Baking a white bread...been a while

It's been a long time since I made white bread.  This one's called Vienna Style Bread from the book Old World Breads by Charel Scheele.  I felt like I was making paste for a while.  It's in the rising stage right now.  Hope it's good. 

I had an envelope of Red Star yeast I got a long time ago at a King Arthur Flour bread making seminar.  It was still a year within the expiration date.  I used that along with 3/4 tsp of Fleischmans to bring it up to the amount I needed for the recipe.  It's rising slowly, but it's cool here.  I understand a slow rise make the bread taste better.  ??

I'll need to check if Red Star sells yeast in a jar like Fleischmans does.  I like to buy the jars because I use it fast enough to do so.  I don't bake enough to use fresh yeast.  Honestly, I don't know where to go for fresh yeast anyway.  What is your preferred brand of yeast?  Do you use fast rise, active dry, or fresh most often?

I'll post a follow up later to let you know how the bread turned out.