Windsor yeast help

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Brizzo

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Hopefully someonecan help me out with this. I made a split batch of an extract brown ale. I split the5 gallons into twoglass carboys and into one I pitched s-05 yeast and into theother i pitched windsor ale yeast. The recipe stated that my target final gravity should be 1.014. The s-05 reached 1.012 after 3 weeks in the primary. I tasted it tonight and think I have an infection because it tastes awful. Fruity tart awful sulfur odor. It's going to get dumped.

The Windsor batch reached 1.020 after three weeks in the primary and I tasted it tonight and it tastes good, some esters but still very drinkable. The biggest thing is that it is still very malty, I am assuming becUse I haven't reached the targetfinal gravity yet.

My question is will Windsor ferment that low? Should I rack into a secondary and give it another month or is Windsor pretty much done at 1.020? And I should just bottle it up
 
From my experience with Windsor... I'd say it's done. I would avoid that yeast at all costs. If a buddy told me he'd give me $20 to use it... I'd turn the offer down.
 
Oh, I like Windsor yeast. It's great for what it is. It'll leave lots of residual sweetness, a higher FG and a richer mouthfeel with some nice British esters. I like it in some oatmeal stouts, and even in a mild.
 
Will the carbonation help cut through the maltiness? It tastes pretty good, but it is malty. The yeast was recommended by my lhbs but I am quickly learning they know more about wine than beer. Plus they charge close to $6 for dry yeast and they have a
Poor selection of liquid
 
I used windsor on my last brew, i wanted to get us-04 for english IPA but they were sold out so i got windsor. I had lots of reservations after reading ppl opinions (low attenuation, low flock, someone described beer taste as pickled feet :) ect but i adjusted mashing temp (95min that started at 151 and ended at 147F). I pitched rehydrated yeast and got nice but nothing crazy, fermentation (64F wort and 64 ambient) that stopped after 40 hours, it was strange because from lots of bubbling in blow off tube went to nothing withing an hour or 2, i was sure it was low temp and i got stuck ferm so i checked SG and it was 1.014, and its still the same right now, 15 days later. So far it taste great, i was expecting FG at around 1.016-18 so i bumped IBU to 60 for this beer so it has nice malt/hop balance and im dryhoping now 2oz of mix hops.
So from my limited experience i think your beer is done and $6 for dry yeast is a rip-off, i was actually afraid of scenario like that so was considering adding different strain (us05 btw) to get it few points lower, im not sure its a good idea but if its really sweet i dont think carbonation will help much. BTW how do you know your us-05 batch is infected?, from the taste looks like your temp ferm was out of range, i would give them 2 more weeks in primary at 70 and then decide what to do
 
I like windsor myself. If I use it I always mash low and long, around 148 for 90 min. With it being an extract batch I pretty possitive it's done.
 
I think that beer was infected because off all the of flavors and smells. I have used us 05 in the past on American style pale ales and enjoyed them. This time the beer was just awful after three weeks. I can't even describe the bad flavors and smell when I sampled it. I fermented for the first week between 64 and 68 then did two weeks in my basement at 58. I was pretty close to my expected final gravity so I think I was done.

Especially when compared to the Windsor batch after the same amount of time, the Windsor tasted good and the o5 tasted more like a wine/vinegar.

I will bottle up the Windsor batch tonight and sample it in a week or so.
 
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