For a homebrewer, dry yeast is much more convenient than liquid yeast. There are numerous strains of dry brewer's yeast that give very nice results for certain beer styles. However, the variety of dry brewer's yeast seems very limited. I would like to see dry satchels of yeast for making German Weizenbier (like Wyeast 3068), Belgian beers (like Wyeast 1214 etc), and a better selection of dry yeasts for lagers. Can we expect to see a better selection of dry yeasts in the future? What are the technical problems that prevent development of a greater variety of dry brewer's yeast?

Sincerely,
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY

RESPONSE:

This is not so much a technical problem more an economic issue. We would like to supply you with a whole range of different yeast strains but to guarantee competitive prices we produce certain quantities which we have to sell all of or we sell very little of it at perhaps uncompetitive prices. We have to meet our costs. If there would be a significant demand for a specific brewing yeast we would be more than happy to supply it. This is why we introduced our new lager yeast ( Diamond Lager Yeast ) last year.

Tobias