Wyeast 1450 - Denny's Fave Experiences?

Hi Everyone

I just brewed an amber ale yesterday and used 1450 for the first time, I was aiming for something mac and jack's-ish. I had a year old smack pack that I stepped up in a starter from 300ml to 600ml, then couldn't brew for a month, so put it in the fridge. A few days ago I decanted and added about 200ml of 1.040 wort to get it going, pitched last night and it took off within 12hrs! Fat 1.5" Krauzen. :rockin: I'm never going to worry about old smackpacks or leaving starters in the fridge again...

What have been your experiences with this yeast? Is it estery at all or clean? Problems at higher temps? I'm fermenting at about 68-70 right now. Hopefully its not too hot, its at the high end for this yeast. I'm hoping it will have full mouthfeel, maybe slight esters, and reasonably well attenuated 1.060 to 1.013?

Cheers

This is my go-to strain! It's not estery at all, but I've never fermented it above 67 degrees or so. It's really "clean" and allows the malt and hops both to shine, without being underattenuative. I really love it in all of my American style beers, and it was really great in my oatmeal stout as well.

I think it's nice and clean even at higher temps. I don't get a lot of esters from it. There is a nice chunky mouthfeel to it though. I've used it 3 times, most recently with an oatmeal stout I have on tap. Give it a good month for that mouthfeel to kick in.

I had two bad batches due to this yeast. They fermented fine (65-68F) with large starters but both batches refused to flocculate even with near freezing cold crashes and the malt profile was really weird tasting. It really muddled up the hop flavors quite a bit. I haven't used that yeast since.

Didn't attenuate as much as I hoped (both batches stopped at .020) but they tasted good, very big mouthfeel but not sweet tasting. Was very clean too.

It's a great yeast...which I don't use often enough.

I too found it to not attenuate as well as my go to strain (Pacman #1764). It also doesn't flocculate well enough for me. I am sure that it works well, but not for my recipes. I have always been a fan of a fair amount (12-18%) of carastan, melanoidin, caramunich, brown malt, light chocolate etc. (obviously not in the same beer), I guess that is why Pacman works better for me. I think grain bill and to a lesser extent hop addition is a necessary factor when considering this particular yeast strain.

Thanks for the feedback. Looks to be mixed opinions.

Im in no hurry so the flocculation issue doesn't concern me. We'll see how it goes.

For the most part I like the flavor profile that this strain imparts. Pretty neutral and lets the malt take center stage. It is an average attenuator. The times I've used it, it tends to chug along for a long time before reaching final gravity. It is also not a great flocculator and needs some fining or extended cold aging to clear it up.

+1 for most of what was said. I just finished 4 ferments w/ the Denny's Fav. It doesn't attenuate as much as other yeasts and leaves a mouth filling sweetness which was great for Denny's west coast style RyeIPA. I wouldn't use it for beers you're going for a more dry mouthfeel. It also doesn't flocculate well until about 5 weeks after fermentation, then it flocculates quite well and leaves a very clear beer. This is w/ crash cooling too.

I would have issues using this yeast in a commercial setting, but it was fun and tasty. Not going on my all time fav's list though.

I really like this yeast. I used it in my pumpkin ale and my breakfast stout and both times I got compliments about the mouthfeel. It is currently working on Denny's Rye IPA. I recently ordered some White Labs Rebel Brewer Pub Ale yeast which I hear may be the same yeast, I am going to have to do a split batch and see what happens. I really like using "American" yeasts unless I am doing a Belgian and this is a nice option outside of 1056.

This is my go-to yeast for my Early Riser Rye Red Ale.

It's a low-gravity session beer that is hoppy for an Irish Red. The good attenuation and maltiness that the yeast contributes, along with other techniques, to a 3.7% ale that had a lot of body and dimension.

Big fan.

What mash temps do folks have success with when using 1450?

I'm planning to make a 1.060 amber ale, with 10% crystal malt. If I was fermenting with a more familiar strain, I'd mash at 154. Will that mash temp work with Denny's Favorite 50, or should I go a bit lower?

tonyolympia said:

What mash temps do folks have success with when using 1450?

