You know, it's -- I guess it's somewhat clichéd, but 1056 is my favorite strain.
It's actually the strain that I use as a control in my brewery at home.
I usually run split batches, and most styles of beer, regardless of the style, I'll -- I'll brew five gallons with the 1056 and then I usually pull something else out of the bank and I use that as a control, but typically I prefer that -- that strain.
Now if it was a Belgian beer or something that it didn't fit, then I would probably use a different strain.
But ultimately 1056, I feel that it really -- it's such a clean strain that if you want malt or if you want hops, then those really shine through.
Whereas an English strain, you're going to get a much more rounded beer but you also have the yeast character that can interfere with kind of that pure hop or -- or possibly some of the malt character that you're trying to achieve.
>>QUESTION: What if you were to fine-tune it, and say you were going Belgian, what's your Belgian strain that you like?
>>GREG DOSS: Probably 3787, which our trap is high gravity.
It's very similar to a west malt-style yeast strain, and it's -- it's a workhorse.
It -- it works well in a variety of beers and it's also quite balanced.
A lot of times what I'm looking for with a yeast strain is something that -- that is well balanced.
I don't want it super phenolic or super estery. I want it somewhere down the middle.
And, of course, you can manipulate that with brewing parameters as well.
But -- but ultimately I'll choose the 3787.
>>QUESTION: What about a Saison?
>>GREG DOSS: Saison, that's a good question actually.
The -- you know, I think the 3724 is kind of the classic strain but it's a -- it's a -- it's such a troubled strain to work with. I think I would still use that.
And I don't prefer to ferment this warm. I know -- I know that you can ferment it at 90 Fahrenheit and -- and you can have decent results.
I think what I would prefer to do is to set it somewhere in the mid-70s and let it go, and ultimately it will attenuate and it will get quite far.
And I think that that profile that that strain produces is -- is unique over any of the other Saison strains.
You know, something that you can do with that strain because it does slow down is -- is possibly pitch another strain in, either a house ale or -- when I say house, it's more of a commercial term.
But you can use a neutral ale strain, something like the 1056, or you can also come in with something like the 3711, which is our French Saison,
which to me is -- has a little bolder profile; a little more ester; not as much phenolic.
But if you're just talking about the last, you know, 5 degrees Plato that you need to consume, it -- it's going to affect the beer a little bit, but you can -- but not as if you pitched that strain all by itself.
And so you can get a nice -- a nice kind of blend between the two strains.
>>QUESTION: What about your low gravity, English mild bitter?
>>GREG DOSS: You know, I -- one strain that I've been using a lot lately is our 1098.
It's our British strain, originally similar to a Wit Brit ale strain.
It's a -- it's a very nice strain. It's -- it's a strain that's -- that's probably, in my opinion, our most versatile strain.
It works fantastic in a dark beer or any, really, English beer where you're wanting to promote the malt flavor and kind of a malt-forward beer.
And I think that English strains, definitely with their ester profile, really round out those types of beers.
Now my problem with English strains in the past has been when you throw those into a nice IPA, something that you really want to push the hops,
those same characters that can round out a beer also kind of muddy the hop character.
Now the1098, I feel that it's one of the -- the only British strains that I've used that works really well in both cases.
I think it actually doesn't overshadow hops. I think it actually rounds out an IPA nicely. And when used in a British -- a porter or stout, ESB, it's -- it's hard to beat.
And I mentioned earlier, we were talking about what my favorite strain is, 1056. 1098 is really one of the first strains that when I run a side-by-side comparison with 1056 and 1098, it's -- it's very close to competing on the IPAs,
and definitely, I think it's a nicer -- I think it's a nicer strain for the English-style beers.