Potential House Yeast from Commercial Beer

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By DANIEL J. LEONARD

The character of a beer is often heavily determined by the specific strain of yeast used to ferment the beer. When trying to clone commercial beers or simply capture that certain je ne sais quoi, it may be impossible to do so without reculturing yeast from the commercial bottle. However, not all yeast found in bottles of commercial beer is fit for reculturing because either the yeast has been filtered out or because the brewery uses a different kind of yeast for bottling.

For these reasons, it's helpful to have an idea of which bottles of commercial beer actually contain the yeast used to ferment the beer in question, and if that yeast is viable.

If you're curious about how to reculture yeast from a bottle, here is a tutorial (it's not terribly difficult, but requires the upmost cleanliness): How to Harvest Yeast from a Beer Bottle.

The following is a list of commercial beers that potentially contain viable house yeast for reculturing. This list was originally worked on by Anders Lundquist. We are attempting to continue on with that work and in that spirit, if you have any corrections or contributions to add, please contact: dan@beersyndicate.com.

NOTE: This is living document and will be continually added to and refined as more data is shared and researched in an effort to provide increasingly better data. Corrections and shared personal experience harvesting commercial yeast is very much welcome!

In addition, Michael Tonsmeire provides a list of unpasteurized sour beers that seem to contain viable microbes (yeast/bacteria).

Notes about List Format

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 inaccurate). 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.

{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 comments by Anders Lundquist.

Disclaimer: No guarantees are made about the universal correctness of the list below. Some breweries close. Some breweries may eventually decide to bottle condition with a different yeast strain, or not bottle condition at all. Some breweries use multiple strains of yeast/bacteria at specific ratios, so it may be difficult to achieve the same blend-ratio, etc., etc., etc. In short: things are subject to change.

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 Schöfferhofer as well.

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/flavor characteristics of the starter.

Yeasts Sorted by Brewery and Beer: A Work in Progress

Adnams

General

Bottled beer said to be sterile filtered or pasteurized, so no viable yeast. However, mini-casks contain viable yeast which is said to be characterful, but can get a bit sulfury if not treated carefully. Reportedly two strains are used which may fall out of equilibrium after many generations.

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

Berliner-Kindl Schultheiss-Braueri

Berliner Weisse

Not successfully recultured. A blend of soured beer and other beer.

Binchoise

Speciale Noel

{1} Mostly bad results.

Brouwerij Van Steenberge

Bio

General

{1} Said to use the same yeast for Augustijn, Augustijn Grand Cru, and Piraat.

Augustijn

{1} Live yeast, strain? Faster and higher attenuation than Wyeast 1388.

Gulden Draak

{1} Live sediment, however per the brewery, wine yeast is used for secondary bottle fermentation, so yeast strain will likely be a blend.

Despite this, was able to successfully culture yeast from a bottle of Gulden Draak with excellent results.

Piraat

Live sediment, strain? {1} Faster and higher attenuation than Wyeast 1388.

Per Brouwerij Van Steenberge, "We use for all the beers different yeast. We have 3 different types of yeast for the high fermentation and we have 6 different yeast types for the refermentation."

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.

Brasserie Fantôme

Fantôme Saison

Great success reculturing yeast. Reportedly peachy, under-ripe strawberry, and earthy notes.



Bosteels

Karmeliet tripel

{1} Live sediment, 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 (Butterknowle Brewery closed in 1998, however it's reported that Butterknowle beers are brewed at Castle Eden Brewery and branded as Castle Eden beers. Therefore, the same yeast may be in use.)

Conciliation Ale

Good results. {1} Malty and diacetyl-y. A little slow to clear.

Caledonian

Tempest Fugit

{1} Good results.

Cantillon

General

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

Cheval Blanc

Bière ambrée traditionnelle

{1} Probably primary strain. Good results. Top fermenting.

Bière rousse légendaire

{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).

Recultured Cooper's yeast said to be consistent with characteristics of the bottle conditioned examples.

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 Kronenbräu Hof

EKU Hefe Weißbier

Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

EKU Hefe Weißbier 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 flavors and brett. character.

Saison Dupont

{1} triple strain - 3 separate cultures which produce interesting herbal/phenolic flavors. {1} Very good result. Probably primary strain, gives beer with a similar flavor profile as the original.

