Whatever Happened To Yeast

When I was younger, I could purchase small bricks of active yeast. They worked beautifully! As I moved from place to place, I switched to powdered yeast and I have been using it for the last 20 years or so. My problem is that I now have to use 2 to 3 times as much yeast in recipes as I used to. This annoys me to no end! I primarily use Fleischman’s or Red Star yeast in the large jar size. In the last 12 months alone, I have bought 3 jars that were “dead,” and several others that just didn’t work as well as they should have. The bread would only rise half as much. When that happens, I mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of baking powder in the dough to salvage it. The yeast company refunded my cost with coupons, but I want yeast that works consistently. Can you recommend a great brand of yeast?