Home / Guides / Lager yeast equivalents

Lager yeast equivalents

The classic German lager strain shows up across labs, with Wyeast 2124 and White Labs WLP830 as liquid equivalents and dried options such as W-34/70 alongside.

The German lager strain across labs

Wyeast 2124 and White Labs WLP830 are documented as versions of the same German lager yeast, the workhorse behind clean, crisp lagers. Both give the neutral, clean fermentation a lager needs, with the low sulphur and clarity that define the style when fermented cool. If a recipe names one, the other stands in with the same result.

For the dry route, a strain such as W-34/70 gives a widely used lager character without the need for a starter, making it the convenient equivalent.

What defines a lager substitution

Lager yeast is judged first on temperature range and clean profile. These strains ferment cool, and holding them in that range is what keeps the beer crisp and free of the fruity esters an ale strain would throw. Attenuation and flocculation matter, but the non-negotiable is a strain that stays clean at lager temperatures.

So when substituting a lager yeast, the overlap in temperature range and a genuinely clean profile come before anything else.

Liquid or dry

Choose liquid, such as Wyeast 2124 or WLP830, when you want a specific lab's German lager character or the variety of the liquid range. Choose a dry lager strain like W-34/70 for cost, shelf life and pitch-and-go convenience on standard batches, where it delivers a clean, dependable lager. Both routes reach the same crisp destination if you control the temperature.

Our per-strain pages carry the published temperature, attenuation and profile so you can confirm a lager swap before you brew.

Related

Sources: Wyeast · White Labs · Fermentis (Lesaffre)