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I was in Noble Grape yesterday picking up an ingredient I needed for todays brewday and I noticed in the fridge they've got Mangrove Jack's yeasts again. I think Noble has been the distributor of record of these in Atlantic Canada for some time, but I hadn't seen them in quite a while; I remember putting myself on the call list for when the M44 (West Coast Ale) came back in stock, but when I checked in after a couple of months of no call they said they weren't coming back in. That was 2016, maybe 2015. They were also on one of the group buy sheets a few times, but that part of the order always got cancelled.

Anyways, it appears there's some new strains and some of the previous ones have allegedly been renamed (e.g., M79 Burton Union renamed to M36) according to some online sources. I think the idea of a dry California Lager (M54) strain is fairly interesting. I'm still keen to give the M44 a try, although some people aren't fond of it's notorious slow start. It's nice to know there are some additional dry yeast options, anyway. Apparently they're 10g packets (Fermentis are 11g) and 5 billion cells (Fermentis are 6b), so they recommend doubling up if your gravity is 1.050 or above. Lots more info from Mangrove Jack's in this PDF.

What was maybe most interesting was that I talked to one of the employees to confirm that they're a fairly recent (re-)appearance and was told that yes, they just came in recently. The person added that there's talk of suggesting them as an alternative (may have even said "replacement") for Wyeast liquid yeasts as "lots of people have been having trouble with those." There are lots of reasons people could have issues with liquid yeasts, but we certainly haven't had a lot of questions of that sort in here lately. I wonder if that suggests the hobby is still doing pretty well in the province and we're just not seeing that reflected in our club.

I almost strictly use liquid yeast. I wonder if the reason "lots of people are having trouble with them" is that a lot of time their liquid packs are beyond the best before date. The last one I picked up from them a few weeks back was expired in Dec - I heckled them a bit and managed to get the price reduced - but they also told me if it didn't work they would refund me my money - so I bought it anyway. I was also surprised when I asked them about it...one of the employees piped up and said to just by a dry yeast as "they are better anyway." This could help explain why the liquid yeast aren't moving.

mckay75 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:27 am

I almost strictly use liquid yeast. I wonder if the reason "lots of people are having trouble with them" is that a lot of time their liquid packs are beyond the best before date. The last one I picked up from them a few weeks back was expired in Dec - I heckled them a bit and managed to get the price reduced - but they also told me if it didn't work they would refund me my money - so I bought it anyway. I was also surprised when I asked them about it...one of the employees piped up and said to just by a dry yeast as "they are better anyway." This could help explain why the liquid yeast aren't moving.

I prefer liquid yeast too. But I believe the statement "dry yeast is better" is true if you're talking about convenience, ease of use, availability, and viability, just like the statement "liquid yeast is better" is true if your criteria are variety, control and (IMO) results. While I agree that many LHBS could do themselves a favor by pulling expired yeast, liquid yeast is down to about 50% viability 3 months or so after packaging (e.g., viability no better than a packet of dry) and using it well requires more planning even if all you're doing is smacking the pack and waiting. For many of the homebrewers a store like NG serves, dry yeast may very well be a better option. I make a starter for everything, even if the yeast is fresh. But starters are getting into territory many people just aren't willing to get into. A bunch of new dry strains opens up some possibilities for less advanced brewers without requiring them to change their process or commitment level a whole lot. Meanwhile, if I have an unexpected brewday or an accident/emergency (e.g., starter fails) I know that there's suddenly a bunch more options just up the road that don't involve buying multiple liquid packs at $10+ apiece

I just made my first starter (no Erlenmeyer flask yet haha) but the yeast is the California commons mangrove jack yeast. I thought it sounded pretty interesting too.

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Air lock that or it's a bomb.

S

GAM wrote:Air lock that or it's a bomb.

S

Heheh, yep there's one on there now. Just was giving it a good shake

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Mangrove Jack’s West Coast Ale M44 seemed a logical choice for the ~ 1.060 IPA’s I usually brew. What I didn’t know was that they recommend 2 packs for OG over 1.050 (as mumblecrunch has stated). Apparently not using the 2 packs will result in the lag that so many people have not been happy with as well as the potential of ending up with unfinished beer.
I have only used 1 pack of US-05 or Notty Ale before and I love both of those.
Could probably get away with 1 pack of M44 if I were inclined to try but I can’t see chosing it over US-05 or Notty Ale..