SNPA yeast

Anyone have any idea if Sierra Nevada Pale ale uses a house yeast? I just got a bottle with some serious sediment in it. Seamed odd to me so I am seriously thinking about culturing it, just to give it a shot if nothing else. If its nothing special then it probably isnt worth it but couldnt find much info on it

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is always bottle conditioned, or at least is says so on the neck label.

You'll probably have faster luck propagating from multiple bottles, but you can still try from a single bottle. I have successfully propagated Rogue yeast from one bottle, although it was a 22 ouncer.

I'm nearly certain that Sierra Nevada (of Chico, CA) is the reason that US-05 / Wyeast 1056 is referred to as "Chico" yeast. It's probably not worth culturing if that's the case.

Yeah, I went and looked at the picture of a case of SNPA I have and the neck label definitely mentions natural carbonation in the bottle leaving a layer of sediment, so that's nothing out of the ordinary.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/3060980614_3c75d1e738_o.jpg Zoom in to the neck label if your browser automatically zooms out.

Yuri_Rage said:

I'm nearly certain that Sierra Nevada (of Chico, CA) is the reason that US-05 / Wyeast 1056 is referred to as "Chico" yeast. It's probably not worth culturing if that's the case.

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This is also a valid point.

Guess I had never noticed it. It looks like the bottle sat on its side for a while because there was a layer of yeast up at the neck above the liquid line. I think the bottom had more yeast in it than most of my homebrews and I had never noticed sediment in snpa before. If its S-05 then its not worth it. So while we are on the subject any other beers with yeast strains you cant get? I want to try this just to try it really. Rogue has packman, What about Hale's ales mongoos? I have a few 22s of that or Deschutes Jubelale or pikes IPA? I have all those right now

I can confirm that Sierra Nevada uses 1056. I would either try culturing pacman or one of the Ommegang beers, not sure what yeast they use. Since you've already got some bombers, I would work with what you've got. Haven't heard of either of those beers, but Jubelala has a nice ring to it!

GC89 said:

So while we are on the subject any other beers with yeast strains you cant get?

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http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/

The site is not up to date and the email address is no longer valid, so please don't view this as an "end all" list.

yea, 1056 is the Chico strain. Also, I know for a fact that Sierra Nevada filters, then adds back in a specific amount of yeast to bottle condition. What I don't know is if they use a separate strain to do this.

It also seems that BrewmastersWarehouse.com is carrying pacman right now. Don't worry about the picture. Ed just has a generic picture for all of the Wyeast smack packs.

I'm seriously considering getting back into brewing after about 16yrs. I used to keep slants of various yeast and I'm pretty sure I was able to culture the SNPA yeast. What I can't remember is how much I used to bottle condition a 5g batch. Anyone know this?

edit:
Doh! Nevermind, I didn't add any, I was adding some type of sugar at the end...I have a lot to remember and re-learn.

limulus said:

I'm seriously considering getting back into brewing after about 16yrs. I used to keep slants of various yeast and I'm pretty sure I was able to culture the SNPA yeast. What I can't remember is how much I used to bottle condition a 5g batch. Anyone know this?

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Not sure what the practice was a decade and a half ago, but nowadays we know there is enough yeast in suspension to bottle condition with, so we generally don't add yeast at bottling, just some corn sugar.

Chico is definitely 1056/US05. It's the benchmark.

I wonder, though. I distinctly remember reading about a big-name craft brewery using a lager strain to bottle-condition their pale ale. But I can't be sure if it was Sierra Nevada or another brewery.

Damn this aging!

Bob