Proudly standing at the ‘intersection of science, education and craft’ White Labs are pushing boundaries to set new standards within the art of fermentation.
They recently launched new low alcohol strain yeast in homebrew sizes, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to reach out to them for this, our small beer issue. They kindly supplied us with some yeasts to send to our Brew Crew, who are currently testing them out. We’ll report back to you in our December issue; in the meantime, check out some great low alcohol recipes on pages 42-45.
We also asked our community of new and seasoned homebrewers if they had any yeasty questions to ask the pros at White Labs to help them with their homebrewing. They came up with some great questions and White Labs had some super helpful answers.
I’ve tried a couple of Norwegian Kviek yeasts and had great results. What is it that makes them so good?
- Greame Stewart
White Labs: Kviek strains have been used in different environments than traditional brewers yeast. They’ve been selected for their flavour and aroma properties over the years from Norwegian farmhouse breweries with warmer fermentation temperatures. Most strains have lost their ability to make phenols and therefore make great flavour and aroma compounds at higher temperatures.
What’s the best way to make a starter and ensure you have a happy yeast ready for pitching? - Dan Wright
White Labs: The best way to make a starter is to boil 2L of lower gravity wort. Once cool, add your WL PurePitch and place it on a stir plate for 24-48hrs. Pitch into your fermentation once ready!
What is the best lager yeast? - Darren Morris
White Labs: Our WLP830 German Ale lager yeast is definitely our most popular lager strain, and it can be used for many different lager styles.
What method would you recommend to cross-breed your own yeast at home? And what kind of equipment would you need to start playing with yeast for a house blend yeast?
- Darren Gregory
White Labs: You really don’t need much to try blending yeast. Ideally, you start with 50%/50% blends and adjust from there. Blending is definitely a fun way to get creative with your brewing and beer profiles.
If you mix two different yeasts together, such as a sweeter producing yeast like your Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP004) and something like a Farm House Yeast (WLP566 Saison) is there a way of doing it other than 50-50? I’m keen to know how you balance the two yeasts together or if one had a priority? - Darren Gregory
White Labs: If you wanted to use a dryer and sweeter strain together in order to produce a sweeter profile, you would want to lower the percentage of the dryer strain as much as 25%. Another option could be to perform an arrested fermentation where you ferment the beer to the desired sweetness and then chill the beer; no blending needed.
How much yeast should you use? I only brew 1 gallon/4 litres all grain and use half a packet (5g)- is that too much or not enough? I find my brew will have a good ferment for a day or so and then that’s about it!
- Richard Hill
White Labs: The amount of yeast you use depends entirely on the health of the yeast. For 1 gal, while you can use 1/2 of PurePitch HB 40 ML, you can also choose to just pitch the whole package.
