Yeasts from Bottle Conditioned Beers

Last updated May 29 1998
See the news page for more information.

You can jump directly to the list of yeasts.

Introduction

Please note that this page is not about how to culture yeast from beer bottles or how to make yeast starters etc, see for example The Brewery's Yeast section for that. The goal of this page is rather to provide information about which bottled beers have alive and useful yeasts in them, and what characteristics those yeasts have.


Contributing Information

In order for this page to get more useful, I will need contributions of information. If you have any further information about any of the yeasts listed, or any information at all about the yeast in any other bottle conditioned beer, then please email it to me for inclusion on this page.

Ideally, such contributions would consist of name of the beer, yeast(s) present, yeast characteristics, similarity with the characteristics of the beer itself, and anything else that might be useful to know.

However, you should not feel that you have to know all the above in order to contribute, all sorts of little bits and pieces might be useful, even down to saying "bottles of brand X has some sediment in them".


Some Explanations

Primary strain
The strain(s) used for primary fermentation, which is also assumed to have provided (most of) the yeast characteristics of the beer.
Bottling strain
Non-primary strain added at bottling time or in the secondary. The implication is that the yeast will not give the same characteristics as the beer the yeast came from (but it might still be a good yeast).
Bottle conditioned
The label says the beer is bottle conditioned, and thus it has live yeast (unless the label is lying...). Note that the yeast may or may not be the primary strain.
Good result(s)
To be strict, it only means that the yeast produced good beer, not necessarily beer that was close to the original.
Commercially available strains
When a strain is thought/known to be the same or very similar to some commercially available strain, I have pointed this out. This not only means there's one more (possibly more reliable) source for the strain, but also that there's more information available on its characteristics. For example the yeast faq provides such descriptions for many yeasts.
{1}
What follows comes from a single report. If you agree with the statement, please report to me. I'd much rather have this page reflecting some kind of consensus rather than single opinions. Of course, if you think anything is wrong, then report that.
[ ]
In general, anything within square brackets are my comments.

Disclaimer

Most of the information on this page has come to me second hand, and I can make no guarantees about the correctness of it. If your beer ends up smelling like the local chemical industry, I want no big brutes with hairy knuckles, a funnel, and a keg at my door. :-) That said, I have tried to make the information as accurate as possible, and you can make it even more accurate by telling me what is wrong or misleading.


General Observations

Bottle conditioned British ales seems to have the primary strain as a rule. A few exceptions have been reported.

Bavarian Hefe-Weizens normally don't have the primary strain, and may well be pasteurized. Schneider Weisse seems to be an exception. Perhaps Sch�fferhofer as well. Others?

Bottle conditioned Belgian ales may or may not have the primary strain, alone or together with some other strain(s). Check extra carefully for aroma/flavour characteristics of the starter.


Yeasts Sorted by Brewery and Beer

Adnams
General
{1} Said to be good for yeast harvesting.

Anchor
General
All beers are probably flash-pasteurized.
Liberty Ale
{1} Difficult to culture. [apparently the flash-pasteurization doesn't quite kill the contents] Very strong fermenter, produces a strong green apple aroma during fermentation. Poor flocculation characteristics. Clean neutral flavors. Possibly a bottom fermenting lager yeast!

Anderson Valley
General
Anderson Valley is said to use Whitbread Ale yeast for all their beers, this would be the same as YeastLab A04 British Ale.
Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout
{1} Live sediment.

Arcense
Arcener Tarwe
Live sediment, strain?
Hertog Jan Grand Prestige
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Hertog Jan Tripel
Live sediment, strain?

Ayinger
Ur-Weisse
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Bells
See Kalamazoo Brewing

Binchoise
Speciale Noel
{1} Mostly bad results.

Bios
General
{1} Said to use the same yeast for Augustijn, Augustijn Grand Cru, and Piraat. Probably Gulden Draak too.
Augustijn
{1} Live yeast, strain? Faster and higher attenuation than Wyeast 1388.
Gulden Draak
{1} Live sediment, seems good.
Piraat
Live sedimant, strain? {1} Faster and higher attenuation than Wyeast 1388.

