Anybody confirmed what yeast Bell's Brewery uses?

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kanzimonson

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I'd like to do an experiment soon in which I brew a larger batch of pale ale and split it three ways to test several different yeast strains. I'd also like to combine this with my first attempt culturing up from some bottle conditioned beers.

I'll definitely be culturing up from a Sierra Nevada bottle, but I'd also like to try something made with American Ale 2. Has anybody confirmed that this is the strain that Bell's uses? I don't really want to culture up from Bell's if they use 1056.

I've seen the chart on MrMalty, which doesn't have any information on Bell's, and I've seen this chart that I don't really trust due to all the question marks and "Last updated May 29 1998."

Finally, I see that Anchor definitely uses American Ale 2 in their Liberty Ale. Is this beer bottle-conditioned? I can't find any clear information online.

My last yeast will be 1968 London ESB, which I already have a little bank of.
 
I have seen two references on HBT saying that Bells uses WLP0051 California V yeast (equivalent to 1272 American Ale Yeast2 I think). However I would love to have that confirmed.
 
It is proprietary, confirmed by sales rep. American ale II (1272) is not all that close IMO.
American ale II is the Anchor Liberty ale strain, the same as Cal V.

I talked to John Mallett last time I was at Bell's production brewery and not only did he confirm it was proprietary but it's the exact same strain for every ale. The only time they use a different yeast is on lagers or doing Brett beers and anything funky is done at the old brewery. Right on their control panel they had a sticker with following on it:

Hell Hath No Fury 78
Two Hearted 76
Winter White 74
Ales 72
Lagers 48-50
 
A buddy gave me a slant of Bell's house yeast that they harvested from a bottle of 2 hearted and said they'd gotten up to 14% abv with it, so doesn't sound like 1272 to me?
 
The other piece of info that is noteworthy is that Oberon is the beer Bell's uses to grow their yeast, so that is the best beer to culture from as it will be the youngest generation. A fresh bottle of Oberon is your best bet for a good culture.
 
Those temps are crazy high... can that be right? Primary ferment at 78ºF???
Have you had that beer, it tastes like a Belgian.
The other piece of info that is noteworthy is that Oberon is the beer Bell's uses to grow their yeast, so that is the best beer to culture from as it will be the youngest generation. A fresh bottle of Oberon is your best bet for a good culture.
What is the source for this? They have a tank there that they use exclusively to culture yeast John showed it to me, and Oberon is seasonal so even if the do grow yeast in it they couldn't use it year round.
 
I was told that Oberon fermentations produce a massive quantity of yeast and that that yeast is washed and used for fermenting other batches, specifically Two Hearted, which destroys yeast due to the hopping. I believe Oberon is brewed year round now and has been for a year or two. I could b wrong about that though, or maybe that was the plan for the future. I cannot quite remember.
 
I was told that Oberon fermentations produce a massive quantity of yeast and that that yeast is washed and used for fermenting other batches, specifically Two Hearted, which destroys yeast due to the hopping. I believe Oberon is brewed year round now and has been for a year or two. I could b wrong about that though, or maybe that was the plan for the future. I cannot quite remember.

Depends on the state actually: http://www.bellsbeer.com/brands/info/11/oberon_ale

So you're right. It is brewed year round, just not offered year round everywhere.
 
I'll definitely be culturing up from a Sierra Nevada bottle, but I'd also like to try something made with American Ale 2. Has anybody confirmed that this is the strain that Bell's uses? I don't really want to culture up from Bell's if they use 1056.

1056/001/US05 is the Sierra Nevada strain.
 
1056/001/US05 is the Sierra Nevada strain.

Right, that's why I wouldn't want to culture both if they use the same.

Thanks to everyone for all the responses. A little discouraged now because I feel like I need to ferment with 1056, 1272, AND Bell's yeast. Maybe I'll just leave out the 1968 ESB and make this an all-American comparison. Shock and awe, baby.

I'll probably get the Bell's from their Amber since most of their other beers are more extreme. That's crazy about Oberon using the same yeast, but a great lesson to homebrewers out there who don't practice fermentation temp control. I can't believe it's the same yeast.
 
Hell Hath No Fury 78
Two Hearted 76
Winter White 74
Ales 72
Lagers 48-50

That the ale yeast is fermented at such high temps with good results means I might need to harvest it for use next summer. And its the same stuff used in Oberon? Pretty versatile. I wonder how low it'll go . . .
 
I havn't had their no fury but 20 bucks says that they use a different yeast for their third coast old ale and their expedition stout. It had the exact same fruity aroma and flavor.
 
I'll probably get the Bell's from their Amber since most of their other beers are more extreme. That's crazy about Oberon using the same yeast, but a great lesson to homebrewers out there who don't practice fermentation temp control. I can't believe it's the same yeast.

I've had good success culturing from Bells Amber. Less so with two hearted.
 
That the ale yeast is fermented at such high temps with good results means I might need to harvest it for use next summer. And its the same stuff used in Oberon? Pretty versatile. I wonder how low it'll go . . .
It's worth a shot. Just remember that they have a lab that guarentees peak viability and vitality, have their pitch rates dialed in and keeps those temps perfectly consistant. So even if you hit those same temps it could result in a totally different beer, who knows what kind of shape that yeast is out of that bottle.
 
I cultured from an Oberon 12 pack early this spring (from the first shipment of the season to Indiana). That yeast is awesome! Very versitile and attenuates very well. I recommend this one, especially if you want to make a good Two Hearted clone (my fav AIPA)
Beach
 
I'm culturing from Oberon right now, as a matter of fact. Furthermore, it's the first time I've ever done this! I'm going to make a batch of my Imperial RyePA and see how it tastes compared to US-05.
 
i heard once that the 2HA uses something close to WY1084. Thoughts?

