There's a lot of information on different liquid strains or on the usual dry suspects (US-05, S-04, notty, etc.) but not much when it comes to Windsor, Munich, etc. I have had bad experiences with notty before (poor flocculation, long lag times, crappy taste, etc.) but I decided to give Windsor a try in a bitter. I had already used it once in a mild, but temperature control plus a bad recipe made for difficult evaluation of its performance.
OG: 1.040
IBU: 26
Mash 154F
3kg MO
300g Fawcett 65L Crystal
250g Invert #2
30g Black Barley
35g Bramling Cross @ 60
15g Bramling Cross @ 1
I rehydrated per the instructions and fermented @ 68F. Cooled the beer down to 45F, used gelatin and bottled a few days after @ 1.8 volumes.
Performance: There was a short lag time (around 10 hours), followed by violent and quick fermentation. The beer was fully attenuated in less than 5 days after pitching. The yeast didn't want to clear though, so I used gelatin and a bunch of frozen water bottles to force it to clear. This did the trick.
Aroma: There is certainly a fresh yeast/estery aroma up front that gives the beer some nutty character. Mildly fruity (considerably less than at bottling), some biscuit and malt. Not a lot of hops.
Appearance: "Read the newspaper through it clear" even though the beer is pushing 13 SRM. Gelatin REALLY helped.
Taste: Blackcurrant and berries, followed by a sweet malt,caramel and lady fingers taste. It tastes better than it smells. The bitterness starts to develop after a few seconds with the roast from the black barley. Finishes relatively sweet.
Mouthfeel: This is where the yeast really shines. Even though it finished @ 1.011, the beer has a good, luscious body.
Overall comments: This yeast has a distinctive odour that might not be to everyone's liking. It's pretty nutty. Maybe fermenting lower might alleviate it, but it makes for a change. The flavour profile and mouthfeel are very, very good though. It's definately a strain that will see more use in my brewery in the future, especially for darker bitters. Bramling Cross hops were also nice, but I vastly prefer EKG or Fuggles.
OG: 1.040
IBU: 26
Mash 154F
3kg MO
300g Fawcett 65L Crystal
250g Invert #2
30g Black Barley
35g Bramling Cross @ 60
15g Bramling Cross @ 1
I rehydrated per the instructions and fermented @ 68F. Cooled the beer down to 45F, used gelatin and bottled a few days after @ 1.8 volumes.
Performance: There was a short lag time (around 10 hours), followed by violent and quick fermentation. The beer was fully attenuated in less than 5 days after pitching. The yeast didn't want to clear though, so I used gelatin and a bunch of frozen water bottles to force it to clear. This did the trick.
Aroma: There is certainly a fresh yeast/estery aroma up front that gives the beer some nutty character. Mildly fruity (considerably less than at bottling), some biscuit and malt. Not a lot of hops.
Appearance: "Read the newspaper through it clear" even though the beer is pushing 13 SRM. Gelatin REALLY helped.
Taste: Blackcurrant and berries, followed by a sweet malt,caramel and lady fingers taste. It tastes better than it smells. The bitterness starts to develop after a few seconds with the roast from the black barley. Finishes relatively sweet.
Mouthfeel: This is where the yeast really shines. Even though it finished @ 1.011, the beer has a good, luscious body.
Overall comments: This yeast has a distinctive odour that might not be to everyone's liking. It's pretty nutty. Maybe fermenting lower might alleviate it, but it makes for a change. The flavour profile and mouthfeel are very, very good though. It's definately a strain that will see more use in my brewery in the future, especially for darker bitters. Bramling Cross hops were also nice, but I vastly prefer EKG or Fuggles.