Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Lager Yeast Showdown: W-34/70 vs. S-23 vs. S-189

On May 14, 2025

In this video, Mike and I dive into a head-to-head-to-head taste test of three popular dry lager yeast strains: W-34/70, S-23, and S-189. All of them come from Fermentis, and we wanted to find out how different or similar they really are when brewed under the same conditions. This experiment came straight from a viewer request (cheers to that!), and we set it up to keep everything the same but the yeast so we could really focus on how each one performed.

https://youtu.be/aIDYbZ2zRws

The Brew Setup: Same Wort But 3 Yeast Strains

For this comparison, I brewed a single wort using American 2-row malt and a combination of Hallertauer and Loral hops for some noble hop flavor. I used spring water to keep the profile clean and neutral.

Here’s the homebrew recipe I followed:

Batch Size: 4 gallon boil; transferred into 3 one-gallon jugs

Water:
Spring water

Grain Bill:
100% American 2-Row Pale Malt

Hops:
1 ounce (28 g) of Hallertau hops (2.4%AA)
0.5 ounces (14 g) of Loral hops (10.5%AA) 30 minutes to go in the boil

Yeast:
Jug A: SafLager S-189
Jug B: SafLager W-34/70
Jug C: SafLager S-23
Yeast Amount: 3 grams per jug

Process:
Fermentation Temp: 65°F for one week
Lagering: 1 week in the fridge before tasting

We fermented all three beers at ale-like temps (65°F), which is totally doable with modern dry lager strains, especially W-34/70. The result? Fast fermentation, minimal off flavors, and beers that were ready to sample within two weeks.

The Results: Subtle Differences and a Clear Favorite

So how did they taste? Honestly, we were surprised by how distinct each one turned out.
S-189 (Beer A) gave us a soft nose, doughy aroma, and clean malt character. It a yeast we would like to try again in a Baltic Porter or malty lager.
W-34/70 (Beer B), the crowd favorite, delivered the cleanest, most balanced beer. It really let the noble hop character shine and had the best drinkability. That’s probably why Mike keeps coming back to it in his own brewing. It just works.
S-23 (Beer C) had a stronger bite and a lingering aftertaste, likely due to its ester-friendly profile. I’d consider it for styles where a little extra complexity is welcome, maybe even a tropical stout fermented warm.

In the end, you can make great beer with any of these strains. Your choice may depend on what you’re aiming for. If you want reliable and clean, go W-34/70. If you want something a little more estery or malt-driven, S-23 or S-189 could be the ticket. Cheers to experimenting, learning, and brewing better beer.

BREW ON!

New Brew Dudes Feature – Hops Variety Table

By John Krochune

On May 6, 2025

In General, Hops, Videos

Here is the moment you probably haven’t been waiting for. One never knows, though. We are happy to bring this new feature to you, since is have been a true labor of love, brewed slowly over the years. I’m talking about our new SMaSH Beer Table, which is now live on the site. If you’ve ever tried to remember what we said about a particular hop back in, say, 2015, now there’s a single place where all our SMaSH beer tasting notes live.

With some help of available computing power, dozens of hop variety reviews, SMaSH beer tasting impressions, style suggestions, and direct links to the original videos can be sorted and searched.

The resource for our hops reviews

From Competitions to Custom Hop Wisdom

You might notice that we quietly removed the old “Competitions” link from our site navigation. Honestly, I gave up trying to outdo the AHA or BJCP when it came to listing every homebrew contest out there years ago. Instead, we put our energy into something uniquely ours: hop analysis from real brews we made ourselves. For each hop, we brewed a small batch of SMaSH beer; typically, 1 US gallon, using 2 pounds of pale malt and 1 ounce of the featured hop. We’d toss the hops in at different stages of the boil, ferment, package, taste, and talk. That’s what the new table captures. You’ll find what we thought (good or “meh”), what beer styles might benefit from each hop, and you’ll be able to sort by flavor notes, video link, or hop name.

A Decade of Hops Reviews – Organized

This has been a long time coming. Over the years, many of you wrote in asking for a summary, hoping for some way to make sense of the all the hop videos we’ve shared. Thanks to some clever AI help, we were able to compile all the key takeaways into one tidy, searchable resource. If you’re looking for a hop with big lime notes for your next hazy pale ale, or you want to avoid overly earthy flavors in your pilsner, this table will save you a lot of trial and error. Plus, if you just want to see what my hair looked like 10 years ago… well, the links are right there. Cheers to progress, to passion projects, and to pellet hops that still smell green.

Wai-iti Hops SMaSH Beer Tasting and Review

By John Krochune

On April 30, 2025

In Hops, Videos

Hey! We’re back with another entry in our never-ending SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) beer series. This time, we’re diving into a New Zealand variety that’s new to our lineup: Wai-iti hops.

I’ve stayed away from New Zealand hops for a while. Not because of the flavor, but because, frankly, I struggle to pronounce their names. But we are back to drink beer and say it wrong.

Wai-iti brings some interesting lineage to the table, with Liberty and Hallertau in its parentage. It’s a lower-alpha variety, so we were curious how it would hold up in our standard testing format.

Well, we tried to say the name right.

