Re: Dry vs. liquid yeasts

I'm more generally a brewer than a winemaker. I went through the "liquid yeast fetish" period that most brewers go through (and some never recover from) and learned this:

There is no "quality" difference between liquid and dry yeast (although there is a fair price difference... ;-). Both offer high viability uncontaminated yeast strains.

The only advantage to liquid cultures, and it's a big one, is that a far greater variety of yeast can be provided this way. But if you have a dry strain that you are happy with, then it's very unlikely that the same, or very similar, strain provided in liquid form will give you any better results.

I use liquid strains only when I'm looking for unique flavor chracteristics in a yeast that cannot be found in a dry strain. Otherwise I use dry yeast, which lasts longer and can be pitched without first preparing a starter culture. Most liquid yeasts, even those that claim otherwise, really need to be stepped up in a starter culture before pitching to give good results.

I've probably trod on someone's religious beliefs here, let's see...

--arne