I've never used WY1084 (Irish Ale right?) before so I don't know how it compares to Bells yeast. But I'm wondering, how convinced are you that what you heard is true? Did you hear that from a reliable source?
 
Commercial brewers need to ferment warmer to get the right esters out of the yeast because they have about 6-7 PSI of hydrostatic pressure in their tall fermenters. On the homebrew scale you can pressure ferment at 6-7 PSI with a corny keg or sanke keg and get similar results, or just ferment 4-5*F cooler than they do as usual.
 
I've harvested 2HA yeast and it did ok, but then I grew a large starter from it over several steps. Next time I'll try the Oberon. I really should stop by next time I'm in Kzoo and take a tour and ask questions.

Funny thing is that after I harvested the yeast, I went ahead and used it, and fermented too warm. This was just before I finally forced myself to follow good temp control practices.

I KNOW my next 2HA attempt will be killer!! (that's what I always say...)
 
Commercial brewers need to ferment warmer to get the right esters out of the yeast because they have about 6-7 PSI of hydrostatic pressure in their tall fermenters. On the homebrew scale you can pressure ferment at 6-7 PSI with a corny keg or sanke keg and get similar results, or just ferment 4-5*F cooler than they do as usual.

Wait, so what you r saying is that I could use a pressure vessel INSTEAD of trying to lower the temp??
 
Commercial brewers need to ferment warmer to get the right esters out of the yeast because they have about 6-7 PSI of hydrostatic pressure in their tall fermenters. On the homebrew scale you can pressure ferment at 6-7 PSI with a corny keg or sanke keg and get similar results, or just ferment 4-5*F cooler than they do as usual.

Ha, this is exactly what I thought when I read the guy wanting to ferment at 78.

(It's very well documented. Check out the middle link in my sig.)
 
I've never used WY1084 (Irish Ale right?) before so I don't know how it compares to Bells yeast. But I'm wondering, how convinced are you that what you heard is true? Did you hear that from a reliable source?

went and looked. fairly obscure reference, so i'll just save that for another recipe.

did we come to a consensus on what the closest strain to bells is?
 
I want to revive this old thread to see if anybody has any fresh info on the bells strain and also to report my own experiences.

I cultured the bells strain and used it to make an IPA with a grain bill the same as BTHA, but with only about 50 IBU and 1.055 OG. This brew finished at 1.013 and is quite tasty, sure tastes like a bells beer.

I just yesterday pitched the bells yeast into a bitter and it took off in know time, thank you starter, and I am assuming I will finish dry with some fruity esters, so here is to hoping.

One thing I did notice is that this strain is not all that flocculant. But it sure does taste good.
 
One thing I did notice is that this strain is not all that flocculant. But it sure does taste good.

Hmmm... I don't see that. I brewed 5 1-gallon batches with various yeasts (including Bells) and it seems pretty flocculant to me. I'll post pictures after they're all bottled and good tasting.
 
I cultured from a few bottles of Two Hearted about 4 months ago. Used in an IPA and most recently a wheat brew, I have found that it makes a frothy, creamy krausen that takes twice as long to settle out as with the same recipe using WLP001. And the beer is good! I am fermenting at about 68F.
 
I want to revive this old thread to see if anybody has any fresh info on the bells strain and also to report my own experiences.

I cultured the bells strain and used it to make an IPA with a grain bill the same as BTHA, but with only about 50 IBU and 1.055 OG. This brew finished at 1.013 and is quite tasty, sure tastes like a bells beer.

I just yesterday pitched the bells yeast into a bitter and it took off in know time, thank you starter, and I am assuming I will finish dry with some fruity esters, so here is to hoping.

One thing I did notice is that this strain is not all that flocculant. But it sure does taste good.
I've made a few batches with Bell's yeast I cultured from one bottle of Bell's Pale Ale. It does attenuate well and it does appear to be not very flocculant...until you chill it. After you chill/condition it it floccs out so well it comes out crystal clear, almost polished it's so clear. It's very light and fluffy (for lack of a better word) and can get roused up easily but it does settle out very well given time and cold.

Just tapped my 2-Hearted inspired ale about a week ago and it's quite tasty (and crystal clear).
 
American ale II is the Anchor Liberty ale strain, the same as Cal V.

I talked to John Mallett last time I was at Bell's production brewery and not only did he confirm it was proprietary but it's the exact same strain for every ale. The only time they use a different yeast is on lagers or doing Brett beers and anything funky is done at the old brewery. Right on their control panel they had a sticker with following on it:

Hell Hath No Fury 78
Two Hearted 76
Winter White 74
Ales 72
Lagers 48-50


I can shed a little more light on this. Of these beers, Winter White uses a different yeast than the primary Bell's strain, and Hell Hath No Fury doesn't use a proprietary strain at all. I talked to Gary at Bell's, and he told me that Hell Hath No Fury uses equal parts WLP500 and WLP550. The beer contains no spices or flavorings. All of those flavors come from the yeast, so it's easy to believe the beer is fermented that hot.
 
Just a quick comment.

I am tasting a clone I made of two hearted. I used s05 and it came out pretty close. We just needed a bit more on the hop flavor easy to adjust next brew. We actually had trouble picking out which one was the clone.

As an experiment, we fermented one with English ale (s04) and the other with American ale (s05).

Next time I think I'll culture up some yeast from a bottle our two. I have a stir plate and use it already to grow starters should be a piece of cake.
 
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