---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  Wyeast bursting (Ed Sieja)
  Red Star Yeast (Doug Roberts)


Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Archives available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 28 May 90 8:13:15 CDT
From: Ed Sieja <ems!ems at uunet.UU.NET>
Subject: Wyeast bursting


  I recently had a problem with a packet of Wyeast bursting.  But my
  problem was that it bursted when I was breaking the inner seal to
  initiate the packet.  I placed it on the counter and applied the
  usual pressure with the base of my palm and *BLAM* the thing just
  exploded - sending yeast and wort on the counter and floor.  I did
  contact the shop that I had purchased the Wyeast from and did get
  a replacement.  The proprietor informed me that there have been
  quite a few problems with the new larger packets and that many have
  burst in the above mentioned manner.  All since going to the new
  larger envelopes.  Most all have broken at the "fill point".  I did
  send the defective packet back to be analyzed.  I was using the
  Wyeast wheat but it does not seem to be limited to any one strain.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Ed Sieja           / Strictly   /                                         |
|   Intergraph Corp.  /     My     / ...!uunet!ingr!b17c!ems!ems  (uunet)     |
|   Huntsville, AL   /   Opinions /  b17c!ems!ems at ingr.com        (internet)  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+


Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 28 May 90 21:44:40 MDT
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts)
Subject: Red Star Yeast

On the subject of Red Star yeast:

It was I who was mouthing bad about Red Star's dry ale yeast product,
and for those not already familier with the subject, I'd like to tell
you all why. 

Where to start? 

Hmm, well, maybe I'll just jump right in with the facts:

It makes lousy beer.

The evidence:

1. From the 1989 Zymurgy Special Yeast Issue, Red Star was evaluated
along with 13 other dry ale yeasts, five dry lager yeasts, and three
liquid yeasts. Red Star's rating on a scale of 0 - 10: 0. The comments
on the qualities that the yeast imparted to the wort were "very
highly phenolic".

By comparison, the three highest scoring dry ale yeasts were
Whitbread, 7, "vanila, honey, floral; John Bull, 7, "fruity, acidic";
and Munton & Fison, 8, "floral, slightly fruity".

Unfortunately, certain batches of Munton & Fison have suffered a wild
yeast contamination since this article was published.

2. From Byron Burch, author of "Brewing Quality Beers" and proprietor
of Great Fermintations in Santa Rosa: "The only reason we carry Red
Star yeast is there is a market for it: some people won't pay more
than 50 cents for yeast." He told me this in a phone conversation we
had last month while discussing Munton & Fison's contamination
problems. 

3. Personal, comparitive experience: Another member of my home brew
club (The HillHoppers, of Los Alamos) and I brewed identical brown ale
recipes. My starting gravity was 1.042 and his was 1.043. My end
gravity was 1.008, his was was 1.022. My brown ale was a nice, dry
London brown; his was cloyingly sweet because Red Star is not very 
attenuative, _and_ it was highly phenolic to boot.

4. Most members of my club can now tell upon tasting and smelling a
brew that was made with Red Star: it really is kind of nasty.

But, different strokes, and all that. I for one, however, would like
to see a new product line from the home brew suppliers: pure cultured
_dry_ yeasts. I would also like to see Red Star go the way of the
dinosaur. I feel it's time has passed (the same way Pabst Blue Ribbon's
"Dietetic Malt" time has come and gone) as a quality home brew
product.

- --Doug

================================================================
Douglas Roberts                |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |I can resist anything
Box 1663, MS F-609             |  except temptation.
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545   |  ...
(505)667-4569                  |Oscar Wilde
dzzr at lanl.gov                  |
================================================================

Return to table of contents



End of HOMEBREW Digest #427, 05/29/90
*************************************
-------

---