Harvesting yeast from a conical fermenter is one of the most reliable yeast management techniques available to homebrewers who have invested in conical fermentation vessels — the cone geometry makes clean yeast collection straightforward compared to
John Brewster
John Brewster
John Brewster is the homebrewer and writer behind BrewMyBeer — over a decade of all-grain brewing, 80+ BIAB batches, and 1,000+ guides on fermentation science, water chemistry, hops, yeast, and homebrewing equipment. Every guide is written from genuine hands-on experience.
Propagating yeast from commercial cans and bottles is one of the most satisfying techniques in homebrewing — you can culture the house yeast from Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Schneider Weisse, Orval, or any unfiltered commercial beer and brew with the …
Omega Yeast’s Cosmic Punch (OYL-402) and Star Party (OYL-403) are two thiol-activating yeast strains specifically engineered to unlock latent thiols in hops and malt, producing passion fruit, guava, and grapefruit aromatic intensity that standard ale
Wyeast 1056 American Ale and White Labs WLP001 California Ale are the two most used liquid yeast strains in American homebrewing — both derived from the Chico strain (the same culture used by Sierra Nevada Brewing), both producing the clean, …
Imperial Yeast A38 Juice and Imperial Yeast A24 London Fog are the two most popular hazy IPA-specific strains in Imperial’s catalog, and I’ve fermented wort splits with both to understand what distinguishes them in the final beer.
Liquid yeast versus dry yeast is the most persistent debate in homebrewing supply choices, and after brewing with both formats for years across dozens of styles, I’ve developed a clear framework for when each format wins.
Belle Saison and French Saison are Lallemand’s two saison yeast offerings — both targeting the farmhouse ale tradition, both producing the phenolic-fruity-spicy character that defines the style, but with different intensity and character profiles tha
Diamond Lager and NovaLager are two newer additions to the dry lager yeast market that address specific gaps left by the established W-34/70 and S-23 options.
WB-06 and Munich Classic are the two most widely used dry wheat beer yeasts — WB-06 from Fermentis for German Hefeweizen character; Munich Classic from Lallemand targeting the same style.
BE-256 and T-58 are Fermentis’s two dry Belgian ale yeasts — both produce the spicy, phenolic, fruity character that defines Belgian ale styles, but with meaningfully different profiles that suit different Belgian beer categories.