Blue Ridge
Wheat Beer
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Br. du Bocq
Blanche de Namur
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Regal Christmas
Bottle conditioned, strain?
St Benoit Blond
{1} Probably primary strain.

Bosteels
Karmeliet tripel
{1} Live sedimant, strain?

Bridgeport
India Pale Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?

Brij De Smedt
Affligem Blond
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Affligem Dubbel
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Affligem Tripel
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Brugse Huisbrouwerij
Straffe Hendrik
{1} Live sediment, strain?

Butterknowle Brewery
Conciliation Ale
Good results. {1} Malty and diacetyly. A little slow to clear.

Caledonian
Tempest Fugit
{1} Good results.

Cantillon
General
{1} Full complement of microbes, though not always viable.

Cheval Blanc
Bi�re ambr�e traditionnelle
{1} Probably primary strain. Good results. Top fermenting.
Bi�re rousse l�gendaire
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?

Chimay
General
Apparently the same strain in all three versions. Appears to be primary strain. Several have had good results. Solvent and banana flavors at high fermentation temperatures or bad yeast health? Same as Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey?
Red
{1} Good alcohol tolerance. Balanced phenolics. Decent attenuation.

St. Christoffel
Blond
{1} Bottle conditioned.
Christoffel Robertus
{1} Live yeast. Good result.

Cooper's
General
{1} Probably the same yeast in all their bottle conditioned beers (Best Extra Stout, Original Pale Ale, and Sparkling Ale).
Sparkling Ale
Tends to be more flocculating when cultured than in the original bottle. Same as YeastLab A01 Australian Ale. Good all purpose yeast. Vigorous fermenter. Gives clean and nicely fruity beer. {1} Multi-strain yeast that is best in the first few generations.

Corsendonk
Corsendonk's Monk's Brown Ale
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Corsendonk's Monk's Pale Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?
Trippel
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Cottage Brewing Company
Norman's Conquest
Bottle conditioned.

Courage
Directors Live
Primary strain.
Russian Imperial
{1} Good result.

D'Achouffe
Chouffe [which of them?]
Primary strain? Some disagreement on flocculation.
La Chouffe
Primary strain? Good results. High flocculation. {1} Medium attenuation. Nice, estery character.
Mc Chouffe
{1} Live sediment, strain?
N'ice Chouffe
{1} Good performer. Complex ester-phenol profile. Relatively low attenuation.

Deininger Kronenbr�u Hof
EKU Hefe Wei�bier
Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
EKU Hefe Wei�bier Dunkel
Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Deschutes
General
{1} Primary strain. {1} Same ale yeast for all their ales.
Bachelor Bitter
{1} Good results.
Black Butte Porter
{1} The beer has very similar yeast characteristics to the Obsidian Stout. Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Obsidian Stout
{1} Very similar to Wyeast 1968.

Dolle Brouwers
General
Same cultures in Stille Nacht, Arabier, and Oerbier? Several strains. Extremely fruity fermentation products created. Several lactobacillus. They get their yeast from Rodenbach.

Drie Ringen
Drie Ringen [which? all?]
Live sediment, strain(s)?

Dupont
Avec les Bons Voeux
Live sediment. {1} Complex and spicy. Very good, but slow, attenuator. Phenolic flavours and brett. character.
Saison Dupont
{1} triple strain - 3 separate cultures which produce interesting herbal/phenolic flavours. {1} Very good result. Probably primary strain, gives beer with a similar flavour profile as the original.

EKU
See also Deininger Kronenbr�u Hof

Eldridge Pope
Thomas Hardy's Ale
Live sediment {1} Primary strain. {1} High flocculation, very sticky.
Thomas Hardy's Bitter
{1} Bottling strain.
Thomas Hardy's Country [same one as above?]
{1} Live sediment, strain? {1} Bottle conditioned version apparently no longer in production.

Erdinger
Pikantus
{1} Live yeast, appears to be bottling strain.
Wei�bier
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.
Wei�bier Dunkel
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Franziskaner
Hefe-Weissbier
{1} Live yeast. {1} Probably bottling strain.

