Wyeast 1450 - Denny's Fave Experiences?

Some quick questions for you all, the answers to which will hopefully set my mind at ease for the next 3 to 6 weeks. (Yes, I know I'm not a master RDWHAHB Jedi yet. LOL.)

Details:
1. All extract brew. Pils and Amber with OG of 1.050.
2. First time using 1450. Made a nice, large starter, though it was definitely above the suggested temp range, probably around 72F.
3. It's hot here in Baltimore, so my immersion chiller only got the wort down to around 72ish. (Why i didn't then stick it in an ice bath, I don't know, but I didn't.)
4. Pitched the whole starter (at high activity) into the wort at ~72F.

This took off in 6 hours or so and after 24 hours was bubbling like mad. The ambient temp was around 70F. Then it occurred to me that I should really cool this down, since I'm sure the wort temp by this time was around 75. I have the carboy in a rubbermaid bin full of cool water (the "beerquarium," as the SWMBO calls it), so I added some ice packs. That got the water down to around 62-66, and it's been holding steady since (I check and add ice as necessary in the morning, afternoon, and night), with slow but consistent bubbling from from airlock. Brew day was Saturday the 27th.

Questions:
1. Does anyone have experience with 1450 at these higher temps? If so, how'd it go?
2. What's the likelihood that the first 24 hours at the higher temp (70-75) produced a lot of fusels?
3. Should I just calm down?

Cheers!

1.) fruity-ish
2.) possible, but not assured
3.) obviously, yes! What's done is done at this point.

I brewed Janet's Brown Ale yesterday and pitched Wyeast 1450. It'll be my 3rd time and this yeast always does a great job making the chocolate malt and hops shine in this recipe!

Denny said:

1.) fruity-ish
2.) possible, but not assured
3.) obviously, yes! What's done is done at this point.

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Thanks, Denny. That makes me feel better, and I can certainly now relax (while continuing to add ice to the beerquarium, of course).

I've been brewing for some years now, but been on a big saison (3711) and belgian kick lately, so I kind of forgot about *low* temp control. Guess I'll either have to get myself a proper ferm chamber or brew styles according to seasonal temperature (like in ye olden tymes).

Thanks again!

Hoping some of you with experience on this yeast can help me out!

Finished brewing a Two Hearted clone on Friday night and pitched the Dennys yeast...I have a wine fridge thats a perfect fit for the carboy...but it doesnt have a temp control...the warmest it will stay is in the 58-60 degree range...depending on how much I open the door to check on it...it seems to be doing pretty well...its been bubbling consistently every 3-4 seconds since I woke up yesterday morning....

Do you guys think this temp will be too low? Should I move it after some period of time? I found a corner of the house that seems to be staying in the 66-68 range...so that's my best option otherwise...should I move it for secondary and dry hopping? Or will it be fine at around 60 for the whole process? Opinions greatly appreciated!

Hoping some of you with experience on this yeast can help me out!

Finished brewing a Two Hearted clone on Friday night and pitched the Dennys yeast...I have a wine fridge thats a perfect fit for the carboy...but it doesnt have a temp control...the warmest it will stay is in the 58-60 degree range...depending on how much I open the door to check on it...it seems to be doing pretty well...its been bubbling consistently every 3-4 seconds since I woke up yesterday morning....

Do you guys think this temp will be too low? Should I move it after some period of time? I found a corner of the house that seems to be staying in the 66-68 range...so that's my best option otherwise...should I move it for secondary and dry hopping? Or will it be fine at around 60 for the whole process? Opinions greatly appreciated!

I would move it to the warmer spot. I would move it to the 66-68 spot and drape a wet t-shirt around the carboy. 66-68 is going to ferment you too high in the low 70's. You could always keep in a swamp cooler. I've had good luck wetting a beach towel and using a fan if I had to. 60 is too low IMO.

I have been fermenting with 1450 at 62F temp controlled for two weeks, then warming up to room temp (68-70F) for two more weeks.

58-60 is probably best for the first week or so while you have active fermentation, but after that i'd go for the 66-68.

I had something crazy happen with my latest fermentation with 1450.
Made a 1L starter of 1450 and pitched it into a 1.066 beer that had just been chilled to 64*.
Fermentation took off very quickly, and within a few hours, the fermenter temp spiked to 71*!!!

Now, fermentation always makes my temp jump up 2 or 3 degrees, but never something like this.
Anyone else noticed a similar temp spike with this yeast?

Check out this cool picture....
This is when the temperature is climbing. That is yeast suspended in the wort. It almost looked like it was swimming around the way it was moving. Coolest fermentation I've ever seen. My wife thought I was crazy for watching it for about 30 minutes.

I just used the 1450 yesterday for the first time with a starter. I didn't have a lot of activity with the starter, though I may have missed it! I added the yeast to the wort yesterday evening and there isn't a whole lot going on in there. There are some small groups of foam on the top but not covering the top of the wort. Is it a slow starter or low attenuating yeast? I made Yoopers American Amber Ale...

