Scottish Ale 1728

Hi out there,

I made a nice simple scottish ale recipe, with a very basic grainbill: Some UK 2 row, tiny bit of 80L crystal, and a bit of freshly made caramel for color(not to style but I like the flavor). Anyway, my first try using this yeast, and from what I had heard it was not the best Attenuator. I mashed at 152F to be safe, I like a chewy beer but only if its hoppy - Cant stand an english ale that finishes above 1.018 or so. I did a pretty big starter (SG was 1.070+ do not have my notes with me), and fermentation took off crazily with no real krausen... but my fermentor looked like it was pretty much boiling it was so vigorous. After 7 days it started to clear. After 2 weeks, I tested it. 1.011 - 83% attenuation from what I remember. Exceptional. Decent tasting so far, I can already tell it will be smooth - I fermented it at about 60F.

I will definately save this yeast for use later on, maybe even using it on an american ale to try it out - it tasted similar to a clean american ale yeast actually. Anyone else have similar / different experience with this yeast?

I use it in my 80/- recipe and I hold it around 60*F, but my fermentations produce a thin (1/2" or so) layer of krausen and ferment very VERY slowly and steadily. It usually takes 2 or 3 weeks for it to finish fermenting and the airlock activity on day 3 and day 13 look exactly the same. Slowly glug... glug... glugging.

I can't really comment on the flavor profile from my personal experience. I use this yeast for one recipe. I've never used this yeast in anything else, and I've never made my 80/- with a different yeast.

I have used that strain to make many good scottish ales. I like that strain and the flavor characteristics that it imparts to the brew.

PI've used it to make APA and an IPA I agree it is quite clean at low 60s. But leaves a nice malty profile

Good to know, thanks for the replies. What about attenuation? What are you experiences with that? Mine seemed a bit high for this yeast.

I've only used it once. I got 69% AA, which is right in range, and fermented cool at about 62-63F. Huge kraeusen, major blowoff (even at that low temp), and also floced very well. Made a very nice robust porter for me, thoug it took a good 6-8 weeks to carb and another month to condition well enough to be really tasty (though that may have been due to other aspects of the recipe).

I used it this past winter when ambient temps inside were cold. Warmer months may or may not be right for this yeast; I just haven't tried it. Winter aside, my love affair with WY1318 is too strong to pull me away to anything else for general ales. I may try it again this winter when it's chilly inside again. For some reason, I like my 1318 temp on the high side.

Just made my very first Scotch ales with this yeast this year and, man, I am impressed with the flavor. Malty, and a very very slight almost 'smokey' flavor (I didn't use any smoked malt). I could see experimenting with this year for IPAs, ESBs and a host of other malt-forward styles.

yep, this is my go-to ale yeast unless i'm making something under 1.052 or so. delicious.