What are good alternative 'House Strains" besides 1056/001/S-05?

I brew a wide range of beer, and harvest the yeast and go up to 10 generations generally.

I've used Pacman and 1056 with great result.

But I now wonder what other alternatives are out there that could work on a wide range of ales? Something reliable, flocs reasonably, and attenuates well.

What say?

McEwan's, Nottingham, Fuller's, Whitbread....

Well, not Fuller's. It won't attenuate well.

+1 for Pacman. Love it.

I loved Pacman but I couldn't really see that much of a difference from 1056 to be honest.

WLP007 is awesome. Very versatile. So are the Scottish strain and European ale.

I've been using nottingham a lot lately. Probably going to be doing most of my ales with that from now on. For the price, and since it doesn't need a starter, I won't even recycle ale yeast, just keep a bunch of packages around.

fastricky said:

I loved Pacman but I couldn't really see that much of a difference from 1056 to be honest.

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Biggest difference to me is a broader temperature range that it operates in. You can go very cool - down to 60 - and it's good. You can be in the mid/high-60's and still be good. I'm good for rinse and reuse, although I stop after 4th use.

This wide temperature range allows me to make most ales all year long in our basement. Now the only beers I have to ferment upstairs during cold months are some Belgians.

Also, I find it a bit more aggressive in attenuation.

I like the Wyeast 1728/wlp028

I buddy uses WLP028 Edinburgh Ale for all of his ales and there great. Also I know a couple guys who use wlp002 with good success.

dannypo said:

WLP007 is awesome. Very versatile. So are the Scottish strain and European ale.

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as i understand it, Surly brewing in MN uses this strain for nearly all of their brews. IPA, brown ale, mild, Imperial stout, Imperial IPA....

kcpup said:

Biggest difference to me is a broader temperature range that it operates in. You can go very cool - down to 60 - and it's good. You can be in the mid/high-60's and still be good. I'm good for rinse and reuse, although I stop after 4th use.

This wide temperature range allows me to make most ales all year long in our basement. Now the only beers I have to ferment upstairs during cold months are some Belgians.

Also, I find it a bit more aggressive in attenuation.

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I use 1056/WLP 001/US-05 in low 60's and even high 50's all the time. It always does quite well and ferments very clean at those temps.

dannypo said:

WLP007 is awesome. Very versatile. So are the Scottish strain and European ale.

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Agreed, WLP007 Dry English Ale is my go to yeast for just about any ale unless it requires specific yeast. It is a champ in higher alcohol beer, has the perfect flavor profile in hoppy beers, and drops clear without much work.

Chromados

944play said:

McEwan's, Nottingham, Fuller's, Whitbread....

Well, not Fuller's. It won't attenuate well.

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Really? I regularly get 80% attenuation with WLP002

-a.

try your local brewery for some yeast to experiment with. i made a 10 gallon batch this week and went to drakes brewing in san leandro and linden street brewery for yeast. both places were very happy to give me yeast slurry; kolsch from drakes and california common from linden st. i split the batch in two and pitched the yeast from each brewery. the amount of yeast they gave me would have taken me a very long time to grow myself(about a liter from drakes, less from linden st since i broke my flask and had to use little jelly jars) and they told me to come by anytime for more. in this way i hope to find one or two yeasts that suit my taste without having to make and step up starters. not to mention the $aving$...and the beer tastings they give me....

S-04

WLP007, WLP002, and most recently WLP090 are all in my fridge.

The 007 is one hearty yeast. It'll eat up anything you throw at it. I like it for anything that finishes dry from session beers to imperial India black ales. I was impressed with the similarities between the 002 and the 007, the 007 being the dry English as opposed to the standard English ale.

I'm pretty interested in trying the 007 - can anyone comment on how it would compare in the same beer to 001?

another vote for 007, I also like 005 for english style beers. It has a nice ester profile.

fastricky said:

I'm pretty interested in trying the 007 - can anyone comment on how it would compare in the same beer to 001?

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the 007 is going to give you a more estery beer, but it's not over the top. There are some nice subtle fruity fermentation flavors, but the hop character can still come through.

Side by side with 001, the 001 beer is going to have a sharper, crisper hop bitterness while the 007 will have a slightly (very slightly) less crisp hop character but also a nice complex yeast character that the 001 doesnt have.

Drink a SNPA and a Stone PA side by side. Different pale ale recipes for sure, but it'll give you a good idea of the fermentation differences.

Cool thanks gents! I've got some packs of S-05 & S-04 (which I understand is the same as 007) so I'll do a side by side with the next batch...

I should note that in my side-by-side with 04 vs 05 I'll keep the 04 at @ 64 degrees to make it a fair bout.

I have heard s04 compared to both wlp002 and 007, but I dont find it to be the same as either.

I have had good results with S04, but I feel like the ester profile is a little different and I seem to get more attenuation with the 007.