EKU

See also Deininger Kronenbräu 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.

Weißbier

{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Weißbier 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

Färsköl

{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.

Julfärsköl

{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 Klosteröl

{1} Unpasteurized and unfiltered, so presumably live primary strain.

De Gouden Boom

Blanche de Brugge

Same as YeastLab W52 Belgian White. Probably primary strain. {1} (In Wit) Aroma: smoky aroma-hammy, yeasty, fruity, bready. Flavor: big orange flavor, subdued coriander, 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 fruitiness.

James Pryors

James Pryors Bottle Conditioned

{1} Slow start.

Kalamazoo Brewing (Bells)

General

House yeast is said to be used in all beers except Winter White, and brewery seems to indicate Winter White yeast is commercially available to homebrewers through yeast production companies.

Amber Ale

{1} Bottle conditioned. Same as Wyeast 1056/YeastLab A02 American Ale? {1} Very clean flavor. Very high flocculation.

Pale Ale

{1} Bottle conditioned, strain? Very low flocculation.

Third Coast Old Ale

{1} Bottle conditioned, strain?

Oberon (American Pale Wheat Beer). Successful reculture. Good attenuation. Versatile. Highly alcohol tolerant. A little more ester character than US-05/ Wyeast 1056/Chico. Slight more attenuative than Wyeast 1056/Chico.

Two Hearted Ale

Said to be the house yeast, same as used in Oberon.

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?

Lefèbvre

Barbãr

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. Well sedimented in the bottle; hard to shake loose.

Marston's

Oyster Stout (said to have changed names to Pearl Jet, but no longer bottle conditioned.)

Formerly produced "Oyster Stout" was 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.

Pedigree (Pale Ale)

Bottle conditioned and said to be fermented with Safale F-2.

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 Trippel

Successfully recultured as of 2012. Reportedly is re-yeasted at bottling, but with the original house yeast used to ferment the beer. Perhaps same strain used in Duvel. In one case, recultured yeast Maredsous Trippel strain was continually used over 2.5 years and maintained character. Ferments slower (up to three weeks) in cooler temperatures.

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} Said to be primary strain, and alcohol tolerant.

Hennepin (Farmhouse Saison)

Successfully recultured.

Rare Vos

Successfully recultured.

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 fruitiness in the starter.

Port Brewing Company

Brewery uses different house than bottling yeast. Not recommended to reculture.

Pschorr-Bräu

Weißbier

{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Redhook

Hefeweizen

{1} Has yeast sediment, alive? strain?

Rye

{1} Probably primary strain. Not extremely flocculent. 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)?

Schlossbräu

Hefe-Weissbier

{1} Probably bottling strain, if at all alive.

Schneider

Weisse

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

Schöfferhofer

Hefe Weizen

{1} Live yeast. Estery and phenolic, primary strain? {1} Powerful estery yeast (phenolic and diacetyl), good and flocculent fermenter.

Schoenling

Little Kings Red Ale

{1} Has yeast sediment, alive, strain?

Schultheiss (Merged with Berliner Kindl Brauerei in 2006. See Berliner Kindle.)

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 flavor.

Sierra Nevada

General

SN is said to use the same yeast for all their beers (with the exception of Kellerweis which was successfully recultured). They do not re-pitch 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.

Kellerweis

Successfully recultured. Standard fermentation.

Silly

Titje Wit

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

St. Bernardus

St. Bernardus abt 12

{1} Live sediment, strain?

St. Guibert

Leffe vieille cuvee 8

{1} Live sediment, 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, clove-y 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 flavor, 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. Said to be the same yeast as Wyeast 3864.

Blanche de Chambly

Good results. {1} High flocculation. Seems sensitive to temperatures below 62 F. {1} Pleasantly fruity. Finishes dry. Apricot-y.

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 flavor 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.

Westvleteren

Westvleteren [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 flavor profile.

Other reports note successful reculturing and good results.

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 unusual, 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?

Söldenauer

{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 pizazz. Body: angular and dry.

Sudwerk Hubsch Brau

{1} Live sediment, strain?

Triple Watou

{1} Live sediment, strain?

Wieckse Witte

{1} Live sediment, strain?