Ordinary bitter - Safale 04 or Danstar Windsor?

Hey all,

I am seeking to brew a "ten buck" ordinary bitter, and I was wondering if people would recommend Safale 04 or Danstar Windsor for the batch. I want something that's balanced and not too dry or brittle, but also something that is not overly sweet for the style. I tend to lean towards liquid yeast, but I like the idea of a super inexpensive, delicious session beer. Hit me back!

Windsor won't be overly sweet, and it will make a classic Bitter. However, it will take a long time to clear. I haven't used 04, but have used Notty. Notty will finish drier than Windsor, with less esters, but will clear faster.

Windsor will give you better flavor, but as said will take forever to clear and probably will only attenuate to 65% or so. S-04 ferments very fast and is quick to clear, though the flavor profile can be disgusting with higher ferment temps (+68F) and generally tastes boring at normal ones.

Why not buy a pack of wy1968 or wy1318 and make it your house yeast? Awesome traditional bitter flavor and you can wash the yeast over and over.

I've used so-4 twice, and now am trying 1968 on batch three.

I've never used Windsor and probably won't bother, as I love the results I've gotten with S-04 on the three bitters I have done so far. Ferments very vigorously and quickly and makes a very compact yeast cake at the bottom of the bottle. After about 6 weeks in the bottle, you can just pour out the entire contents with no fear of yeast sneaking out.

Not a fan of S-04 to be honest. The esters it produces give a funny flavor that i really don't care for. I'd maybe use it in a sweet stout, but not in a lighter bodied beer like a bitter.

Personally I'd use Nottingham, which I love. Dry and clean, which is what i prefer.

I've never used Windsor, so i can't comment on it.

I will say that in my Bitter recipe I've tried 1098, Notty and Windsor. While 1098 and Notty both produced a good beer and cleared quickly, Windsor had the overall best flavor profile. Sure it took much longer to clear than I would have liked, but that was by far my favorite version of the recipe.

Just remember, clear beer isn't everything. Beer is for drinking, not for watching TV through.

Another vote for Windsor's flavour. Bit more character usually.

It doesn't really take that long to drop in the bottle, though it doesn't let you carelessly up end when pouring like S04 does!

What would a disadvantage to crash cooling rather than waiting for the the clearing if you had the means? (I've got Artic winds to my benefit-- crash cooling does wonders if near freezing point.)

Ace_Club said:

I will say that in my Bitter recipe I've tried 1098, Notty and Windsor. While 1098 and Notty both produced a good beer and cleared quickly, Windsor had the overall best flavor profile. Sure it took much longer to clear than I would have liked, but that was by far my favorite version of the recipe.

Just remember, clear beer isn't everything. Beer is for drinking, not for watching TV through.

Click to expand...