Freeminer
General
All bottled beers said to be bottle conditioned with primary strain(s).
Bitter
{1} Good top fermenter, quite lively. Good result. Flocculate well.

Fuller's
1845
Said to be primary strain. {1} Crusty head ferment. High flocculation. No unusual tastes.

Gamla Stans Bryggeri
F�rsk�l
{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.
Julf�rsk�l
{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.

Geary's
General
{1} Same yeast in all beers. {1} Cold filtered, no yeast.
Pale Ale
{1} Ringwood yeast. Huge diacetyl when fermented warm. "Nutty" flavor.

Gotlands Bryggeri
Wisby Julbrygd
{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.
Wisby Kloster�l
{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.

De Gouden Boom
Blanche de Brugge [apparently Brugge = Bruges]
Same as YeastLab W52 Belgian White. Probably primary strain. {1} (In Wit) Aroma: smoky aroma-hammy, yeasty, fruity, bready. Flavor: big orange flavor, subdued corriander, tannic and dry. Body: moderate sweetness.
Brugs Tarwe
Live sediment, strain?
Brugse Tripel
Live sediment, strain?
Steenbrugge Dubbel
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Steenbrugge Tripel Blond
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Grimbergen
Dubbel
{1} Has yeast sediment.
Tripel
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Guinness
Foreign Extra Stout
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Stout
Bottle conditioned in some market(s) (quite possibly only Ireland). Primary strain? YeastLab A05 Irish Ale is Guinness, and so is Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale said to be. {1} a clean and fairly neutral yeast, with very visible top-fermenting characteristics.

Hoegaarden
See De Kluis

Br. Van Honsebrouck
Brigand
Bottle conditioned, strain? YeastLab A08 is Brigand strain [primary or bottle one, or are they the same?]
Kasteel
Bottle conditioned, strain? {1} Same as Brigand?
Kasteel Ingelmunster
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Hop Back
Summer Lightning (bottle conditioned version)
Said to be primary strain. {1} Low flocculation. {1} Sensitive to high temperatures?

Humboldt Brewing
Red Nectar Ale
D-E filtered and unpasteurized. Can be cultured with some difficulty.
Wheat
Unfiltered and unpasteurized, plenty of live yeast when fresh.

Huyghe
Blanche de Neige
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Delirium Tremens
{1} Bottling strain.

Ipswich Brewing Company
General
Said to use Wyeast 1028 for all their ales.
Ale
Live yeast. {1} Good results.

Jade
Country Ale
{1} Live sediment. Likely primary strain. Moderate flocculation. High attenuation. Pronounced clove flavor, and fruityness.

James Pryors
James Pryors Bottle Conditioned
{1} Slow start.

Kalamazoo Brewing (Bells)
General
Said to use the same yeast strain in all their beers. {1} All bottle conditioned?
Amber Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned. Same as Wyeast 1056/YeastLab A02 American Ale? {1} Very clean flavour. Very high flocculation.
Pale Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain? Very low flocculation.
Third Coast Old Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?

Kindl
Weiss
{1} Probably primary strain. No lactobacillus?

King & Barnes
General
All their ales said to be made with the same two strain yeast.
Christmas Ale
{1} Live yeast, strain?
Festive Ale
Appears to be primary strain. Several have had good results. {1} Reproduces the fruity characteristics of the ale very well. Visibly top-fermenting, sticks to the bottom of the bottle very well.
Old Porter
{1} Appears to be primary strain. Same as Festive Ale?
Spring Ale
Bottle conditioned, strain?

De Kluis
Hoegaarden Grand Cru
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Hoegaarden Wit
Appears to be primary strain (probably Sacc. only). Good results. Powdery. Same as Wyeast 3944 Belgian White?
Leffe Tripel
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Verboden Vrucht
Live sediment, strain?

Lef�bvre
Barb�r
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Brussels White
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Floreffe Blonde
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Lowenbrau
Weiss
{1} Live sediment, strain?

Mad River
Steelhead Extra Pale Ale
{1} It seemed slightly fruity, highly attenuative, with medium flocculation, slight diacetyl flavor. Sedimented well in the bottle; hard to shake loose.

