Homebrew Yeast Strains Chart
With the plethora of yeast strains available from different companies, it can be hard to keep all of the products straight. Choosing the proper yeast strain is essential to the quality of your finished beer. Here's an overview of the most common strains currently available to homebrewers from North America's leading suppliers, who provided all of the information for this chart. Just select a beer style from the menu below to view a chart with appropriate yeast strains to consider for your recipe.
Key: Type=Type of yeast, S=Slant, D=Dry, L=Liquid, Floc=Flocculation, Atten=Attenuation, Temp=Ideal Fermentation Temperature
Commonly referred to as “chico” this yeast is a craft brewing standard, loved for its extremely clean character.
Brewers love this yeast strain for dark beers. Its high alcohol tolerance make it a go-to for big beers.
Well balanced. Ferments dry, finishes soft.
Clean ale strain
Slightly nutty, soft, clean and tart finish.
Blend celebrates the strengths of California ale strains.
Produces a dry, slightly tart, crisp beer.
Universal top-fermenting beer yeast.
Produces a fruity, full-bodied beer.
Clean flavors accentuate hops; very versatile.
The recipes in both Papazian’s books, “The Complete Joy of Homebrewing,” “The Homebrewer’s Companion,” and “Microbrewed Adventures” were originally developed and brewed with this yeast.
Citrus cranks out orange and lemon aromas along with some tropical fruit. Use this strain at high temps for big ester production.
Clean, round flavor profile.
Produces a pleasing light fruity note from the ale yeast, while the lager strain produces clean pilsner-like flavors and a slightly subdued hop bitterness.
A blend of ale and lager strains that creates a clean, crisp, light American lager style.
A beautiful strain for stout, porter, brown, and amber ales. Darkness produces a unique character that matches up perfectly with roasted and caramel malts.
Can be used for almost any beer style. Accentuates malt, caramel, or fruit character.
Thought to be the famous Bostonian strain. It is suitable for a broad range of beer styles with an American spin.
Very clean and low esters.
Available Sept-Oct. Medium to low fusel fruit and alcohol production.
This strain performs well at standard ale temperatures but can be used in the low 60s to produce exceptionally crisp ales.
A super-clean, lager-like ale.
Extremely versatile and flocculent enough to drop out of the beer quickly. Best strain choice for any and all English-inspired recipes, however does extremely well in hopped up American styles too.
This strain is a fast mover and can be used at the low end of the ale fermentation spectrum to keep it clean. Joystick is a great choice for big, high alcohol, malt forward beers but will shine just as well in a hoppy double IPA.
Very clean ale flavor.
A top-fermenting ale yeast suitable for a variety of full bodied ales, with exceptional depth. Ferments with full, rich dark fruit flavours.
Very neutral strain. Citrus and pine hops will be enhanced.
Clean balanced ale yeast for 100% malt recipies.
Clean well balanced ale yeast.
Clean, fast fermentation used in high-gravity beers.
Malty, mildly fruity, good depth and complexity.
Good for all styles of American and English ales
Neutral and versatile. Available May-June
A popular ale yeast from the Pacific Northwest.
A malty, complex profile that clears well.
Develops estery and somewhat peppery spiceyness.
Clean with mild flavor for a wide range of styles.
Versatile, super-fast, super-clean strain.
For “California Common” type beer.
Star Party™ is a thiol burst with aromas of passion fruit, dank pink guava, and citrus zest.
Use Voyager at low temps for nutty flavors in malt forward beers or ramp it up to produce apricot and peach aromas for dry hopped pales and IPAs.
Popularly called “Chico,” West Coast Ale I is a reliable, versatile and popular neutral foundation for displays of malts and hops.
West Coast Ale II is a consistent, well flocculating, well attenuating and easy clearing neutral strain.
Neutral and versatile, this strain is low ester-producing with balanced flavor and aroma. Highly alcohol tolerant.
An easy to handle strain, this neutral-tasting, quick-and-good flocculator and highly productive top cropper has excellent attenuation.
