Steam beer weekend and questions

Hi there,

plan to do a steam beer this weekend. Not a true Cali Common but inspired version.

I just called my LHBS and found that he no longer carries liquid yeast. I had planned on wyeast 2112.

He has S-23 and one other I cant recall. I guess I’m kind of stuck there but my question is actually how much dry to pitch in a steam beer.

Do I select “hybrid” on MrMalty since this is an Ale recipe using a lager yeast? If so I believe it is telling me roughly 1.2 packs if they are 11grams for the predicted OG 1.051.

Thanks All!

I used S-23 on a steam beer and in my humble opinion, it turned out outstanding. Used one packet with a gravity of 1.060ish.

Shhhh, don’t let Denny know - that’s his least favorite yeast and he’s not afraid to condemn it if he hears about someone using it. But I had good experience with it!

:cheers:

Thanks!

I actually decided to go with the 34/70. I brewed this one with my Dad in mind. He’ll be heading north from sunny Florida in the next couple months and he is not a true fan of microbrew stuff, so I wanted something he might enjoy.

Will try the S-23 next time if this brew is a flop.

I check on the fermenter this morning. It is sitting at 60 degress with the ambient air temp in the basement of 53 degress. I’m thinking that is just about right for this one.

Should this need longer in the fermenter than if I was doing a standard ale fermenting in the higher 60s low 70’s? OG was a little bit higher than predicted at 1.054 IIRC.

If you rehydrated and followed the Mr. Malty pitch concentration recommended, it could be done in a couple weeks, but I like to leave beer in the primary for a month before racking (still check gravity). If you intend to brew again relatively soon after racking from primary, you can harvest the yeast and reuse it - somewhere around half of the sediment for a lager. 34/70 is the Wehenstephaner yeast - very good and durable, too, in terms of repitching generations…

[quote=“Kgetch”]Thanks!
I actually decided to go with the 34/70.
Will try the S-23 next time if this brew is a flop.
[/quote]

It won’t be, 34/70 is a good yeast. The liquid version, Wyeast 2124 I think, is supposed to be good to use at ale temperature, so 60 should be no problem.

Thanks guys!

FOR SURE plan to harvest this yeast when its done! At $7 for a single dry packet I have to!!!

I’ve been checking on the fermenter each day and evening. It’s hanging in mid to lower 50s and burping steadily now at once every 5-7 seconds.

This is alot slower than I’m used to seeing but I’ve never fermented this low a temp so I’m not sure if this is “normal”.

[quote=“Kgetch”]Thanks guys!

FOR SURE plan to harvest this yeast when its done! At $7 for a single dry packet I have to!!!

I’ve been checking on the fermenter each day and evening. It’s hanging in mid to lower 50s and burping steadily now at once every 5-7 seconds.

This is alot slower than I’m used to seeing but I’ve never fermented this low a temp so I’m not sure if this is “normal”.[/quote]

$7 a pack? And the guy no longer sells liquid yeast? It wouldn’t take very many packs at our host’s price to cover the cost of shipping. I think it’s time for you to do some mail ordering.