28 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Updates:I have currently used this yeast in an ESB which is now in secondary and an Old Ale which is still in primary. The ESB seemed to ferment out pretty well although I was towards the low end of attenuation. I did ferment a little cool so this may be the culprit. There were a lot of yeast clumps and large bubbles on top of the beer even after 2-3 weeks of primary time. I tasted a little bit during the transfer and it seemed good but it's kind of hard to tell...The Old Ale is still fermenting right now. I have kept the temperatures between 64F and 67F. Right now its at about 65-66F and I'm noticing some banana/fruity smells coming out that I didn't notice with the ESB. Hopefully I didn't let the temperature rise too high. During the most active part of the fermentation it was below 66F for almost the entire time so I would think that would be fine.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

So the Old Ale is now in secondary. The yeast brought it down from 1.078 to 1.018 in 3 weeks which is much better attenuation than on the ESB.I'll probably be kegging the ESB in a week or so and I'll have some more meaningful feedback on the yeast at that point.

[pete maz]

I really like this yeast. I used it on a series of English ales two yrs ago, and had great results. Every time I look for an English strain I'm tempted to get another pack of this, but there are still quite a few others out there that I still haven't tried yet so I wind up buying something else.I brewed a mild, then an ESB followed by an Irish red. From my notes it looks like all were fermented in the mid-60's with lots & lots of krausen on top as advertised. Attenuation varied from 70-78% on these three, but some of that was due to higher mash temp on the Irish. Definitely higher & quicker attenuation on the 2nd & 3rd brews where I was able to pitch more yeast from the previous cake. All had a decent malt backbone and moderate English fruitiness. Also a muted hop bitterness, just a little more muted than expected. Just as an example, the ESB was supposed to be roughly 59 IBU's but tasted more like 40-45 which was a disappointment. Part of this is due to my water too - I really have to add gypsum in order to achieve the expected bitterness levels.One common trait of all three fermentations was that they took forever to clear. A lot of this is probably caused by the huge head sitting on top, which eventually falls back into the beer and keeps it cloudy. I know this is advertised as a high flocculator, but that wasn't my experience at all. Nothing a little gelatin can't take care of though.Enjoy and let us know how these turn out. I'm getting ready to place another order soon, and I'm eyeballing this strain again.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I really like this yeast. I used it on a series of English ales two yrs ago, and had great results. Every time I look for an English strain I'm tempted to get another pack of this, but there are still quite a few others out there that I still haven't tried yet so I wind up buying something else.I brewed a mild, then an ESB followed by an Irish red. From my notes it looks like all were fermented in the mid-60's with lots & lots of krausen on top as advertised. Attenuation varied from 70-78% on these three, but some of that was due to higher mash temp on the Irish. Definitely higher & quicker attenuation on the 2nd & 3rd brews where I was able to pitch more yeast from the previous cake. All had a decent malt backbone and moderate English fruitiness. Also a muted hop bitterness, just a little more muted than expected. Just as an example, the ESB was supposed to be roughly 59 IBU's but tasted more like 40-45 which was a disappointment. Part of this is due to my water too - I really have to add gypsum in order to achieve the expected bitterness levels.One common trait of all three fermentations was that they took forever to clear. A lot of this is probably caused by the huge head sitting on top, which eventually falls back into the beer and keeps it cloudy. I know this is advertised as a high flocculator, but that wasn't my experience at all. Nothing a little gelatin can't take care of though.Enjoy and let us know how these turn out. I'm getting ready to place another order soon, and I'm eyeballing this strain again.

I noticed at 3 weeks when I took a hydro sample of the old ale that it was cloudy as all get out. I think the ESB is clearing up pretty well since I transferred it to secondary at fridge temps.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I noticed at 3 weeks when I took a hydro sample of the old ale that it was cloudy as all get out. I think the ESB is clearing up pretty well since I transferred it to secondary at fridge temps.

I kegged up the ESB last night. Since I had a super full carboy I put some in a 2L bottle and did a little force-carbing with my carbonator cap. It's still not really carbonated but I will say the yeast seems like it has a nice british character. Fairly mellow taste. It seems like it really cleared up pretty well just from cold conditioning. I expect after the keg sits for a little while it will be one of the more clear beers I have made.I also bottled the Old Ale this weekend so I tasted some from the racking tubing. It has a slight alcohol taste which I would expect due to the high ABV (almost 8%) and it's still fairly young. I think it will round out nicely with some cellaring but I'll report back more on this once I've let the bottles carb up so I can do a proper tasting.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

ESB carbonation has evened out now and this is a great beer. I definitely approve of this yeast!

[zymot]

ESB carbonation has evened out now and this is a great beer. I definitely approve of this yeast!

I have not tried it, but I would suggest using this yeast for a stout.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I have not tried it, but I would suggest using this yeast for a stout.

That was actually my next intended target for this yeast if I can fit the beer into my schedule.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Okay - now for some feedback on the intended target of this yeast, the ole ale I brewed a couple of months ago. The ale is far from old at this point but it's already awesome. The yeast didn't seem to throw any nasty flavors and managed to attenuate very well. Here are the specs on the beer:fermentables: 14lbs MO, 0.1lbs chocolate, 0.25lbs special B, 0.25lbs C65, 0.5lbs black treacle towards end of boilmash temp: 152-153OG: 1.078FG: 1.018ABV: 7.86%Fermented around 65F +/- a degree for the main part of the fermentation, then it dropped to about 63F. After 3 weeks I moved the primary to the basement (<50F) for a few days and then transferred direct from primary to bottling bucket (used 3.3oz of corn sugar to hopefully hit 2.1 volumes of CO2).The beer tastes awesome. At 2 weeks in the bottle there was a little too much hot alcohol for me but at 3 weeks it's moved more into the background and just provides some nice warming effects. I believe this yeast lends a more delicate nature to the beer than some other british yeasts but there is something extremely british about it that I like. Esteriness is at a nice level and not overpowering. The beer is somewhat cloudy at this point (although not as cloudy as some of my beers aged much much longer using diff yeast strains) which is probably the yeast in suspension plus a little bit of chill haze. I'm guessing that after some extended aging the yeast will drop right out of this and it will look as good as it tastes. The ESB cleared up much faster than most beers I've made in the past so I expect the same to happen here. I'll have to be careful when pouring