I brew a lot of IPAs and pale ales. For those, 1332 has become my new favorite. I'm going to look into using it in other styles as well.

I recently took a tour of my local brewery and they mentioned they use something similar to 1187 for all of their ales.

I considered 1332 but it sounds like it doesn't attenuate quite as far as a 1056... so it'd be like just not letting 1056 finish (minus any diacytl of course)?

I use Wyeast, and 1968 or 1084 are quite versatile I find. 1084 seems to give me quite a compact sediment layer in the bottle which is a plus.

strat_thru_marshall said:

I have heard s04 compared to both wlp002 and 007, but I dont find it to be the same as either.

I have had good results with S04, but I feel like the ester profile is a little different and I seem to get more attenuation with the 007.

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Your observations are right in line with what apparently is the truth -- S-04 is equivalent to 1099, Whitbread Ale, and 007 (and 1098) is Whitbread Dry, which has (have) no dried counterpart.

Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50 is versatile; works in APA's, IPA's, stouts, etc. Really adds to a good mouthfeel. Not the fastest flocculation though.

White Labs WLP051 California V (Wyeast 1272 American Ale II) is also a good yeast for most ales from the hoppy to the malty. Flocculation is high. And works for beers WLP001 does, but adds a little character. Clones for Bear Republic beers use this yeast, including Racer 5, Racer X, Hop Rod Rye, Big Bear Black Stout, etc.

If you like the yeast to make a significant contribution to the flavor of the beer, then WLP023 is hard to beet, but make sure you have a blow off tube ready.

-a.

tdogg said:

as i understand it, Surly brewing in MN uses this strain for nearly all of their brews. IPA, brown ale, mild, Imperial stout, Imperial IPA....

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Yes I heard that tooo!

I do the same, amazing yeast...been on a belgian kick lately and haven't used it in a bit...its so hot right now...my house strain though none the less...

Beezer94 said:

Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50 is versatile; works in APA's, IPA's, stouts, etc. Really adds to a good mouthfeel. Not the fastest flocculation though.

White Labs WLP051 California V (Wyeast 1272 American Ale II) is also a good yeast for most ales from the hoppy to the malty. Flocculation is high. And works for beers WLP001 does, but adds a little character. Clones for Bear Republic beers use this yeast, including Racer 5, Racer X, Hop Rod Rye, Big Bear Black Stout, etc.

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I use Denny's Fav 50 in a little bit of everything. I also like the neutral profile of of WLP080 Cream Ale.

I use S-04 the most of any yeast probably and love it, but it's still an English strain.

WLP028 Edinburgh (or the Wyeast equivalent) makes a great house strain. It can make fine hoppy or malty beers, and it cleans up very nicely with some cold storage. Not as crisp as a lager by any means, but its a very clean ale strain.

I use s04 in pales, bitters, stouts. Use either Nottingham or S05 in ipa's and my go to Belgian strain is wlp550.

I use 1338 for my house strain. I have used it in everything from porter, stout, cider, brown ale, wheat beers, pale ales, blondes and scotch ale. It's neutral but leaves a good maltiness behind. I've used washings from the original purchase in January last year and it's gone into probably 30 batches without a problem.

I know a lot of people are not fans because it doesn't attenuate well and can lag at the end of fermentation...

029 (German Ale) is also a very good and versatile strain that does well for Koelsch, Alt, pseudo-lagers, Pale Ales, etc.

fastricky said:

I brew a wide range of beer, and harvest the yeast and go up to 10 generations generally.

I've used Pacman and 1056 with great result.

But I now wonder what other alternatives are out there that could work on a wide range of ales? Something reliable, flocs reasonably, and attenuates well.

What say?

Click to expand...

Hands down WLP007

I too use Pacman and Chico, but WLP007 is some amazing yeast.

dannypo said:

WLP007 is awesome. Very versatile. So are the Scottish strain and European ale.

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007 or 1098 are great. Very clean for a British Ale yeast - almost too clean for most British styles IMHO - although more fermentation character than a 001 or 1056, great flocculators, and great attenuators - I've been using these two for years now and haven't ended up under 75% apparent attenuation (usually more like 76-78%). I usually do up a 1200-1800mL starter (depending on OG) with a pinch of Wyeast Nutrient and have to use a blow-off tube with a 6.5 Gal carboy because it ferments like a ROCKET.

I use WLP007 and Chico for just able everything. WLP007 is a rockstar, especially if you ferment it in the low 60s. And Chico is just so easy for me because it comes in dry form. 007 can definitely dry a beer out a little bit, but that's easily combated by mashing at a higher temp.

In my ales S04 usually gets me over 80% attenuation! I'd love for it to calm down a little.

ghpeel said:

WLP028 Edinburgh (or the Wyeast equivalent) makes a great house strain. It can make fine hoppy or malty beers, and it cleans up very nicely with some cold storage. Not as crisp as a lager by any means, but its a very clean ale strain.

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Yes, I use Edinburgh more than any other strain.