KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
I'm in the planning stages for an experiment I've been wanting to do for a while. While a lot of attention has been given to malts and hops, especially with the very popular SMaSH brews, I've seen little work done on trying to nail down the differences between different yeasts in a controlled manner. I've decided to do just that, compare a variety of yeasts in a controlled experiment in order to not only see what each brings to the table, but to discover which produces what, to my palate, is the superior beer.
I'm going to use a very simple bitter recipe for the base beer. Something probably in the 4.5% ABV range and lightly hopped to about 20 IBU. It will be made with a maris otter base, about 10% british crystal 45 and just enough british chocolate malt to give a little color and flavor. I'll be testing only british ale yeasts, as that is what I'm interested in.
The idea is to brew a 10 to 12 gallon batch. I'll then split it up into as many 1 gallon fermenters as is necessary to test all the yeasts. Liquid yeasts will be pitched straight from the packet/vial, while dry yeasts will be measured out to an appropriate piching weight using mr. malty's pitching calculator. The leftover dry yeasts may be combined with the remaining wort in a larger fermenter as an interesting side experiment. Each sample will be fermented at the same temperature (65 degrees F) for the same length of time (probably 4 weeks) then bottled at the same time. Each will be carbonated the same and bottle conditioned under the same conditions. I figure each 1 gallon batch should provide around 8 bottles. These will then be sampled at various timepoints to compare the yeast results.
Here are the yeasts I'm planning on trying:
Dry
Nottingham
Windsor (never tried it but have heard both good and bad things)
S-04
Munton's Gold (what is usually thought to be a fairly pedestrian kit yeast put to the test!)
Cooper's (again, a typically kit yeast, but one that I've heard can produce fine beers)
Liquid
Ringwood Ale
Burton Ale
WLP002
Tentative Selections
WLP013 London Ale
WY1318 London Ale III
So my question is what do you guys think of the experiment? Is there anything I should amend? Any yeasts I should add? If you have a favorite english yeast or one you've always wanted to try, now would be the time to let me know.
I'm going to use a very simple bitter recipe for the base beer. Something probably in the 4.5% ABV range and lightly hopped to about 20 IBU. It will be made with a maris otter base, about 10% british crystal 45 and just enough british chocolate malt to give a little color and flavor. I'll be testing only british ale yeasts, as that is what I'm interested in.
The idea is to brew a 10 to 12 gallon batch. I'll then split it up into as many 1 gallon fermenters as is necessary to test all the yeasts. Liquid yeasts will be pitched straight from the packet/vial, while dry yeasts will be measured out to an appropriate piching weight using mr. malty's pitching calculator. The leftover dry yeasts may be combined with the remaining wort in a larger fermenter as an interesting side experiment. Each sample will be fermented at the same temperature (65 degrees F) for the same length of time (probably 4 weeks) then bottled at the same time. Each will be carbonated the same and bottle conditioned under the same conditions. I figure each 1 gallon batch should provide around 8 bottles. These will then be sampled at various timepoints to compare the yeast results.
Here are the yeasts I'm planning on trying:
Dry
Nottingham
Windsor (never tried it but have heard both good and bad things)
S-04
Munton's Gold (what is usually thought to be a fairly pedestrian kit yeast put to the test!)
Cooper's (again, a typically kit yeast, but one that I've heard can produce fine beers)
Liquid
Ringwood Ale
Burton Ale
WLP002
Tentative Selections
WLP013 London Ale
WY1318 London Ale III
So my question is what do you guys think of the experiment? Is there anything I should amend? Any yeasts I should add? If you have a favorite english yeast or one you've always wanted to try, now would be the time to let me know.