888 Yeast selections

Brewing the 888 soon and was wondering what would be good Yeast selections.

Wet
Smackpack
Dry?

I think I saw them recommending any of the popular "American Ale" strains, including the White Labs, Wyeast, and Safale (S-05) variants. Sorry that I can't remember the code numbers for them.

Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity does amazing things with stouts...

Colorado- Sounds interesting. What does it do thats amazing?

If I were you, I would forgo buying yeast just for this batch. You should be brewing a low gravity fairly neutral beer to pitch onto the yeast cake. Just my take on it.

I'm dumping the 08-08-08 onto a pale ale yeast cake, WPL001. I had pretty much decided that from the start...

i'll probably end up using WLP001 with a 2L starter...have too much going on to brew before then. if i don't have time for a starter, i'll use dry yeast.

I used Antwerp Ale: Clean, almost lager like Belgian type ale yeast. Good for Belgian type pales ales and amber ales, or with blends to combine with other Belgian type yeast strains. Biscuity, ale like aroma present. Hop flavors and bitterness are accentuated. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation, which can give the yeast a lager like flavor profile.
Attenuation: 73-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-70 �F.

MikeFlynn74 said:

Colorado- Sounds interesting. What does it do thats amazing?

Click to expand...

3787 produces a lot of fruity esters (well, depending on fermentation temp) which in a golden come out as apricot tasting. In a stout, with a lot of chocolate and roasted grains, the flavors mix and you end up with a cherry/currant flavor that is just amazing.

Got mine at home already - WLP051 California Ale V.

From Northern California. This strain is more fruity than WLP001, and slightly more flocculent. Attenuation is lower, resulting in a fuller bodied beer than with WLP001.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

Click to expand...

By the way, here's info on the WLP099 "High Gravity" that appears to be similar to the Wyeast 3787 that you mentioned, Colorado: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_super.html
WLP500 appears to also be similar : http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp500.html

chriso said:

By the way, here's info on the WLP099 "High Gravity" that appears to be similar to the Wyeast 3787 that you mentioned, Colorado: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_super.html
WLP500 appears to also be similar : http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp500.html

Click to expand...

Sorry chriso, those are all very different strains. 3787 is a belgian trappist strain, most likely Westmalle's strain. Wlp500 is most likely Chimay's strain, also very belgian. And the 099:"With low gravity beers, this yeast produces a nice, subtle English ale-like ester profile. As the gravity increases, some phenolic character is evident, followed by the winey-ness of beers over 16% ABV" is not Belgian at all.
They will all handle higher gravities though.

My bad - Just noticed them and thought they sounded like they could produce very similar results.

As you can tell, I haven't passed my Advanced Yeast Strains 101 final test yet.

chriso said:

My bad - Just noticed them and thought they sounded like they could produce very similar results. As you can tell, I haven't passed my Advanced Yeast Strains 101 final test yet.

Click to expand...

Study up, you will be tested BTW, you're doing a great jod organizing 8-8-8. I like how well organized and clear all the info is, and its awesome that AHS is selling the kit. The risk you're taking though, is that you'll be asked to organize all the group brews/swaps.

**** me- theres a test?

WLP099 would not make for a very tasty beer by itself...i'd use that only to finish a beer that was having trouble fully attenuating.

LOL, Don't worry Mike - This test is open book/open beer. -- That is to say, you have to have an open beer to take the exam.

Thanks Landhoney, I am an organizational nut and so this is second nature for me. I love being in a coordinator type role.

Now if I can just find a non-profit organization based in Nebraska that specializes in beer, and has a coordinator-type job opening.........

chriso

Nebraska? Thats BMC land- Move to Oregon, Washington hell even Wyoming.

Not only is it better. Its not Nebraska!

MikeFlynn74 said:

Nebraska? Thats BMC land- Move to Oregon, Washington hell even Wyoming. Not only is it better. Its not Nebraska!

Click to expand...

Way , sorry to readers.....

I know it! SWMBO and I have a plan drawn out to move to either Madison WI (sweet haven of life! local breweries! great bars! fantastic night life! LAKES for god's sake!) or else British Colombia within the next 10 years.

Unfortunately, we bought a house in May of this year, so we're temporarily tied down. Our decision of Madison vs Canada comes down to who our nation's leader is, and how screwed up things become.

If things get bad, we also have a contingency plan in which we flee as far North as possible into Canada, and then set up a self-sustaining farm/brewery.


Oh and to be fair, it's really BLBL land - that is to say, Bud Light / Busch Light land. Around these here parts, Miller is hit-or-miss, there are bars that don't carry Miller products, and also some bars that have ONLY Miller Lite, nothing else Miller, not even a bottle of MGD. Coors is even MORE hit-or-miss, I can go days without seeing a Coors can. But Bud Light or Busch Light? As fast as Nebraskans swarm over it, you would think it was made of gold, or at very least, made of money. (Funny, I should mention made of money - At our local concert hall, the only 2 beers served are Bud or Bud Light, and they're $5 for a 16 oz "keg cup" plastic glass.)

DeathBrewer said:

WLP099 would not make for a very tasty beer by itself...i'd use that only to finish a beer that was having trouble fully attenuating.

Click to expand...

Tastes fine to me, the yeast is intended to get up to ~25% ABV and they describe the steps necessary to use the yeast in this capacity.

My options for my birthday brew are pretty much limited to this....British Ale (WL005) that I will be washing right around Christmas, or Irish Ale (WL004) That I would most likely be able to pitch straight onto a cake (I'm making a Bass-type clone). What do we think about the sustainability of both of these into such a big beer?

The Irish Ale can make a really good stout, but it doesn't attenuate very well and can leave it very sweet in my experience. I would prefer something a little more dry this time around.

landhoney said:

Tastes fine to me, the yeast is intended to get up to ~25% ABV and they describe the steps necessary to use the yeast in this capacity.

Click to expand...

Doesn't really leave a "belgian" flavour tho, does it? I've heard the esters get out of control.

I've never used it for an actual beer myself, but i have used it to try and finish big brews with mixed success.

DeathBrewer said:

Doesn't really leave a "belgian" flavour tho, does it?

Click to expand...

No it doesn't, I said it was different from the Belgian yeasts he mentioned in my post earlier. I think its intended to ferment on its own, not to finish 'stuck' ferments. Following whitelabs guidelines I used it to produce a 20% ABV beer....it hasn't carbed - but it got there.

I've decided on using White Labs WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale Yeast for the 888. Its their platinum strain for November and December.

From Staffordshire, England. Fermentation gives a mild, but complex, estery character. Ferments strong and dry. Good for high gravity beers. Best for all English style ales, including bitters, milds, ESBs, porters, stouts, and barley wines.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-70°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium