45 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

I'll apologize in advance. I'm sorry. I truly am. I'm going to sing the praises of this yeast one last time and if you're not in the mood for it, look away.

I just racked my Oktoberfest Lager to a keg. This was 65% Swaen Pils and 35% Munich 2, A single 30-minute hop addition of nobles to get to about 28 IBUs and the Omega Bayern lager yeast. The beer was a pale amber and clear from sitting in the primary since 8/6. The aroma from this yeast is making me consider a beer-drinking binge that starts RIGHT NOW at 11:45am on a Tuesday. My house smells like a German biergarten right now. I just can't explain how nice this yeast is. We all know how a yeast doesn't just ferment your beer but it lends a unique character as well. I could use 2124 and this Bayern yeast for the rest of my life and be happy. If you haven't tried it and you're a German beer fan or a lager fan in general, you owe it to yourself to run [don't walk] and get some of this yeast, make a starter and make any style lager you want. I made a Pilsner, an "American Lager", a helles, a Vienna, an Oktoberfest and I kept a blob of it just now so I could turn out one more pale lager (which would be run #6 of this yeast) that I've already drawn up a recipe for. Just looking at the clear Oktoberfest transferring to the keg has me dreaming of dancing beer steins of foamy festbier.

Cheers Beerheads!

[HVB]

I plan to get a starter of this going for a 10g batch of Session Pils that I plan to do this weekend. 

[Poptop]

Omega should take your writing above and paste it into their website and give you a lifetime supply. Because of the above it will be my choice when I need more lager yeast. No kidding. Well written and makes me excited to use it.

[Big Nake]

Steppedonapoptop, on 22 Aug 2017 - 5:02 PM, said:

Omega should take your writing above and paste it into their website and give you a lifetime supply. Because of the above it will be my choice when I need more lager yeast. No kidding. Well written and makes me excited to use it.

Sincerely. Do it. Do it now. Drez, you will get some aroma from your beer and get a feel for what I'm talking about. The aroma SCREAMS "Munich" and eventually you'll taste it and see what I mean. It may remind you of another yeast and it may not. I find it very distinctive but once the beer is slightly aged and the beer clears, the yeast component begins to fade a little bit. Some of my excitement today was that my nose was directly above 5 gallons of beer that was sitting on a layer of this delightful yeast.

[BlKtRe]

Got me thinking now. I only trust ordering from NB but won't do mail yeast only in spring and fall. 

 

Anyone know what the actual strain is? Seems Omega is a duplicate on a lot of other current strains. 

Edited by BlKtRe, 22 August 2017 - 11:21 AM.

[Big Nake]

BlKtRe, on 22 Aug 2017 - 6:20 PM, said:

Got me thinking now. I only trust ordering from NB but won't do mail yeast only in spring and fall. 
 
Anyone know what the actual strain is? Seems Omega is a duplicate on a lot of other current strains.

I can't confirm this with any scientific backup but Wyeast released a temporary strain 2352 called "Munich Lager 2" and it came from "Munich's oldest brewery" which is Augustiner. Omega's Bayern Lager also says it's from "Munich's oldest brewery" and it's very much the same as the 2352 that I used last year (or the year before, maybe). My only caveat is that there is no nutrient bubble in there. You wouldn't pitch straight from the pack for a lager anyway but it's always nice for the package to give you a sign that the yeast is ready to roll and the Omega package will not do that. Order it whenever you feel comfortable shipping yeast. The strain is available at all times as far as I know.

When I was in Munich we stopped in to an Augustiner Beerhall right off the Marienplatz. It was all dark wood floors, benches and tables in there and we had a glass of the Augustiner Helles and also the Augustiner Dunkel (dark, clear, balanced, foamy) and they may have been the best beers we experienced on that trip and we drank A LOT of beer. Even though I wasn't all that familiar with Augustiner's products at the time, those beers left an impression on me. Now I can try to duplicate those great beers at home.

[neddles]

Im not the lager yeast connoisseur that Ken is but my experience with 2352 was excellent in the 2 beers I made with it.

[Big Nake]

Now that I think about it, I also have 2308 running at the moment and I drew up a dunkel recipe to make with that yeast but I might make the dunkel with the Bayern yeast instead.
 

neddles, on 22 Aug 2017 - 10:46 PM, said:

Im not the lager yeast connoisseur that Ken is but my experience with 2352 was excellent in the 2 beers I made with it.

You were the one who pointed out that the Bayern yeast was the same strain as 2352. Thank Jeebus that Omega has this yeast in production for us homebrewers. How it's not a full-time strain from White Labs or Wyeast I'll never know. It's like the 2782 Staro strain that Wyeast came out with... delicious yeast but no longer available.

* clinks glass with neddles *

[neddles]

*clink*

Speaking of 2308 up and running...

[Poptop]

So Omega's running a few bucks more, any major reason?

[neddles]

Steppedonapoptop, on 23 Aug 2017 - 4:57 PM, said:

So Omega's running a few bucks more, any major reason?

50 billion more cells per packet perhaps.

[Poptop]

neddles, on 23 Aug 2017 - 5:12 PM, said:

50 billion more cells per packet perhaps.

Yea, perhaps. I went to Wyeast's site but couldn't find a volume, although I'm sure it was staring right at me

[HVB]

Steppedonapoptop, on 23 Aug 2017 - 4:57 PM, said:

So Omega's running a few bucks more, any major reason?

6.49 here - only $0.50 more than Wyeast.

 

https://www.ritebrew...ct-p/837114.htm

[Poptop]

Wow, 8.99 at NB

[neddles]

While labs=~100 billion cells

Wyeast=~100 billion cells

Omega=~150 billion cells.

Imperial Yeast= ~200 billion cells.

Steppedonapoptop, on 23 Aug 2017 - 5:35 PM, said:

Wow, 8.99 at NB

Lol @ your av.

 

Dude.

[Big Nake]

I figure that if you can get 5-6 uses out of the yeast, an extra dollar or two is just going to come out in the wash.

[neddles]

drez77, on 23 Aug 2017 - 5:31 PM, said:

6.49 here - only $0.50 more than Wyeast.

 

https://www.ritebrew...ct-p/837114.htm

Yep. And you can pre-order it for $6.25 to get it as fresh as possible too. 

[Poptop]

neddles, on 23 Aug 2017 - 5:37 PM, said:

While labs=~100 billion cells
Wyeast=~100 billion cells
Omega=~150 billion cells.
Imperial Yeast= ~200 billion cells.

Lol @ your av.
 
Dude.

Kegged it Sunday, just waiting for it to... ahem... gas up

[neddles]

neddles, on 22 Aug 2017 - 10:46 PM, said:

Im not the lager yeast connoisseur that Ken is but my experience with 2352 was excellent in the 2 beers I made with it.

Another thing I remember about this yeast was that I got little to no sulfur from it. It was a very clean and quick ferment.

[Big Nake]

neddles, on 23 Aug 2017 - 5:42 PM, said:

Another thing I remember about this yeast was that I got little to no sulfur from it. It was a very clean and quick ferment.

Agreed. I have had some sulfur but I wonder if the quick lager method allows for MORE sulfur or less. I think the kicker for me is that it really has a nice aroma and a deep, German character. Really hard to explain to anyone that hasn't used it but it's really, really nice.