IrishPA

Oops. Made an IPA with a buddy last night and accidentally pitched WL Irish Ale yeast instead of the California I meant to use. Anyone used this yeast -- accidentally or on purpose -- for an IPA before? I figure the Irish yeast will impart a bit more fruitiness, and likely be sweeter due to the lower attenuation. Oh well, certainly won't prevent me from drinking it.

I love this yeast. It is my house yeast. If possible, keep the temp no higher than 64 degrees during fermentation and you will get a very clean beer with no esters. Believe it or not, this yeast, fermented at low temperatures, will showcase your hops in a BIG way, much better than the Cali yeast, imho, and your beer will not be significantly sweeter. I recently brewed a 10 gallaon batch of Pale Ale using Simcoe hops, 5 gallons went on the Irish yeast and 5 gallons went on Nottingham dry yeast (which is similar to the Cali in many ways). The Irish blew away Notty, not just by my opinion but everyone else who drank it. OG was 1.050, and the Irish FG was 1.010 and Notty was 1.080. The Simcoe hops were huge in the Irish, in full glory, whereas in the Notty, when tasted side by side, they were more muted. I stumbled upon using the Irish as my go to yeast when I pitched a Pale Ale onto a stout cake. People think this is only a stout yeast - not. Just note that all this is based on keeping the temp at 64 degrees or below; if your temp goes higher than that, it will be totally different because it will have esters.

Kewl. That's good to know, and pretty much perfect as far as temps go. I ferment in my basement which is consistently in the mid-60s this time of year.

What you said about the Notty is interesting too. I had some dry Notty I considered substituting but went with the Irish since I had already done a starter with it.

And not only did the Irish blow away Notty, it also blew away US-05 in a very similar side by side taste test with the crowd that drinks my beer. It has gotten to the point now where I have this Maris Otter/Vienna-Simcoe recipe that I use exclusively with the Irish that is my house beer which I seem to be constantly brewing because it gets drained. I was using this yeast so much that I had start washing and collecting it, and sometime re-using cakes, because it was getting to be too expensive to keep buying. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Yeah, the Irish I used was washed from a brown ale I did. The ale turned out very nice.

Love the irish ale yeast. Also one of my house strains. Very clean, unless you get it up over 68, then it's got a lot of fruit and other unwanted things. I dont remember it pushing the hops more than usual, but I'll have to give some another taste and compare