Since 1986, the same Wyeast yeast strains that spurred the craft brewing revolution, and defined the meaning of quality and integrity, continue to set the precedent for distillers to this day. Our heritage collection of proven premium liquid yeast and cultures creates spirits worthy of a legacy: begin your legacy with us.
Professional Spirits Distillation Yeast
Yeast management, instructions for use, recommended pitch rates, specifications, and more.
Nearly four decades of expertise in crafting yeast for distillers around the world shows that there’s more to a strain than its name and number. Wyeast yeast is unparalleled in quality and performance, guaranteed.
Purity
A rigorous quality control and quality assurance program utilizes both traditional methods and modern innovations to guarantee culture purity and single morphology down to the threshold of detection. Cultures, ingredients, and equipment are analyzed and held to strict specifications throughout the entire propagation process. Complete QA/QC analysis on every finished product means our strict specifications are always met before your order ships.
Analyses include:
• Plating on general and selective media for detection of viable yeast and bacteria contaminants
• Colony morphology on differential agar
• Cell morphology with phase contrast microscope
• qPCR confirmation of commercial yeast species (S. cerevisiae, Brettanomyces, and more)
• qPCR screening for the detection of common brewhouse contaminants
Precision Cell Density
Wyeast provides the most precisely packaged yeast slurry to guarantee consistent, reliable fermentations in your distillery. No range or minimum – we prepare our products at exactly 1.2 billion viable cells per milliliter with advanced cellometer & validation processes. This results in > 99.9% viability for your target pitch rate – delivering the most accurate cells per mL per Plato calculations for reproducible fermentations.
Proven Pitch Rates
With over 35 years of experience in the fermentation industry, our pitch rate recommendations are proven and offer the ideal balance for successful fermentations without over-or-under pitching. Custom packaging options and a low minimum volume on every strain means all distilleries and fermentation sizes can be accommodated.
Optimal Propagation Conditions
Every strain is initiated from our ultra-low temperature archive in order to maintain genomic stability, ensuring the culture maintains consistent fermentation kinetics, flavor profiles, and flocculation characteristics.
Cultures are propagated using a premium nutrient-rich medium under optimal aeration and temperature parameters for growth and cell health.
Fresh without Compromise
Wyeast ships directly from our facility in Hood River, Oregon USA to yours, guaranteeing the freshness and integrity of every order. One production facility means consistency and reliability, batch after batch.
The foundation of our business and operations are built to support yours.
The Original Liquid Yeast Collection
Authentically sourced and isolated by our founders, microbiologists, friends, and collaborators from around the world since 1986. Wyeast’s heritage culture collections have been curated for decades to offer commercially proven and reliable strain selection for any fermentation style. A genuine Wyeast strain comes with more than its history – it comes with a legacy of quality & integrity.
Product Warranty Guarantee
We back our products with the guarantee that they will meet or exceed our professional specifications, and will perform as expected under typical distilling conditions when they hit your mash. If not, we will make it right.
Licensed Food Manufacturing Facility
Uncompromising compliance and adherence with food manufacturer regulations by the US Food & Drug Administration and the Oregon Department of Agriculture means every batch is prepared from start to finish under strict protocols and backed by Wyeast’s Product Warranty Guarantee.
Customer Care
Providing comprehensive customer service and technical support are core values of our business. Our representatives, professional brewers, and food science experts are eager to assist with your questions at any phase of your distilling schedule – from strain selection and pitch rate recommendations to fine-tuning your fermentation conditions and troubleshooting any situation that may arise.
Kosher Certified
All Wyeast cultures and supporting fermentation products are certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union.
Featured Spirits Strains
A very good choice for alcohol tolerance and stuck fermentations. Produces a very clean, dry profile, low ester formation and other volatile aromatics.
Mild toast and vanilla nose. Mild fruit profile with balanced depth and complexity. Very dry finish. Dry red and white wines, add brandy for classic ports. Also used for big red wines and high sugar musts.
Used in many white wine fermentations and also some red wines. Also used for secondary fermentation of barley wine. Ferments crisp and dry, ideal for base wines in making sparkling wine. Low foaming, excellent barrel fermentation, good flocculating characteristics.