I'm planning to make a 1.060 amber ale, with 10% crystal malt. If I was fermenting with a more familiar strain, I'd mash at 154. Will that mash temp work with Denny's Favorite 50, or should I go a bit lower?

Click to expand...

Love the strain!

And it will work great for this at 154.

maffewl said:

Love the strain!

And it will work great for this at 154.

Click to expand...

Thanks, M!

tonyolympia said:

Thanks, M!

Click to expand...

No prob... I'd keep the ferm. temps around 62-64.

maffewl said:

No prob... I'd keep the ferm. temps around 62-64.

Click to expand...

Without intervention (a big plus for wintertime brewing) temps have naturally been resting at 67-68 for me. What could I expect from 1450 at those temps?

I've personally never tried it at that high of a temp... but I know others that have and everything was just fine.

Just brewed a batch of northern brewers speckled heifer this weekend, and went with this yeast. Not sure on how it will turn out, but i plan to use the cake on dennys rye ipa, so it saves me from making a starter.

I am currently fermenting my house pale ale with 1450. I usually use wlp 007, but I went through 5 generations of washed yeast and dumped it, and then my LHBS was out. I bought an expired smack pack for $1.00 and made a starter and it had a good krausen by hour 12. I have high hopes for this yeast and will report back when this batch is ready.

I liked it in Denny's rye, for sure.going to give it a go on a black ipa next time.

Great for rye pa. I also used it for 2 IPAs and found it delicious. Us-05 attenuated a bit too much for me, so I like the 1450 as mid 150s has resulted in FGs of 1.015.

I recently used it in an Imperial Porter, and it stopped at 1.030 from only 1.080. 60% attenuation.

Spartan1979 said:

I recently used it in an Imperial Porter, and it stopped at 1.030 from only 1.080. 60% attenuation.

Click to expand...

That fits with the overall sentiment I've read regarding this strain- its not ideal for high gravity beers. Seems like its sweet spot is in making the 1.040-1.060 beers turn out real nice.

JimTheHick said:

That fits with the overall sentiment I've read regarding this strain- its not ideal for high gravity beers. Seems like its sweet spot is in making the 1.040-1.060 beers turn out real nice.

Click to expand...

Self flame war is on. Just looked through my notes and one of the best beers I've made is just hitting its prime. It was a 1.087 double IPA with the 1450 yeast. Fg was 1.015 and it is SO tasty.

That JimTheHick doesn't know what he's talking about.

JimTheHick said:

Self flame war is on. Just looked through my notes and one of the best beers I've made is just hitting its prime. It was a 1.087 double IPA with the 1450 yeast. Fg was 1.015 and it is SO tasty.

That JimTheHick doesn't know what he's talking about.

Click to expand...

thats about 82-83% apparent attenuation, and 9.4% ABV . was this the first generation of this yeast, or did you pitch a slurry from a previous batch?

My experience has been you need to lower your sweet grains (caramel) as this strain accentuates those flavors, even while fully attenuating.

Edit: I'm starting to ask the same questions over and over again. Time to brew the damn thing and just see what happens.

Veedo said:

thats about 82-83% apparent attenuation, and 9.4% ABV . was this the first generation of this yeast, or did you pitch a slurry from a previous batch?

Click to expand...

1450 cake from a rye ipa (1.060ish) The rye beer was gen 1.

Figured that if it’s good enough for Yooper it was worth a shot. Just moved an IPA that was fermented with Wy1450 to secondary for oaking . Wow! This stuff taste great right from the hydrometer tube. Here’s some pictures to dispel the flocculation and attenuation rumors. Started at 1.063 and dropped to 1.010 after 12 days. These pictures are after some cold crashing, but before moving to the secondary. Can't wait to get it kegged after a few weeks on the wood.

dale1038 said:

Give it a good month for that mouthfeel to kick in.

Click to expand...

Dale, do you mean one month in primary, or one month conditioning in bottles? I normally primary for no more than three weeks, so I figured I'd check with you before leaving my amber in the fermenter for another week.

Spartan1979 said:

I recently used it in an Imperial Porter, and it stopped at 1.030 from only 1.080. 60% attenuation.

