Denny's Favorite vs 1056 Experiment

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Sayers

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Myself and a fellow brewer are doing an experiment to see the difference between Denny's Favorite and 1056 Wyeasts. I made a 10 gal batch of cream ale with some slight differences in the recipe. I divided the wort into 2 different carboys and pitched equal amounts of yeast into each carboy. On the first day of my fermentation they looked the same. Then overnight the 1056 plugged the airlock and popped it off. I changed it for a blow off tube but noticed that the color of the wort on the 1056 was alot darker. My buddy did pretty much the same thing but didn't have the airlock issue. His beers are pretty much identical.
I can think of only 2 senerios. Either the pressure built up while the airlock was plugged somehow changed the color, or my buddy accidently pitched Denny's in both of his fermenters, but I doubt the last one. Can anyone tell me why the color is different in mine and not my Buddy's. Any idea's would be helpful.

IMG_1175.jpg
 
Yeast in solution will make the color lighter. If one yeast is more of a true top-cropping yeast, the beer could look darker since the yeast is up top and less dissolved in the beer. In the end both will be the same color once they flocculate.
 
As (sort of) already mentioned, flocculance is the culprit. Denny's is more flocculant. While it'll stay in solution early in fermentation, it drops pretty hard when it runs out of sugars it likes (hence the increased mouthfeel). 1056 starts way up top then drops slowly. Get it to 6+ generations and it can get downright powdery.

Also, I love these experiments but I can tell you how it's going to turn out: Denny's is equally as clean as 1056 but you'll get a bigger mouthfeel and (depending on age) a clearer beer. The big mouthfeel can be good or bad depending on what you're shooting for. Denny's is my 'secret weapon' for low gravity beers that demand a big mouthfeel (think English Mild). In bigger beers, the mash can accommodate and I generally stick to US-05 (more stable and the same strain).
 
I did use the same quantity of yeast cells. I used wyeast smack packs with different dates but used Mr Malty's pitching rate calculator to figure out what size of starter to use to make equal amounts of cells. The 1056 was a 1l starter and the Denny's was a 1.4l starter.
 
Denny's is my 'secret weapon' for low gravity beers that demand a big mouthfeel (think English Mild). In bigger beers, the mash can accommodate and I generally stick to US-05 (more stable and the same strain).[/QUOTE]

Why do you say same strain?
 
LKABrewer said:
Have you experimented with this? I have split batches a couple of times with these yeasts and get a different result consistently.
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Probably because while the yeast source is the same (reportedly from Ballentine IPA), the different brands may have mutated over time. (US-05, Wyeast 1056, WLP001)
 
AmandaK said:
Probably because while the yeast source is the same (reportedly from Ballentine IPA), the different brands may have mutated over time. (US-05, Wyeast 1056, WLP001)
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That's my opinion, too. Sure, they call it the "Chico strain", but I find that WLP001 is my preference over S05 and 1056. The WLP001 clears the beer faster than 1056, which seems to never want to clear. The other thing, S05 gets "peachy" to me under 64 degrees while 001 doesn't seem to.

I've been using two house strains for many of my beers- WLP001 and Wyeast 1450 (Denny's). I use S05 if I want the convenience of dry yeast, but it's not cheap anymore so the cost savings isn't really that great over the WLP001.
 
I use wlp001 and Denny's for a lot of beers. I like Denny's with more complex malt bills, it really helps bring out the flavor nuances. I want to use it in my next robust porter.

I recently used Denny's on an IIPA with a simple malt bill including corn sugar. The result was very interesting, almost a watermelony flavor, and the ferment was very clean so the flavor wasn't ester based.
 
So is it normal for Denny's and 1056 to have a different color or should the be pretty close to the same?
 
Sayers said:
So is it normal for Denny's and 1056 to have a different color or should the be pretty close to the same?
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The color isn't really different. One has more yeast in suspension, the tan milky looking one, and the other has less. Once they both flocculate the color will no longer be different (most likely).

For whatever reason the difference in the amount of suspended yeast is not as different for your buddy. Yeast are living things and they don't always perform exactly the same.
 
This thread made me go out and buy a pack of Denny's. Darn that new brewshop just a block away from my office!
 
Everything already said I've found for the most part to be true. Sorry for the 'same strain' confusion. For what it's worth, Denny's Favorite 50 is reputed to be Brewtek CL50 (Brewtek now defunct).
 
Yooper said:
That's my opinion, too. Sure, they call it the "Chico strain", but I find that WLP001 is my preference over S05 and 1056. The WLP001 clears the beer faster than 1056, which seems to never want to clear. The other thing, S05 gets "peachy" to me under 64 degrees while 001 doesn't seem to.

I've been using two house strains for many of my beers- WLP001 and Wyeast 1450 (Denny's). I use S05 if I want the convenience of dry yeast, but it's not cheap anymore so the cost savings isn't really that great over the WLP001.
Click to expand...

I agree that mutation happens differently in even very similar environments. That said, the Chico strain is 'peachy' in aroma all around. Smell a vial of WLP001, a smack pack of 1056, or a rehydrated packet of US-05. I detect lots of peach esters in all of them. The thing is, this seems to clear with healthy fermentation. I ferment rehydrated US-05 at 60degF and I've never had the first peachy ester make it to the finished beer. Also, cold crashing clears it just fine. Are you rehydrating? I think it's possible (perhaps even likely) that some of the inherent peachiness of the strain could remain in the beer if you're just sprinkling atop the wort.
 
Ive got ten gallons of IPA cracking away rite now on a 4l starter of Denny's, fermenting at 65* for four days with very even activity. When using the same recipe and same temp and same size starter 1056 seems more aggressive over a shorter duration. Do you all fine 1056 to go faster than 1450?
 
Ya for sure. I usually have to use a blowoff tube for 1056 while I feel pretty safe with just an airlock for Denny's.
 
apratsunrthd said:
Everything already said I've found for the most part to be true. Sorry for the 'same strain' confusion. For what it's worth, Denny's Favorite 50 is reputed to be Brewtek CL50 (Brewtek now defunct).
Click to expand...

It definitely is (was) the same. I think it's changed some over the years. Wyeast's sample came from my yeast bank.
 
Sorry I never did give the final results. Beers finish the same colour. The 1056 was extremely clean and the Denny's had a slight "pineapple" flavour to it but a creamier mouthfeel. My preference would be Denny's for anything besides a super light flavoured beer with this experiments results but I have not attempted to repeat this experiment yet.
 

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