Brew Day Details

For this SMaSH beer, we followed our usual method: a one-gallon batch with two pounds of grain and two gallons of water. Here’s the hop schedule we used:

Wai-iti Hops SMaSH Beer Recipe

Grain Bill: 2 pounds of Pale Malt
Water Volume: 2 gallons
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Hop Schedule:
7 grams at 60 minutes
14 grams whirlpool additions at 180 °F (82°C) for 10 mintues
7 grams dry hop for 1 day post-fermentation

Fermentation: 7 days at room temperature

Cold Crash: 1 day

Yeast: US-05

These hop pellets came from Yakima Valley Hops’ 2024 crop and clocked in at just 3% alpha acids. We gave it a bit of a push to coax out as much bitterness as possible.

What Is Wai-iti All About?

Right from the pour, the aroma was punchy, fruit-forward, and lively. We picked up Juicy Fruit notes before we even brought the glass to our noses. There were definite hints of green melon, cantaloupe, and a bit of citrus zest. What stood out to me was a subtle creamy vanilla vibe, which made the whole experience really pleasant and slightly unexpected. Mike mentioned lime zest and even a bit of a “zippy” bitterness, which was more noticeable than in many of our recent SMaSH tests.

Wai-iti isn’t resinous or dank; instead, it brings a clean bitterness and a bright, fruity profile. I could totally see this being a standout hop in a cream ale, a wheat beer, or even a blend with something like Simcoe or Citra to boost fruit character in the late additions. It’s a hop that pulls its weight in aroma, flavor, and clean bitterness

So if you’re looking for something refreshing and a bit unique for your next brew, Wai-iti might be worth tossing into the boil.

BREW ON!

Valley Malt – American Pale Ale Experiment

By John Krochune

On April 23, 2025

In Malts, Videos

At Brew Dudes, we’re always looking for ways to support local craft and experiment with new ingredients. This week, Mike brewed up a special American Pale Ale (APA) with malt sourced entirely from Valley Malt, one of the original craft maltsters right here in Massachusetts. Thanks to their new online shop, Ground Up, getting their small-batch malt was easier (and cheaper) than ever. Mike got free shipping on 40-pound sacks! With two different malts in hand (Pale 2-Row and Light Munich), Mike put together a simple recipe to see what these local grains are all about.

Look at that APA.

Brewing With Valley Malt: Recipe Details

For this experimental APA, we kept it simple to really let the malt flavors shine. Here’s the full recipe for the brew:

Grain Bill:

80% Valley Malt Pale Two Row
20% Valley Malt Light Munich (8°L)

Hops:

Nugget hops at 60 minutes (for bitterness only)
No late addition or dry hops (so we could taste the malt)

Yeast:

Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast

Mash:

152°F for 75 minutes
Mashout at 168°F for 10 minutes

Batch Details:

3.5-gallon batch
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010
ABV: ~4.7%
IBUs: ~33
SRM: ~4.5

Mike wanted a clean fermentation to highlight the base malt character, and that’s exactly what he got. No fancy hop aromas or complicated schedules — just good old-fashioned malt-forward beer.

Tasting Notes and Next Steps

This little APA turned out to be a great way to showcase what Valley Malt brings to the table. The beer poured a light golden color and gave off a distinct cereal and biscuit flavor. The flavors are more reminiscent of English pale ales than the super-clean American versions we’ve brewed with bigger maltsters like Briess. The Munich definitely adds a touch of richness, but the backbone is all about that locally malted Pale 2-row. It’s got just a bit more character compared to standard American malts.

From here, the possibilities are wide open. Mike is already dreaming of using this malt combo as a base for a classic American pale ale loaded with C-hops, or maybe even tweaking it into a brown ale recipe. And since Mike impulsively bought a full sack of light Munich, you better believe a Munich-forward summer lager might be coming down the pipeline soon. Stay tuned for more local malt experiments are definitely on the way.

Brew ON!

Simcoe Hops SMaSH Beer Review and Tasting

By John Krochune

On April 16, 2025

In Hops, Videos

Sometimes you think you know a hop, and then it surprises you. That’s exactly what happened when Mike and I finally brewed up a SMaSH (Single Malt And Single Hop) beer with Simcoe hops. We’d somehow skipped over it in our series even though we’ve used Simcoe in many IPAs over the years. Thanks to a few viewers who called us out (you know who you are), we circled back and gave this classic hop its own spotlight.

It’s about time!

Simcoe Hops SMaSH Beer Recipe

As always with our SMASH experiments, we kept it simple so the hop could shine on its own. Here’s how we brewed it:

Batch Size: 1 gallon
Malt: 2 lbs Pale Malt
Water Volume: 2 gallons
Hops: 1 oz (28g) of Simcoe hops

3.5g @ 60 minutes (bittering addition)
17.5g @ whirlpool (10 minutes at 180°F)
7g dry hop (after cold crashing for a day)

We fermented as usual and gave it a quick crash before packaging.

The Tasting Notes

Well, Mike was surprised and pleasantly so. He expected Simcoe to be more resinous, dank, maybe even a little diesel-y. Those West Coast IPAs from 10 – 15 years ago had those flavors.

What we got instead was a subtle, sweet, fruity character. The aroma had a muted, candied pineapple vibe. It was like dried pineapple or a pineapple hard candy. On the flavor side, there were hints of underripe white peach and citrus peel, but nothing overly sharp or tart. Just a nice, mellow profile with soft bitterness and a really clean finish.

This particular lot (2024 harvest from Yakima Valley Hops, 14.4% AA) felt more refined than we remember. It makes me think this hop really shines when used as a late addition or dry hop. It’s less of a bittering workhorse and more as a flavor booster.

We would use it again – We’re putting it it on our list of go-to hops for building a balanced IPA base.

BREW ON!