WLP830 German Lager

What the manufacturer says

From our research creating WLP077 Tropicale Yeast Blend, we found WLP037 Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast and WLP830 German Lager Yeast to have a relative high potential activity for beta-lyase biotransformation, which releases bound thiols from hops into free thiols (passionfruit and guava aromas).

Product page

What the evidence says

• White Labs reports that WLP830 German Lager showed relatively high potential β-lyase activity, which is why it became one half of the WLP077 Tropicale blend. White Labs, WLP077

Rating context: manufacturers usually quote free-thiol concentration relative to the sensory threshold, not conversion yield. Peer-reviewed work finds that only a small fraction of bound precursors is converted in beer fermentation, so the ordering between strains is more reliable than any absolute number Chenot et al. 2021 Michel et al. 2019.

In practice

Useful for cold IPA and hoppy lagers where you want thiol lift without ale esters. Cold fermentation slows enzyme activity, so the effect is gentler than in an ale.

Non-GMO.

Hops that reward this strain

Citra, Cryo Citra, Cryo Mosaic, Cryo Simcoe, Ekuanot, Galaxy, Hallertau Blanc, Kohatu, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, Riwaka, Sabro, Simcoe, Strata, Superdelic, Talus, Vista, Waimea. Each carries a high rating for bound 3MH-family or 4MMP precursors. Mash and whirlpool additions supply precursors during fermentation; a cold dry hop mostly adds the free fraction.