Marston's
Oyster Stout
Bottle conditioned. Good results. Likely to be Marstons famed union-room yeast. {1} Probably the same yeast as Tesco's IPA. Extremely vigorous and one of the easiest to use and re-use. A pronounced apple-like flavour can result if the yeast head gets back into the beer, otherwise very clean tasting. {1} It does need rousing to get it really going well. {1} It seems to be very sensitive to temperature, ferment at 18-20�C rather than lower.
Tesco's IPA
Live sediment, strain? [but see also Oyster Stout]

Mendocino
Eye of the Hawk
Live sediment. Conflicting reports on attenuation. {1} High sulfur smell during 70F fermentation. Good result. Probably same yeast as Red Tail Ale.
Red Tail Ale
{1} Probably primary strain. Good results.

Moortgat
Duvel
Live yeast. Said to use two different primary strains (separately), one of which is used for bottling.
Maredsous [which?]
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

New Belgium
Abbey
{1} Bottling strain.
Dubbel
{1} Bottling strain.
Fat Tire Ale
Live yeast, strain?
Trippel
{1} Bottling strain.

Nor'wester
Blacksmith Porter
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Okanagan Springs Brewery
Old English Porter Style
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?

Old Luxters
Barn Ale
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Ommegang
Ommegang
{1} Live sediment, strain? {1} Said to be primary strain, and alcohol tolerant.

Orval
Orval
Several strains. One of them is apparently the primary strain, which has a characteristic strong fruity "belgian aroma and taste". A second Sacc? Several strains of Brettanomyces yeast.

Paulaner
Hefe-Weizen
{1} Live yeast, strain? {1} Good banana like fruiteness in the starter.

Pschorr-Br�u
Wei�bier
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Redhook
Hefeweizen
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
Rye
{1} Probably primary strain. Not extreamly flocculant. Works slowly. Peachy flavor that fades quickly with age.

Ridleys
Ridleys Bottle Conditioned Ale(?)
Bottling strain. Sticky.

Riva
Dentergem's Wit
{1} Primary strain? A lactobacillus that produces good lactic sour and is somewhat hop tolerant.
Lucifer
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Rochefort
Rochefort [which?]
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Rochefort 8
{1} Live sediment. Starter smells and tastes similar to the beer.

Rogue
Ale PacMan
{1} Yeast sediment, alive?, strain?
Mocha Porter
{1} Live sediment, strain? Good result. {1} Pacman yeast. {1} Primary strain.
Smoke
{1} Live sediment, strain? Bready and phenolic.
Shakespeare Stout
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive, strain? {1} Pacman yeast. {1} Primary strain.

Saxer
Three Finger Jack Roasted Red Hefedunkel
Bottle conditioned.

Schaapskooi
La Trappe [which? all?]
Live sediment, strain(s)?

Schlossbr�u
Hefe-Weissbier
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Schneider
Weisse
Said to be the primary strain. Possible but tricky to get going?

Sch�fferhofer
Hefe Weizen
{1} Live yeast. Estery and phenolic, primary strain? {1} Powerfull estery yeast (phenolic and diacetyl), good and floculent fermenter.

Schoenling
Little Kings Red Ale
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive, strain?

Schulteiss
Berliner Weisse
{1} Has live sediment, strain(s)?

Scottish and Newcastle
Abbey Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned.

Shepherd Neame
Spitfire Bottle Conditioned
Primary strain. Several have had good results. Good top cropper. {1} Tolerant to high and low temperatures. {1} Flocculates and sticks well. Dry and clean flavour.

Sierra Nevada
General
SN is said to use the same yeast for all their beers. They do not repitch with yeast from the high alcohol beers due to increased mutation level.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Appears to be primary strain. Several have had good results. Clean fermenter. The same or very similar to Wyeast 1056/YeastLab A02 American Ale.

Silly
Titje Wit
{1} Very acidic and sour starter (lactobacillus probably).

St. Bernardus
St. Bernardus abt 12
{1} Live sedimant, strain?

St. Guibert
Leffe vieille cuvee 8
{1} Live sedimant, strain?

St. Jozef
Brussels White
{1} Has yeast sediment.