Click to expand...

I believe I am experiencing this.

1.096 down to 1.036 after 3 weeks in the primary. I pitched on a yeast cake.

I have a 1.060 IPA in primary right now. Three weeks and it went down to 1.015,seemed stable but then I dry hopped and move the temp from 63 to 70F - it now sits at 1.010.

Maybe try kicking the yeast back up and warming up 5 degrees?

tonyolympia said:

Dale, do you mean one month in primary, or one month conditioning in bottles? I normally primary for no more than three weeks, so I figured I'd check with you before leaving my amber in the fermenter for another week.

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter. I always think 6 weeks in the bottle is when beers are no longer green.

pm5k00 said:

I am currently fermenting my house pale ale with 1450. I usually use WLP 007, but I went through 5 generations of washed yeast and dumped it, and then my LHBS was out. I bought an expired smack pack for $1.00 and made a starter and it had a good krausen by hour 12. I have high hopes for this yeast and will report back when this batch is ready.

Click to expand...

I just finished kegging my House Pale Ale made with 1450. The yeast took it from 1.053 to 1.013, so 75% Attenuation, which is perfect. Hydro sample tasted great and the beer was crystal clear. 5 weeks in primary, which includes 3 weeks fermenting at 65*F, 1 week at 72*F with roused yeast, and 1 week at 34*F to crash cool.

Tossed dry hops into the secondary of my first batch using 1450 yesterday. Also yesterday, I direct pitched some slurry from that batch into a 1.053 American Brown. The slurry had been in the fridge for three weeks. This second batch had active airlock in a few hours and a couple inches of krausen by morning. I don’t see it taking more than a week to finish up. A few days to clean up. Then cold crash and keg. So, grain to glass, three weeks for a beer with this gravity.

Could be wrong. Let you know how they turn out.

AnOldUR said:

Tossed dry hops into the secondary of my first batch using 1450 yesterday. Also yesterday, I direct pitched some slurry from that bath into a 1.053 American Brown. The slurry had been in the fridge for three weeks. This second batch had active airlock in a few hours and a couple inches of krausen by morning. I don’t see it taking more than a week to finish up. A few days to clean up. Then cold crash and keg. So, grain to glass, three weeks for a beer with this gravity.

Could be wrong. Let you know how they turn out.

Click to expand...

Please do! The only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) I have with that yeast strain is that it takes forever to clear- worse than 1056 is for me.

Yooper said:

Please do! The only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) I have with that yeast strain is that it takes forever to clear- worse than 1056 is for me.

Click to expand...

Did you see the pictures I posted on page 3 of this thread? Think it'll get much better? That was 12 days of primary. After that I dropped the temperature down to 35 for a few days of cold crashing before transferring to secondary for oaking. The trouble was that I got tied up with work and the primary stayed in the fridge for 9 days before transferring and taking the sample shown in the picture.

It's been three weeks so far on the oak. The plan now is to cold crash again starting the middle of this week and then keg over the weekend.

This is a new version of the OIPA that you've tried. Very curious to see what Denny's does compared to the Pacman from the past. Hope it's good and clears up a bit more. There's a spot reserved for it at NHC.

I agree with Yoop... it can take a while to clear, but gelatin works wonders on it.

AnOldUR said:

Did you see the pictures I posted on page 3 of this thread? Think it'll get much better? That was 12 days of primary. After that I dropped the temperature down to 35 for a few days of cold crashing before transferring to secondary for oaking. The trouble was that I got tied up with work and the primary stayed in the fridge for 9 days before transferring and taking the sample shown in the picture.

It's been three weeks so far on the oak. The plan now is to cold crash again starting the middle of this week and then keg over the weekend.

This is a new version of the OIPA that you've tried. Very curious to see what Denny's does compared to the Pacman from the past. Hope it's good and clears up a bit more. There's a spot reserved for it at NHC.

Click to expand...

Sounds great! I think you'll like the Denny's yeast version. The pacman is great, but the Denny's brings out the malt much more without being underattenuated or sweet. I think it's a good bet this will turn out great.