What Are The Two Main Types Of Yeast For Beer Brewing? Just like how no two humans are ever completely the same, no two strains of yeast have the exact same properties. This makes choosing a yeast strain a delicate process, and one that you want to invest a decent amount of time into. In general, you’ll want to understand the two main types of yeast used for beer brewing, ale yeast and lager yeast. We’ll go over these major kinds of yeast to give you a better idea of how they work.