Dexter Stevens

There’s more than one way to get lactic acidity in beer. Let’s get brighter about Lactobacillus.

When yeast leaves some of its discarded things around, it tends to pick up after itself (well, with a little encouragement). Then again, sometimes it just has too much on its plate. That’s where ALDC comes in. ALDC is like the Marie Kondo of diacetyl. It gets rid of what will later become a mess before it even starts. And it can be even more effective when yeast are enabled to produce it.

One especially sweet, thick IPA style and one extremely dry, thin one may have something good together when they combine signature elements.

You might be someone who avoids a bloated pack, but once it’s discounted, maybe it starts to look pretty good. Should you go for it? Why are some of us even suspicious of a swollen pack in the first place?

Incisive new strains can deliver something novel, or they can make something that already exists even better. In this series of articles, we look at modern strains through the lens of ​‘new’ or ​‘improved,’ deliver helpful takes on some yeast fundamentals (like esters, attenuation, and more), and finish with some juicy research: a new technology giving greater command of clarity and haze. Top Crop’s annual newsprint edition is available online or in print.

In a recent writeup for the Colorado Brewers Guild, Laura discusses how the R&D team began researching haze and how this research identified successful approaches to building long-lasting, stable haze.

Understanding when and why to mix it up.

A more perfect system never existed for testing haze and flavor, thanks to the discovery of yeast’s hazy gene. In two brews differing only by the presence or absence of yeast-determined haze, blind tasters couldn’t pinpoint which was which. That begs the question, does haze contribute to flavor?

Since healthy yeast’s role in stable haze formation is a new concept, a lot of mysterious haze outcomes experienced by brewers can be helped via understanding yeast.

We tested whether a carbon dioxide blanket makes a difference in the production of kettle sours.

There’s so much space for activities.

Know when to take the counts and what to do with that information.

Don’t use a hammer if what you really need is a spoon…

You can remove the alcohol, avoid making it in the first place, or… a secret third option.

History plays a major role in beer style formation, but yeast predates all brewers and consumers.

Malt, yeast and hops all have important roles to play in different, cumulative sources of haze. Leaning on haze that forms in one way rather than another could make your beercraft significantly easier. It matters where the haze is coming from if you want to control it.

Getting the most out of your yeast, one generation at a time.

All flavors have a threshold of detection, but we can take that information and make even better use of what those flavors mean to us.

Three fermentations, two types of ALDC integration. Like the Thunderdome but for lager.

Yeast will do what we want it to do, as long as we provide the right environment.