Welcome to 2026! With a new year comes planning and scheduling; dialing in core beers, building out experimental releases, and mapping out fermentation capacity. One of the biggest levers brewers have is yeast selection, not just for flavor, but for fermentation, speed, consistency and tank utilization.
PurePitch Next Generation technology. The only packaging designed specifically for yeast cells.
Let’s walk through which strains can help you produce beers that hit on the flavor and aromas consumers are searching for this year, while keeping fermentation timelines tight and costs in check.
Want help selecting the right strain or pitch rate for your 2026 lineup? Our technical team can help dial in fermentation plans using PurePitch Next Generation.
Nothing new here, but it would be a mistake not to mention it.
Hazy and New England IPAs continue to draw the same hype energy seen during craft beer’s golden years. At this point it’s safe to say this style is not a novelty, but here to stay. Scroll any craft beer feed and you’ll see endless photos of murky, straw-colored pints paired with comments like “this is the one,” “slaps,” or "🔥🔥🔥."
Love it or hate it, every brewery still needs one (or five) on tap.
WLP066 London Fog Ale Yeast
A go-to for hazy/IPAs with vibrant pineapple and ruby grapefruit aromas; soft mouthfeel and hop balance make it ideal for juicy IPA profiles. This strain is used in countless flagship IPAs across the country not only for producing delicious beers, but for its consistent performance and generation use.
Available as both liquid and premium active dry formats.
WLP067 Coastal Haze Ale Yeast Blend
This blend of our favorite New England-style IPA strains is known for producing dry, yet juicy beers, the mango and pineapple characteristics lending to added drinkability and deliciousness.
“I’m really just drinking 3–4% beers right now.”
If you haven’t heard that from a brewer or customer, well you will. Low-ABV beers should deliver the full flavor and aroma one expects with craft beer, yet with less alcohol, allowing consumers to enjoy multiple pints without overconsumption. These brands can also keep patrons in seats longer leading to increased spending.
Every brewery should have at least one.
WLE4100 Ultra-Ferm
Combine our liquid amyloglucosidase enzyme hydrolyzing dextrins into fermentable glucose, with any of our large catalog of yeast strains, to achieve ultra-low final gravities. Low ABV, carb (carbohydrate), and calorie beers are trending, and this enzyme addition is a great way to produce beers with low residual carbohydrates.
An example of a lager brewed as a collaboration targeted about ~4.0% ABV with a starting gravity of 8P or 1.032 specific gravity. It was an all-malt grist with a moderate level of bittering hops, and supplemental Saaz for flavor and aroma. The use of Ultra-Ferm and WLP925 High Pressure Lager Yeast produced a finishing gravity of near 0P or 1.000 specific gravity in just a few days. After about a week of conditioning, the beer was ready for consumption with an estimated 100 calories and only a few grams of carbs. Quick, delicious, and nailing the trend of highly-consumable low-ABV brands.
More of a mindset than a style, but more important than ever.
Across the industry, brewers are experimenting with new fermentation techniques, traditional styles, hybrid approaches, and non-traditional ingredients in search of flavors that align with both their branding and customer-base. That willingness to try something new is exciting and where you will find differentiation in a crowded market.
WLP548 Original Grodziskie Ale Yeast
This strain is a historically rooted blend resurrecting Poland’s session-able smoked wheat ale profile. It ferments cleanly with subtle pear-like esters while being resilient and versatile across temperatures. As mentioned previously, beers with low ABV have seen a large uptick in popularity and this strain’s versatility could make it a wonderful house strain for all low alcohol applications. Smoked wheat ales are unlikely to be the style that moves the needle, but this strain has historically been used to ferment 3-3.5% beers so why not use it to recreate other additional styles in a low alcohol version?
Recipe Ideas
If you haven’t heard, we’re in the midst of a “lager renaissance”.
Lagers are back (did they ever really leave?), and today’s consumers are actively seeking clean, crisp, highly drinkable beers. Lager production can be difficult for some breweries due to long tank times, large yeast pitches, and delicate flavor profiles.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Learn below how brewers are producing fast, efficient, high-quality lagers that hit the profile consumers expect without tying up tanks for weeks.
WLP925 High Pressure Lager Yeast
Equipping a spunding valve to ferment under pressure, with strains like WLP925 High Pressure Lager Yeast, is a great method to achieve terminal gravity in less than a week. Pitch yeast at a typical ale fermentation temperature (~68F) and pitching rate (~0.75 million cells/mL/P), allow pressure to naturally build in the tank (up to 1 bar), and watch the gravity drop at a similar rate to ale fermentation timelines. Not only will the beer finish quicker, but it also reduces the amount of yeast required at pitch. You’d think the increase in temperature would create more flavor uncommon of traditional lagers, yet the use of pressure suppresses the yeasts’ ability to produce these flavors. This method is great for house lagers that require constant production because it reduces ingredient costs while increasing production capacity, all while creating a clean, crisp lager beer to style.
Recipe Ideas