Cream Ale (WLP080) Yeast Advice

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ARittner

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
57
Reaction score
0
Location
Ashford, CT
I'm going to be brewing the AHS Cream Ale kit (partial mash), with White Labs WLP080 Cream Ale Blend yeast sometimes in the beginning of March. Hoping to have it ready for a trip I'm taking in the middle of May. Seeing as this is an ale/lager blend and I've never lagered, I had a couple questions.

Is there anything I should do differently with this yeast, in regards to fermentation time/temp? I'm bottling, and my standard practice for ales is a month in primary, then bottle condition for 3+ weeks. Should that work OK for this one? I know the primary length is probably fine, but I didn't know if anyone else made this kit, and if the 3 weeks should be good enough in the bottle.

I have a freezer/temp controller set up, so I can tweak the temperature pretty accurately. Would keeping it steadily in the temp range for this yeast (65-70) be fine, or is there some increase/decrease in temp during different points in the primary that would make a better beer?

This yeast cleans up nicely, from what I've heard. Is cold crashing worth the extra time it might take to fully carb up the bottles? I left a couple extra weeks in my schedule to account for things like this.

I've had good luck with the batches I've made so far, but this will be the first one I'll be sharing with a bunch of strangers who probably won't humor me if it isn't good. Just wanted to make sure it's the best I can do, within the limits of my equipment.

Thanks!

-Andy
 
I've not used this yeast, hopefully someone with experience with it will chime in. When I brew a cream ale, I ferment it at low ale temps, around 60. While it may take the yeast a little longer to do its work at that temperature, it will likely give you a 'cleaner' result.

As for lagering bottle conditioned beer, one option is to lager the beer after its carbonated. I've done this with good results.
 
Ferment in the mid 60's to near completion, then lager for 4-6 weeks in primary before bottling. When your done lagering, slowly bring it back up to carbonation temps. A couple of degrees a day.
 
Back
Top