Steenberge
General
{1} All of their beers have yeast sediment, and are probably made with the same yeast.
Golden Dragon Ale
{1} Appears to be primary strain, gives results very similar to the original. It gives a very fruity, clovey aroma and taste if fermented at 75F. Very hard to clear. Forms a hard cake once it does.

Steenbrugge
See De Gouden Boom

Stoudt's
Belgian Ale
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Weizen
{1} Live sediment, strain?

Tabernash
Weisse
Probably bottling strain. {1} Decent flavour, but very low attenuation.

Thomas Hardy's
See Eldridge Pope

Thomas Kemper
Integrale Amber Lager
{1} Bottle conditioned.
White
Bottle conditioned, strain?

Thurn und Taxis
Schierlinger Roggen
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Weissenbier
Live sediment. {1} Pineapple like fruitiness in the starter. {1} Good yeast, but probably not the primary strain.

Timmermans
Wit
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

La Trappe
See Schaapskooi

Tucher
Dunkles Hefe Weizen
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Unibroue
General
{1} All are unfiltered and bottle conditioned.
Blanche de Chambly
Good results. {1} High flocculation. Seems sensitive to temperatures below 62 F. {1} Pleasantly fruity. Finishes dry. Apricoty.
La Fin du Monde
Live sediment. {1} Good results.
La Gaillarde
{1} Live sediment. Good results. {1} Said to be difficult to preserve due to low hopping of the beer.
Maudite
Live sediment. Good results. {1} Probably primary strain. Not very attenuative. {1} Said to be centrifuged and a second type of yeast used at bottling, but the yeast gives flavour similar to the original.
Raftsman
{1} Live sediment. Okay yeast.

Union
Ciney Speciale
{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?
Judas
{1} Live sedimant, strain?

Weihenstephan
Hefe-Weizen
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

West Vleteren
West Vleteren [all?]
Live sediment, strain(s)?

Westmalle
General
Probably primary strain, but often in bad condition. May need special care to give good results.
Tripel
{1} Low flocculation. Not a duplicate, but very clean with Westmalle flavour profile.

Whitbread
Celebration Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned.
Pale
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Widmer
HefeWeizen
Live yeast. Primary strain. Zum Urige altbier strain. Good results. {1} Low flocculation.

Worthington
Red Shield
{1} OK?
White Shield
Bottling strain. {1} Slow start, fine and clean end result. {1} It ferments well, and settles very quickly in the secondary. Good results.

Young's
Bottle Conditioned Export [test sale only?]
Said to be unfiltered and with small amount of yeast [of what strain?] added at bottling time.
Bottle Conditioned Oatmeal Stout [test sale only?]
Said to be unfiltered.
Special [test sale only?]
Said to be bottle conditioned.

Unknown
Alaskan Amber
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
La Binchoise [which?]
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Burton Bridge Porter
{1} Bottle conditioned.
Chicago Legacy Red Ale
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Christoffel
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Dommelsch
Live sediment, strain?
Gale's Prize Old Ale
{1} Bottle conditioned.
Harvey's 1859 porter
{1} Bottle conditioned.
Ironside Ale
{1} yeast sediment, strain?
Linfit English Guineas
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Old Toss
{1} Live yeast, strain?
Paas Bier
{1} Worked well, produced a slightly different [as in unusal, or different from the original?] beer with pleasant fruity flavors.
Pike's Place
Primary strain. {1} Good strong fermenter. Not much esters and other flavors.
Safeway Bottle Conditioned
Bottle conditioned, strain?
Scarab Red Ale
{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?
S�ldenauer
{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.
St.Sixtus Ale
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Steendonk (Wit)
{1} (In Wit) Aroma: sharp lactic nose, orange and honey. Flavor: phenololic, dry, sharp, flat finish, no pizzaz. Body: angular and dry.
Sudwerk Hubsch Brau
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Triple Watou
{1} Live sediment, strain?
Wieckse Witte
{1} Live sediment, strain?

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Anders Lundquist ([email protected])
If you have any comments or suggestions, please email me. You can also find me on IRC as alun in channel #homebrew.