Ray Daniels - british yeast strains

In "Designing Great Beers" author distinguishes several british yeast strains:

- whitbread
- london
- woody
- full-bodied
- classic

unfortunately, he doesn't give any commercial examples of them, and thats why all that characteristics is useless for me.

Especially I'm interested in woody strain:
low attenuating, they produce woody and oaklike flavours as part of overall complex malt profile

help me guess, which one could that be? Wyeast 1968 ESB (Fullers)?

I, too, found that part of the book nearly useless. It would have been a great help to have a list of commercial examples and/or their Wyeast & White Labs numbers. There is a yeast cross reference chart that also gives the likely origins of each strain.

I use mainly Wyeast, so my notes from the poking around I've done refer only to Wyeast strains:

• 1028 London Ale: Worthington White Shield
• 1084 Irish Ale: Guinness
• 1098 British Ale: Whitbread (dry)
• 1099: Whitbread Ale: Whitbread
• 1275 Thames Valley Ale: Henley of Thames (Brakspear Bitter)
• 1318 London Ale III: Boddingtons
• 1332 Northwest Ale: Hales brewery in Portland via Gales (UK)
• 1335 British Ale II: Adnams (?)
• 1728 Scottish Ale: McEwans
• 1968 London ESB Ale: Fullers

The lower attenuating yeasts are 1099 Whitbread (68-72%), 1332 Northwest Ale (67-71%), and 1968 London ESB (67-71%). There is no mention of "woody" in any of the product descriptions. Maybe he meant Windsor.

Chad

Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast Rich minerally profile, bold woody slight diacetyl production. Medium flocculation. Apparent attenuation 73-77%. Optimum fermentation temperature: 68 deg. F (20 deg. C). Complex, woody, tart, with strong mineral notes. (source)
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cooper's Ale (Cooper's)
All-purpose dry ale yeast. It produces a complex woody, fruity beer at warm temperatures. More heat tolerant than other strains, 65-75¡F; recommended for summer brewing. Medium attenuation and flocculation. (source)
[/FONT]
Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast - Complex, woody, fruity esters in character, ideally suited for Scottish style ales, smoked beers and high gravity ales. Recommended Temperature Range 55-70 °F (12-21 °C) (source)

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Wyeast 2035 - [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial]American Lager Yeast - [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Unlike American pilsner styles. It is bold, complex and woody. Produces slight diacetyl. Medium flocculation, apparent attenuation 73-77%. This yeast allegedly is the on used by August Schell in New Ulm, MN. Wyeast 2035 is reported to have raspberry notes if fermented at 65F. [/FONT](ibid)

Google is your friend!

Keep in mind that Daniels isn't going to do your work for you. He presumes a certain amount of knowledge regarding ingredients and techniques. In other words, he ain't gonna hold your hand and walk you through every step. You'll notice he didn't list exact brands for other ingredients, either. That's because products change. Lallemand/Danstar used to market a yeast called Manchester that reportedly had a woody note. That yeast hasn't been available for years. What if Daniels had told you to go buy that yeast?

Those characteristics aren't useless, Piotr. You just haven't developed enough knowledge and experience to know what products/ingredients exhibit those traits. Don't blame Daniels for your lack of knowledge. Master your craft.

Regards,

Bob

I don't think that he was asking for examples of yeast but in beer, for the very reason you mentioned. I also don't think that he was asking for someone to hold his hand either.

You are right, Daniels is notorious for his detailed yet vague writing. I don't think that it would ask much either to give examples of commercially available brews, to help describe tastes. People buy those books so they can research and expect to come away with just more than soundbites.

Sounds as if someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this mornin.... RDWHAHB!

- WW