Setting a New Standard in Yeast Performance

House strains with consistent and dependable performance are the backbone of many breweries. Can something tried-and-true be made even better?

The dawn of the house strain

It was not so long ago that most mainstream beers were light lagers. Fewer beer styles being brewed meant fewer brewing yeast strains were available at the time. During the craft beer revolution of the late 20th century, brewers used the limited yeast strains available to brew a huge variety of different beer styles. A “house yeast” strain was a neutral ale yeast that would be cropped and repitched into almost every beer, no matter the style. While early craft brewers may have used a single strain for lack of choice, many modern brewers still use a versatile house strain for many styles to simplify their yeast management.

The craft yeast revolution

Following the craft beer revolution, yeast scientists developed many novel strains to respond to the brewers’ need for unique flavors. Lallemand Brewing has grown from only two dry yeast strains in the year 2000 (LalBrew Nottingham™ and LalBrew Windsor™, previously under the Danstar brand) to 20 different specialized and innovative strains in 2025. Today’s brewers are spoiled for choice of yeast strains with unique flavors. The diversity of strains available is more important than ever as brewers seek to differentiate their products in a crowded beer market.

The value of a good house strain

Despite the huge choice of modern yeast strains, many breweries also continue to use the same neutral and dependable yeast strains they have been using for decades. Chico-style strains are a good example. These strains have stood the test of time by meeting the criteria most important for brewers:

This presented a challenge for us as a yeast producer. How do you improve a product that people have been using successfully for years? What does innovation even look like for a house strain that is defined as being neutral and consistent? We used a different approach to innovation to answer these questions. Rather than creating a strain with completely new characteristics, we needed to find a strain that does the same thing, but better.

Backed by science, chosen by brewers

LalBrew® House Ale is setting a new standard in yeast performance. Its innovation does not come from genetic modification, lab evolution, or selective breeding. In fact, this strain of British origin was selected by Escarpment Labs (Canada) from a brewery that had been using it for many years. The innovation of LalBrew® House Ale is proven both in the lab and in the field. It simply performs better in all meaningful criteria you’d use to evaluate a house strain.
Brewers report the following benefits when using LalBrew® House Ale compared to their current house strain or reference strain:

This performance is backed by thorough scientific characterization above and beyond basic brewing characteristics. Specific genes related to ester metabolism are inactive, leading to lower ester levels and a neutral flavor. FLO genes related to flocculation are largely intact, whereas other strains often have mutations that cause flocculation issues. Lastly, FAN uptake is very high for LalBrew® House Ale, which can improve beer stability.

It all comes down to preference

Essentially, LalBrew® House Ale is a high-performance ale yeast of British origin, but with neutral flavor characteristics more similar to an American ale yeast. While similar in flavor to other neutral house strains, the results from our field trials are clear: The majority of breweries (83%) clearly prefer LalBrew® House Ale, and many are switching from their current house strain they have used for years. In a competitive brewing market, brewers should consider every opportunity for improving performance. Even small savings in fermentation time can add up to big financial gains over the course of a year. This is especially true for house strains used across many beer brands.