Yeast Comparison for Smoked Porter: WLP810 v WLP002

Hello everyone,

My local LHBS does an event called a Cluster Brew. Homebrewers around the area all bring their equipment to brew at the shop. Everyone brews a beer on their own system, and months later they do a mini-competition. Whoever wins gets the honorary trophy and bragging rights . The rules for this years competition were that you had to use a flaked adjunct.

Aaaaaaanyway, my dad and I thought this was a great opportunity to do some experimental brewing with two (count 'em TWO!) yeast strains. We also kept our recipe experimental as well. We used a 10 gal igloo single-infusion mash, mashed at 154 for 60 minutes, batch sparged. Had a bit of trouble hitting our mash temp, but a second infusion put us right on target at 154.

Here is the recipe

Fermentables
7.0 lb (48.4%) American 2-row - added during mash
2.7 lb (18.7%) Smoked Malt; Weyermann - added during mash
14.0 oz (6.1%) Munich Malt - added during mash
14.0 oz (6.1%) Crystal 40; Great Western - added during mash
14.0 oz (6.1%) Crystal 75; Great Western - added during mash
11 oz (4.8%) Chocolate Malt; Breiss - added during mash
7.0 oz (3.0%) British Black Patent - added during mash
1.0 lb (6.9%) Oats (Pregelatinized Flakes); Briess - added during mash

Hops
1.0 oz (40.0%) East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 m
.5 oz (20.0%) Styrian Goldings (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 m
.5 oz (20.0%) Styrian Goldings (6.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15 m
.25 oz (10.0%) East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil
.25 oz (10.0%) Styrian Goldings (6.0%) - added during boil

We used our immersion chiller to get down to 68F. We decided then to do a split batch (2.5 gallons each) with different yeasts. WLP810 - San Francisco Lager and WLP002 - English Ale Yeast

What we both did
-We each took home 2.5 gallons.
-Both pitched one vial of respective yeast.
-No starter (we entered at the last minute, didnt have time)
-Both held our beers at 62F for 5-7 days
-Both bottle conditioned with appropriate priming sugar rates, based on style

What we did differently
- Dad had WLP002, I had WLP810
- Dad cold crashed after fermentation ended. I did not
- I did a diacetyl rest at 70F, dad did not (i dont think this really had an effect at all)

The results will be a second post... this one got really long.

Forgot to mention in the last post, we let the beers sit in primary for a full month before bottling, which includes fermentation (so probably about 3 weeks after fermentation).

Some of the results we found were quite interesting.

1. Fermentation: a big difference was the lag time for the yeasts. 002 started right away, after a few hours. 810 took a full day to really start, and then, built up slowly to high krausen.
- This may have been due to the hybrid/ale differences in the yeast. One vial is just about enough for a 2.5 gal batch with an ale, but is a bit short for a hybrid, so underpitching may be a culprit for 810.
- Both beers took about the same time to ferment completely, despite differing lag times, maybe a day difference. 810 = slow but steady 002 = fast and quick
- Both beers started at 1.071 and ended up at 1.020 (6.6%). I thought that was pretty crazy, but they are listed as having very similar attenuation rates.

2. Taste Test
- Both beers had a nice dark brown color, with a nicely formed head that persists. Carbonation was right on the money. I don’t have pictures yet, but I will. No real difference in the color, we will have to inspect it more.
- For our mini taste test, we had a few friends come by and try the beers. They don’t really know much about the difference yeasts, so their bias was limited. My dad and I also tried them as well. Initials reactions were that everyone generally preferred the 810. Both beers had tastes of mocha and roast, but to different degrees. The 002 did not express the malt as well, and even left a touch of esters, that do not really balance that well. The biggest difference was the smokiness, 002 having almost no smokiness and 810 having a bunch. The smokiness a nice rounded bitterness, and did not taste like bacon (which I prefer).

Next is the competition, and we will see which one does better. Also some aging will really make a difference. Ill post pictures later as well.

Final Results: the competition

As mentioned before, my local home brew shop (Weekend Brewer http://www.weekendbrewer.com/) held a competition for the different beers brewed for the ClusterBrew. My dad and I brewed a Smoked Oatmeal Porter for the competition. He used English Yeast and I used California Common Yeast. I listed the details of the beer and the tasting results in different posts. The next step was the competition and here are the results! (For a more detailed listing go here https://www.facebook.com/weekend.brewer.3)

1st Place: The smoked porter with the Cal Common yeast actually won first place! The judges scored the beers in typical BJCP fashion with a 44/50. All judges agreed on a pleasant smoky character that was well-balanced with the other malts. They also mentioned a creamy texture from the oatmeal. The first place prize was a Blichmann floor burner and a $50 gift card to the Weekend Brewer.

The actual burner shown here has unistrut attached to the side of it. This add-on was not included.

3rd Place: The other smoked porter (with English yeast) actually tied with four other beers for third place. All judges a agreed the beer was well-balanced with a light smoke character and specialty malt. 3rd place prize was a $25 gift card to the Weekend Brewer.


After weighing all the results from the taste tests, and most notably, the Competition. I would say this yeast comparison experiment went pretty well. I would also say the base recipe for the smoked porter is a great one. If you wanted to have a really interesting yeast, then go with the WLP810 (Cal Common), but typical English yeast will work as well.

Special thanks to the Weekend Brewer for hosting the Cluster Brew event!!

Wow I would have guessed 2.7lbs of smoked malt would be quite overpowering. Congrats!