Fermentis W-34/70 vs S-189

[kugeman]

Anybody out there who can give me some imput on what to expect from these strains? I've got a Pils that's been fermenting very slowly with a whitelabs lager yeast, and I'm thinking about ordering some dry yeast to help finish off the beer if needed. According to the info I've gathered, Saflager W34/70 is the Weihenstephan yeast and S-189 is from Hurlimann brewery in Switzerland, but I don't really know what sort of flavor profile to expect from either of these. I'm looking for something clean and crisp for my Pilsner. Any thoughts out there in forum land?

thanks in advance!

[Buckley]

I use 189 for a light lager. It is a very crisp and clean strain. It does have a very very faint sulfur character. I am pretty satisfied with it though.

[wailingguitar]

I always used S23... The product description says 'fruity estery notes' but I never noticed that at all.. it would ferment well at very low temps... I had active ferment as low as 38 degrees on a doppel bock.. I would usually start it about about 65 and ramp down over a couple days to maybe 40-45 degrees while active then take it down lower... beers always finished out within 2 weeks... Then I would let them sit at 32 for 2-4 weeks depending on when I NEEDED the beer online... Never had any sulfur or ester issues... very clean... made a nice Bohemian Pils that impressed the hell out of a German girl that tended bar at the pub.

[Øl-sheik]

I personelly would never dare to compare two similar yeast to each other, since their work is highly depending on the wort and process, but the Hefebank Weihenstephan gives out very detailed information about their W 34/70 go check out:

http://www.hefebank-weihenstephan.de/page/Downloads/yeast%20strains%20characteristics.pdf

The rest comes with trials!!

[johnstuart]

34/70

I used the 34/70 back in 89-91 when we actually bought it from Germany. Great yeast, crisp, low sulpher, floccs well. Super low diacetyl. I started using the Fermentis version in 2003, and it acts and tastes just like I remember. Floccs better after two generations. Ferments well down to 48, but likes 50-55 best. Gives a nice fruitiness when used at 65-68, can emulate an ale strain.

Haven't had a lot of experence with the 189, have heard there is a lot of sulpher.

[Fred Scheer]

Lager yeast 34/70

During my time at Frankenmuth Brewery, we used L 34/70 for
all of our Lager Beers. The resultant beers had low to medium Diacetyl, VERY low Sulphur (no SO2 detected after 20 days aging), flocculation is medium, which means you have to give the beer a longer aging time.
Shameless blog: In 1993 I published a article: THE INFLUENCE OF SELECTED YEAST STRAINS BY THE PRODUCTION OF A LOW CALORIE BEER, MBAA TECHNICAL QUARTERLY. VOL. 30, PP 9-13. I used L 34/70; L 360; L 308 and the Schmidt Lager yeast in this research and compared the performances.
I researched yeast performance, sugar uptake, flavor substances etc.

Fred