![]() Moreover, I’ve found W-34/70 produces a rather fine lager even when fermented at ale temperatures and wonder if I’d achieve the same results with S-189. While the beers in this xBmt weren’t distinguishable by a significant portion of tasters, I’m curious if that would have been the case in beers of different styles or higher OG. In the end, my love of W-34/70 persists and I’m glad to be able to add another easy to use dry yeast option to my repertoire. There’s no doubt in my mind W-34/70 is microbiologically different than S-189, in fact Fermentis’ specification sheets indicate as much, and yet both produced beers of equal quality. If only I had a time machine… What I do find interesting is the fact two institutions known for their quality yeast programs, Weihenstephaner and Hürlimann, were fermenting with strains that presumably produced finished beers of such similarity. And that’s pretty much what happened, based on both the blind data and my experience. After all, both are lager strains known for imparting a very restrained yeast character, allowing the other ingredients in a beer to shine through. The fact participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Vienna Lager fermented with Saflager W-34/70 from one fermented with Saflager S-189 doesn’t strike me as all that Earth shattering. ![]() ![]() Out of 7 attempts, my performance was no better than chance– I was correct twice. Even with my hyper-focus on mouthfeel and drinking water between each sample, it became clear to me any differences between the beers were too small for me to be able to tell them apart. Would this be enough for me to be able to distinguish them in triangle tests? Nope. The only area I felt there might be a difference was in mouthfeel, noting the beer fermented with S-189 as being “slightly more viscous” than the W-34/70 version. Both beers had a clean fermentation profile with no phenols or esters, the Vienna Malt shone through with a subtle toasty-nut from the small dose of Pale Chocolate, and bitterness was perceptibly equal, as was overall noble hop character. Surprisingly, even with my insanely biased palate, my tasting notes were far more similar than they were different. Given my intimate knowledge of the variable, I decided that rather than jumping right into semi-blind triangle tests, I would sample the beers one after the other, take notes on what I perceived, then compare them for similarities and differences. My Impressions: I was pretty excited to try what was to me a new yeast strain, Saflager S-189, especially since I enjoy W-34/70 so much and was stoked to try another dry yeast option. In order to reach statistical significance with this number of participants, 12 (p<0.05) would have had to accurately select the odd-beer-out, though only 9 (p=0.29) chose the correct sample, suggesting participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Vienna Lager fermented with Saflager W-34/70 from one fermented with Saflager S-189. Would yeasts from different sources used to make similar styles of beer in different regions demonstrate differences in fermentation characteristics or potentially produce their own unique character?Ī total of 22 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each taster was served 1 sample of the beer made with Saflager W-34/70 and 2 samples of the beer made with Saflager S-189 in different colored opaque cups then asked to select the unique sample. Brewing a wide array of classic lager styles such as Helles, Festbier, and Bock, Hürlimann was founded in 1836 by Albert Hürlimann who, at least according to a mostly reliable source, led the world in the scientific study of yeast, a fact that made using S-189 all the more interesting to me. Perhaps due my affection for W-34/70 and otherwise biased tendency toward liquid yeast, I only recently heard of another dry lager yeast offering from Fermentis that goes by Saflager S-189.Īccording to the manufacturer, S-189 was sourced from the Hürlimann Brewery out of Zürich, Switzerland. It’s a strain I’ve developed quite a fondness for over the last few years, finding it to be incredibly versatile and easy to use. Noted by Fermentis as being the most popular lager strain in the world sourced from the famed Weihenstephaner Institute, Saflager W-34/70 is used by breweries the world over to craft delicious lager styles. Over the years, various lager strains have been made commercially available to brewers, affording us the ability to tweak our beers to the specs we so desire. In general, lager beer is known for emphasizing malt and occasionally even hops while any yeast derived character is kept to a minimum. Mosaic Of Change IPA by House Of Pendragon.
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