US-05 Review

Dry Yeasts have been around for a long time now. Within the past 8-10 years dry yeasts have come a very long way and are now available in many different varieties. We, as homebrewers, are very fortunate to have the many various yeasts available. In this review I'm going to focus on US-05.

US-05 used to be called US-56. Why the name change you may ask? Well, Fermentis named it US-56 because it so much resembles Wyeasts 1056, which has the same name as "American Ale Yeast". Wyeast took Fermentis to court over the naming of the dry yeast and Fermentis then changed the name of the yeast. That's it in a nut shell.

Now, on to the real review. What can I not say about this yeast? It's a very clean fermenting ale yeast and can be used in a variety of beer styles. I've used US-05 in Pale Ales, IPA's, Double IPA's, Kolsch's and even Light Lager-style beers. US-05 works great for any range of gravity. It can handle up to 12% alcohol without crapping out on you. Now that's impressive. That being said, US-05 can easily handle Barley Wines or any kind of Strong Beer. For an average beer (1.050) you'd want to pitch one packet, for something like a Barley wine or even a Double IPA I'd recommend 2-3 packets.

And don't bother using a starter with US-05. When this yeast is packaged it's at it's peak performance and the manufacturer drys it at the stage where it actually contains all the nutrients for the yeast. You can't beat that. I've seen fermentation activity in as little as three hours. Talk about fast! And it chews up beer like nothing. Just be wary of your fermentation temperatures. I usually keep it on the cool side when fermenting ales (65-68 degrees), but this yeast can ferment at cooler temperatures (50-55 degrees). Yes, that's correct. A buddy of mine made a light pale ale and fermented at very low temps. I tried it out and he could have told me it was a lager that's how clean it turned out to be. I honestly believe he could have entered it in to a home brewing competition as a lager and no one would have known the difference. Very versatile, this yeast.

The one thing that I don't particularly like about US-05 is that it doesn't flocculate well. What does that mean? It doesn't fall out fast and form a very solid sediment when it's done fermenting. But that's the only real complaint I have about this yeast. Otherwise, it's a fantastic yeast to have on hand all the time, especially as a back up yeast. I've stopped using wlp001 and 1056. Now, I just rely on US-05.

If you haven't tried US-05 out or have any trepidation about using dry yeast, I say toss that aside and give them a shot. I'm sure you'll enjoy this yeast. That's the skinny on this yeast.