I recently posted updates to hundreds of yeast ingredients for BeerSmith and BeerSmith Web. I recommend updating your yeast listings in BeerSmith as outlined below to pick up the new yeast strains and features. These ingredients were also updated to be compatible with the upcoming release of BeerSmith 4.
Updated Yeast Addons
The following yeast addons have received a full update including all of the new strains listed on the various lab’s websites:
- Apex Cultures, Cellar Science, Escarpment Labs, Fermentis/Safeale/DCL, Imperial Yeast, Lallemand/Lalvin, Levteck Yeasts (Brazil), Leveduras Angel Yeast (Brazil), Mangrove Jack’s Yeast, Omega Yeast, RVA Yeast, Red Star Yeast, WHC Labs Yeast, The Yeast bay, White Labs, Wyeast Labs
In addition the following yeast listings had a partial update:
- Cross My Loof Yeast, LeLabo Yeast, Propagate Labs
A Change in Yeast Addon Philosophy and BeerSmith 4
While both BeerSmith 2 and 3 had a “base” set of core yeast listings like White Labs and Wyeast. For BeerSmith Web and the upcoming BeerSmith 4 desktop release we’ve moved to individual downloads for each separate yeast lab. This makes it easier for you to select the labs that are local to your area as well as more easily update yeast listings. This means we won’t publish updates like “Yeast Update 2020” anymore and instead will just update the appropriate lab’s listing. Also some labs like Giga Yeast and East Coast years have closed, so you may want to remove those.
In BeerSmith 4 we will allow the specification of yeast quantities in liters/milliliters for liquid yeast or grams for dry yeast. This meant updating the recommended pitch rates for dry and liquid yeasts as well as a complete rework of the various pitch rate calculators. This work was also done as part of this data update, even though its not visible in the current versions. Going forward this will bring BeerSmith in line with professional brewing practices as well as modern yeast lab’s recommendations for pitching rates.
Updating Your Yeast Listings
Here’s how to update the various yeast listings in BeerSmith.
Updating BeerSmith Web Yeast Listings
The preloaded yeast listings have been automatically updated in the web version. If you want to add a new yeast lab or remove an old one simply go to Ingredients->Yeast view and click on the button to Manage Preloaded Yeasts. From there you can select which yeast addons to display.
Updating BeerSmith 3 Desktop
Note that on the desktop version, deleting and installing a new addon will reset your inventory for those items to zero as the inventory is stored as part of the yeast listing. This is not the case on the web version or the upcoming BeerSmith 4 which stores inventory separately.
Updating an Addon: In most cases you can simply uninstall and install a yeast addon to update it.
- Go to Ingredients->Yeast view
- Click on the Yeast Addons button on the ribbon to bring up the addon listings
- Uninstall and then re-install the listings you want updated
The only exceptions to this are listings in the original “Core” group of yeasts shipped with BeerSmith. Because these listings were part of the “Core” yeast listings and updates, you will need to manually delete the old yeast listings before installing the new ones. Also you may wish to delete some core yeast listing labs that are now defunct or out of business:
- Core Yeast Listings that were Updated: Fermentis, Danstar, Imperial Yeast, Lallemand, Mangrove Jack’s, Omega, Red Star, White Labs and Wyeast Labs
- Core Yeast Listings that can be deleted: Giga Yeast, East Coast Yeast (both are out of business)
Deleting a core yeast listing in BeerSmith 3 – recommended before installing the updated core yeast listings or you will end up with duplicates:
- Go to Ingredients->Yeast view
- Optional: You can use File->Export All from your yeast view to make a backup file of your yeast listings (just in case)
- Type the name of the addon in the search bar, for example “White Labs” or “Giga Yeast”. This will show the yeasts that match.
- Hold down the shift key while mult-selecting the items to be deleted.
- Use the delete button on the large ribbon to remove those items.
- Once this is done, you can clear the search text in the search bar which will display all the remaining yeasts
- Now you can install the new yeast addon using the “Yeast Addons” button as described above. Install the specific lab such as “White Labs” to get their latest listings.
I have additional data updates planned, and BeerSmith 4 will start beta testing shortly. Thanks for joining me on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog. If you want to take the guesswork out of brewing, please try my BeerSmith recipe software from BeerSmith.com. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter or my podcast (also on itunes and youtube) for more great tips on homebrewing.