| Availability: | In stock (2) |
| Delivery time: | 1-3 Days |
Put a spin on lager brewing with Lunar Crush®, our distinctively tropical Thiolized® lager strain. Lunar Crush biotransforms thiol precursors from malt, hops, and grape-derived products for a new wave of passion fruit, guava, and New Zealand Sauvignon blanc fruitiness. This isn’t your typical lager yeast—Lunar Crush is the perfect companion for complex, hop-forward styles or even creating something entirely new by simplifying your recipe for the boldest thiol expression.
Flocculation: Medium
Attenuation: 70-78%
Temperature Range: 50-65° F (10-18° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: 9%
It's anything but traditional. A perfect companion for a complex, hop-forward approach or even something wildly new to the lager scene.
Strain snapshot
Lunar Crush is a lager strain, so make sure to treat it as such—use a pitch rate appropriate for your fermentation temperature, your best yeast management practices, and allow some additional time for lagering. If you're looking for the boldest thiol expression, simplify your recipe and hopping rates. We find the most thiol forward recipes are typically very simple, especially on the cold side. Get creative. Have fun.
Brewing with Lunar CrushQ: Does Lunar Crush produce the same thiol output as Cosmic Punch?
A: Lunar Crush produces the 200x sensory threshold for thiols, about the same as Star Party but significantly more than Cosmic Punch. It's intense.
Q: Do any other strains boost thiols?
A: Only brewing strains that have been engineered to introduce an active carbon-sulfur lyase, like Cosmic Punch, Star Party, and Lunar Crush are able to produce a significant boost of thiol aroma in beer.
Q: What hops do you suggest for maximizing thiols?
A: The amounts of precursor thiols and free thiols vary across hop varieties and growing regions. Our Thiolized yeasts can be used with any hops but will release even more thiols when paired with high precursor hops—notably Saaz, Cascade, and Tettnang.
Q: What do you suggest hop-wise for mash hopping?
A: Our lab trials showed promise with Cascade, Saaz, and Tettnang and brewers are sharing exciting feedback. It's important to note that you would get approx. 30% of the IBUs from using the same addition at the beginning of boil (60 min), so be sure to consider alpha acid content and addition rate when deciding how much of which hops you plan on using.
Q: What's the parental strain of Lunar Crush?
A: Mexican Lager (OYL-113) is the parental strain, meaning Lunar Crush behaves identically in terms of fermentation performance, including flocculation and attenuation.
Q: Is Lunar Crush a hybrid strain or genetically modified?
A: Lunar Crush is genetically modified. We used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to introduce a highly specific and active cysteine-thiol lyase from bacteria. If you want more nerdy details, feel free to get in touch with our team.
| Classification: | Beer |
| Category: | Lager |
| Type: | Liquid |
| Style: | American |
| Alchol Tol.: | 9% |
| Attenuation: | 70-78% |
| Temp. Range: | 50-65 F |
| Flocculation: | Medium |
