S-04 / English Dry Ale
The English dry ale workhorse. Fast, reliable, high flocculation. The default for porters, stouts, and English bitters.
What it tastes like
Safale S-04 is what most homebrewers reach for when they want English ale character without the wait or the cost of liquid yeast. It ferments fast (often finished in 3-4 days), drops crystal clear, and produces a clean-but-not-bland profile with subtle fruit esters. For stouts, porters, brown ales, and English bitter, it's the no-brainer dry option. Slightly more fruity than US-05, slightly more characterful than W-34/70 — but still in the 'sessionable' family.
Best in these styles
Fermentation profile
Pitch at 62-65°F and let it free-rise to 68°F. Most of the fermentation happens in the first 48 hours — vigorous and fast. Drops clear within 5-7 days of pitch. This is the strain you want when you need a porter or stout ready to package in two weeks instead of four.
Available as
S-04 / English Dry Ale is sold under multiple supplier brand names — same or near-identical strain.
| Format | Supplier | Product code | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry yeast | Fermentis | Safale S-04 | 11.5g Most common; widely available |
| Dry yeast | Lallemand | Nottingham | 11g Different strain but similar role — cleaner, slightly drier |
Comparable strains
If you can't source this strain, these alternatives bring overlapping character or fermentation behavior.
History
S-04 derives from the historical Whitbread brewery strain (Whitbread was a major British brewery group; the cultures dispersed when the company exited brewing in the 2000s). Fermentis dried and stabilized the strain, making it the dominant English-style dry yeast on the homebrew market. Lallemand Nottingham occupies a similar niche but is a different strain entirely.