Why is liquid yeast so expensive?

[Dai]

Was just wondering why liquid yeasts, like Wyeast, are so pricey here, when they are so cheap in the States?  I mean, an Activator pack is about  $6 USD ($7.64 NZD) (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/beer...) while a good dry yeast is only a few dollars cheaper at about $4 USD.  A quick browse of the NZ homebrew sites shows that Activators sell for around $20-25.

I was doing some rough calculations to see if this discrepancy extended to other brewing consumables from the States, but it seems to be limited to liquid yeast.  E.G., Danstar Nottingham is $4 USD ($4.80 NZD) (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/nottingham-ale-yeast.html)- only a few dollars more over here.  Also, 1 oz of US cascade is $1.75 USD ($2.14 NZD) (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cascade-pellets-1-oz.html), which is abut the same as here (if scaled up to a 100g pack).  

I was thinking that may be it was a transportation issue?  I suppose liquid yeasts have to be transported cool, but I was looking around and saw that Hashigo Zaki also import their beer cool to make sure it is as good as possible.  A quick check of the cost of a bottle of Green Flash Hop Head Red from HZ is $6 (http://www.cultbeerstore.co.nz/collections/green-flash/products/hop...), where as it is $3.39 USD  ($4.14 NZD) from the first US online beer store I found from Google (http://www.halftimebeverage.com/browse.cfm/green-flash-hop-head-red...).  This is not too much of a difference seeing as this has come all the was from the States (props to HZ!).

Am I missed something here.  Are there loads of hidden costs associated with importing liquid yeast compared to other stuff.  

Puzzling.

[Richard Deeble]

I'm pretty sure refridgerated shipping is the main cost. Companies like White Labs and Wyeast are only going to be willing to sell their products if they are treated well. A few days warm would really hurt the viability of the yeast. Dry yeast is pretty bullet proof and has a much higher cell count

[Dai]

Yeah, I take your point- but I was interested to see that Hashigo Zake ship their beer cool, and the price is pretty similar as State side.  May be they should get into yeast sales too?!

[Chris P]

I am right  there with ya. If it was sold cheaper then I would buy it more often and they wouldn't have so may people testing how many different styles they can stretch US-05 to do.

Sometimes the grain for my brew is cheaper than some of the yeast options out there. Not easy to make me then double costs to make a (sometimes) better brew with liquid.

[Dai]

I have no problems shelling out for some White Labs or Wyeast if making something special- but I reckon that dry yeast available now is really good.  I love the Danstar range, for instance.  Was just wondering why the price of liquid yeast was so high.

[Bryan Livingston]

I see that Brewers Coop are stocking the full range of Wyeast now. And the only cost $20 and you also get loyalty points!

[nzbrewer]

The yeast has to be Fedex'ed to NZ with gel packs. The cost of airfreighting yeast is alot more than sea freighting kegs. 

RealBeer.co.nz takes orders for Wyeast every two months, this way brewers get the most viable yeast possible. Yeast is not something you want to buy if it has been sitting around in a shop for months. Yeast is a living cell, and it will die.

Here is the background on RealBeer and importing of Wyeast

http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/profiles/blogs/realbeerconz-wyeast-and

[Dai]

I see- seems to make good sense.  Thanks.

[Hamish Jones]

Thinking about liquid yeast does anyone know of any good cheap second hand magnetic stir plates for yeast starter cultivation?

[Mark Goodin]

I have just made my own DIY cheap-o Stir Plate...have yet to use it for yeast cultivation, but seems to work well on testing it with water etc...

Got most of the parts from ebay for around $20NZ with shipping...easy to assemble. Here is the link I used for motivation. Should give you ideas on how easy it is to make them.

http://youtu.be/XVLB9c0j1iU

[paul m]

nice video looks fairly straight forward... thats one of my next projects too

[Hamish Jones]

I have managed to rattle together the parts from stuff lying around, had to order fan speed controller for about $3 from overseas but all good, thanks for the link

[Chris]

I found this in case anyone else is looking to make a magnetic stirrer

http://www.teklalabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/magnetic_stirre...

Fairly straight forward if you know basic electronics.