March 11, 2000: San Diego, CA/Charlotte, NC -- As a first time homebrewer, you stuck to the basics just to get started and understand the process. Part of this beginner process was, most likely, using dry package yeasts such as Coopers and Nottingham. That all too familiar step of rehydrating the dry yeast in warm water while your wort is cooling down is one that even the pros started with. But as your interest in Homebrewing grows, so should your understanding of the value of specific yeast strains. While the dry stuff will produce an excellent beer, using a professional quality liquid Irish Ale Yeast, for example, is going to make that stout recipe of yours something even Arthur Guiness would approve of.

Using a liquid yeast can produce those subtle hints of diacetyl, and balanced fruitiness along with the slight dry crispness of a true Irish ale, or that banana and clove nose traditionally associated with German wheat beers.

Is it much harder to start using liquid yeasts? No, but it does require a bit of preplanning. Instead of rehydrating your yeast moments before you intend to pitch it into your cooled wort, you'll need to create what is known as a Yeast Starter (click here for detailed steps). This may need to be prepared upto several days before you intend to brew.

I know what your say... I don't know what I'll be doing an hour from now, much less several days from now. I want to have all my supplies and ingredients ready to go when I want to brew. Well, HBA has the solution: Ready to Pitch Liquid Yeasts! These are top quality yeast strains packaged in vials with enough cells to directly pitch into 5 gallons of cooled wort without the need to create a starter in advance!.  Each vial is equivalent in cell count to a pint starter. And where are these strains from? Read on...

White Labs is a manufacturer of liquid yeast for use by professional brewers and homebrewers. Located in the heart of San Diego, California, they specialize in large, pitchable quantities of certified pure liquid yeast.

Chris White, Ph.D

White Labs was started in 1995 by Chris White, Ph.D., following years of research and the development of a library of brewers yeast strains from around the world. Chris White received an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from U.C. Davis, where his interest in brewing was inspired by Dr. Michael Lewis’ Brewing and Malting Science courses. He began homebrewing and relocated to San Diego for graduate studies in Biochemistry. Chris’ doctoral thesis focused on developing high cell density growth techniques for an industrial yeast strain. Because of his passion for craft brewing, Chris began to experiment, using the same high cell density growth techniques on brewers yeast.

Chris developed a process to grow pitchable quantities of liquid brewers yeast. This innovation caught on quickly within the brewing community and Chris White’s yeast developed a strong word-of-mouth reputation. Chris Mueller joined White Labs in 1997, and brought with him vast experience in customer service and brewery production. Now, White Labs provides high quality, concentrated, liquid brewers yeast to breweries and homebrewers worldwide.

"I've been using your product for about two years with some spectacular results. Thanks for making such a good quality yeast affordable for those of us who don't farm yeast." Charles Chapman San Diego, CA

So if you've never used liquid yeasts before, this may be the ideal choice for you to take that next step. And if you're already using liquid yeats, then check out the White Lab stains and send us comments (or even better, samples) on your results.