Ringwood yeast, has anyone used it?

Has anyone used this strain? I have heard that it can be tempermental. I'm going to be making an ESB and I will have access to it from a local brewpub.

Any help is appreciated!

I used it once for 2 beers. I did not like the flavor at all and these were the only two beers I have ever had any trouble getting to the advertised attenuation. YMMV.

I've used Ringwood extensively. It's a bit more labor-intensive than other yeasts. What precisely do you wish to know?

Here are a few tips:

Ensure you pitch a sufficient quantity into properly-aerated wort.

Ensure you diligently track the ferment.

You may have to rouse it.

Do not be afraid to open your fermenter and stir up the beer.

Related: It's most at home in an open fermenter, not a carboy. Since that's also easier for you to manipulate it, I strongly suggest you ferment in a pail loosely covered with a lid or acrylic sheet. Rack it when the ferment is complete.

Speaking of completion, make sure you give it a nice, long diacetyl rest.

Don't ferment too cold. The only times I've ever had problems with attenuation in open fermenters is when I was fermenting on the lower end of the range.

There's nothing wrong with Ringwood. You just have to be more proactive than we usually are as homebrewers (it's NOT a pitch-it-and-forget-it yeast). Hundreds of professional brewers can't be wrong!

If you have more specific questions or concerns, I'll answer them if I can.

Cheers!

Bob

I just used it in an Amber ale recipie. Mine fermented in lower temps (mid to low 60s) and after 5 days I brought it upstairs for a 2day diacetyl rest.
It has been in the bottle for about 3 weeks and I am happy with it. The final product is nice and complex without being funky at all. I would agree that I didn't get enough air in my wort at pitching time as I would have prefered my final gravity to have gone a few points lower, but that is on me, not the yeast.

Go for it.

I use ringwood yeast for all of my porters and most of my brown ales, I've used it in a few bitters, but I liked the burton ale yeast far more in them. In a good brown porter ringwood just can't be beat, even if it takes a little more work.

I used it in an Christmas Spiced Old Ale, and thought it turned out well. It seemed to provide a fruitiness that was good for the overall blend of spices and old ale caramel maltiness.