IMNOTL8 said:

I just used the 1450 yesterday for the first time with a starter. I didn't have a lot of activity with the starter, though I may have missed it! I added the yeast to the wort yesterday evening and there isn't a whole lot going on in there. There are some small groups of foam on the top but not covering the top of the wort. Is it a slow starter or low attenuating yeast? I made Yoopers American Amber Ale...

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The answer to both questions is "not necessarily".

I wanted to try this yeast after reading some great things about it. It was a little difficult to get hold of over here but I managed to find some. I wasn't disapointed.

I'm not an expert brewer so I stick to simple recipes. I used it to make a dark mild. It didn't attenuate quite as much as the English yeasts I normally use which is not a bad thing for a mild. It worked quickly and floculated better than I expected. It tastes great and the flavours of the malts really stand out. I used mild ale malt and quite a lot of dark crystal which I thought might end up too sweet but it didn't.

It's got a very pleasant, smooth mouthfeel which I've never had before. Is that really down to the yeast? Wow.

I have another packet which I intend to use for an ESB using MO and 10% rye crystal. I've made it before using Chinook and EKG hops and I think it'll work great with 1450.

I thought I'd do an update on my last post.

I did use my second packet to make an ESB using Marris Otter and 10% Crystal Rye. I again added Chinook and EKG which I think work well together. I've made it before using WLP002 English Ale Yeast and it turned out well so I made some more using the 1450. I've cask conditioned it and although it's only a few weeks old it tastes good.

If you've never used Crystal Rye I'd recommend you try it sometime. It's not the same as Rye Malt and gives a unique dry, spicy liquorice toffee flavour and a deep red, mahogany colour.

I'm not an expert taster but the 1450 has brought out the spiciness of the Crystal Rye. I'm getting that licorice flavour which I didn't notice before. I also think it's accentuated the hop flavours. The Chinook is definitely more piney. Again it attenuated better than I expected and it's pretty clear.

The WLP002 version tasted slightly fruitier, slightly more rounded and slightly more subdued.

With this particular recipe I definitely prefer the 1450 because of the way it's highlighted the ingredients although both yeasts made a good beer that was quite complex in different ways.

Everybody who tasted the mild commented on the smoothness and this latest beer is no different. It has a very pleasant mouthfeel which is quite hard to describe in words. I'd probably say it was silky but not slick, if that makes any sense.

Very cool dogstar. I have a couple pounds of the crystal rye sitting around but once I read of the black licorice notes it provides, I was a little scared to use it. Mild sounds like a good beer to try it in. think it would be out of place in a pale or ipa?

Read the thread and think I'm fine, just want to confirm. Pitched a nice sized starter into a 1.084 IIPA the Sunday before last (9 days ago), great krausen and tons of blowoff. I'm out of town for about 10 days starting on the 17th so I was hoping to get this kegged before then but more and more I don't think it's going to happen. Checked gravity tonight hoping I might be able to drop in some dry hops, still at 1.041.

Mashed at 153, fermenting in a big tupperware of water with wet shirts draped over the carboy at 66-68. Let it ride?

Let it ride. Don't dry hop yet. Some recent testing I've done based on Stan Hieronymous's writing has shown me that I get better dry hop character by getting the beer off the yeast before dry hopping.

Denny said:

Let it ride. Don't dry hop yet. Some recent testing I've done based on Stan Hieronymous's writing has shown me that I get better dry hop character by getting the beer off the yeast before dry hopping.

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So, in that case are you cold crashing before transferring to a secondary fermenter to get yeast out of suspension, or just transferring off of the yeast cake without cold crashing? Also, what temperature are you dry-hopping at?

TallDan said:

So, in that case are you cold crashing before transferring to a secondary fermenter to get yeast out of suspension, or just transferring off of the yeast cake without cold crashing? Also, what temperature are you dry-hopping at?

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I give it from 3-4 weeks in primary, then keg without cold crashing. Dry hops into the keg, then into the serving fridge at about 45F. FWIW, new research from Haas, the world's largest hop supplier, shows best dry hop results at 50F and below.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=17929.msg226562#msg226562

Denny said:

I give it from 3-4 weeks in primary, then keg without cold crashing. Dry hops into the keg, then into the serving fridge at about 45F. FWIW, new research from Haas, the world's largest hop supplier, shows best dry hop results at 50F and below.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=17929.msg226562#msg226562

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You don't loose significant hop flavor with a primary that long?

tagz said:

You don't loose significant hop flavor with a primary that long?

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Nope. If I did, I wouldn't do it!

Veedo said:

Very cool dogstar. I have a couple pounds of the crystal rye sitting around but once I read of the black licorice notes it provides, I was a little scared to use it. Mild sounds like a good beer to try it in. think it would be out of place in a pale or ipa?

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It doesn't really taste of licorice, it's just a hint. Try it, it's great.