at the yeast, hop and ingredient information in the spreadsheet.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=107231&hilit=brew+here[quote=“gregscsu”]It is an Excel spreadsheet that you can use to create beer recipes. The spreadsheet is an upgraded version of the spreadsheet MullerBrau uses.
The main difference between the original spreadsheet is the addition of EZ Water 3.0 to the mix. I have built EZ Water 3.0 right into the brewing spreadsheet to assist in water calculations and save you time while doing it. The spreadsheet also has updated lists of Malts, Sugars, Hops, & Yeast, including descriptions of each item.
[/quote]
[quote=“inhousebrew”]http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain.cfm
I suggest visiting Wyeast’s website and just clicking on a few strains to see the variety of things they are good for. For the most part it can be easy guessing. Scottish Ale yeast for a scottish ale or Irish Ale yeast for a stout but that said if you click on some other things they can also be used in their place.[/quote]
I love clicking through the different strains on the website and reading the descriptions. It gives you an IDEA of what it will add to a beer.
Obviously the best thing to do is experiment. You may love a yeast that is not the right “style” for the beer you are brewing. But if you like it, go with it. In the end all that matters is good beer.
I agree with this 100%. The end result is the most important thing, and how you get there scarcely matters if the end result is good.
So many new brewers get far too hung up worrying about whether or not the ingredients or the finished beer are “to style” (a phrase that many brewers have in fact come to loathe). Really, it seems lately that the whole concept of ‘beer style’ is in real danger of becoming a bit of a parody of itself.
The only time it matters is when you’re entering competitions. Outside of that arena, it’s not worth fretting over at all.
In one of his columns or blogs, Lew Bryson once summed it up: “Brew with style, not to style.”
I couldn’t have said it better…and certainly not with such clarity and brevity 
I disagree at least to a certain extent and let me explain why. If for nothing else (besides competitions) people should look to style for a basic starting point if you’re new at designing recipes. It’s helpful to know where to start. Now, for those of us who have different malts and their contributions memorized along with what hops they like and how to use them I say style be damned so long as you know what you’re doing, where you’re going and how to get there.
Plus, if no one brewed out of style there would never be any innovation so I think it is necessary to break free of that sometimes. That said, it can be a tricky box to get out of once you get stuck in it.
Thanks for the input, everyone. Some good info here.
