WLP026 is ugly.

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chumprock

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Picked up a vial as a replacement for something I cant remember, and I've got it on the stir-plate for this weekend's batch. Man is this stuff ugly.

Such a strong distinct flocculation, it looks more like break material than yeast..
 
Ah, the distinctive look of the English strains!\

I've not used that yeast, but look forward to your impressions. My two favorite English strains are 1469: West Yorkshire and 1275: Thames Valley.
 
Yeah, IIRC I was looking for a special english (maybe a Wyeast?) and Ed was out so we swapped for the WLP026..
It was one big clump in the bottle of the vial, and I had to shake that thing for a good 5 minutes to break it into something "pourable".

Here's a shot of the clumpy-clumps in semi-suspensionish stirring.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzM0geQfIq0]YouTube - Starter[/ame]


...and a surprise guest star.
 
Here's how White Labs describes it:

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.

I have a house ESB that I've gotten great comments about, and it's typically pitched with S-04. This time I want to see if this strain would add a little more Special to the extra special..

I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
I have Used White Labs Alot 98% of my Brews i use White Labs.. Some are ok and Some Look like you dont wanna put them in your Beer..
 
Well I'm glad I put this one in. Had a hell of a time "suspending" it to pitch. It was just a big clumpy mess, but it went in regardless..

4 hour lag-time, and she's goin crazy this morning.
 
Well, when White Labs says "Ferments strong and dry" they really mean it. 89.1% Attenuation! :rockin:

This thing took off like a rocket. I left it in primary a week longer than I intended (pipeline issues), but this thing finished in about 6 days. It went from 1.058 to 1.006!
Typically, my ESB is around 1.016, so I was surprised how dry it turned out.
Also, I have never seen a more compact, clumped up cake. I'm going to try and wash some to make this a regular addition, but I may try and boost my next batch with some MD just to keep a little body..
 
I've got an english pub ale that I pitched the WLP026 into about a week and a half ago, going to keg in another week or so and I'll post the gravities.
 
Well, when White Labs says "Ferments strong and dry" they really mean it. 89.1% Attenuation! :rockin:

I'm going to try and wash some to make this a regular addition, but I may try and boost my next batch with some MD just to keep a little body..

What do you mean by MD??
 
I did a 10 gallon batch of a Pub Ale and split/pitched separate yeasts, one with Windsor and the other WLP026. The OG was 1.039:
FG of WLP026 batch: 1.006! My lowest for a beer yet
FG of Windsor: 1.012
 
Looks a lot like the WLP023 Burton Ale. The flocculation was s crazy it was forming strings in the fermentor! Very chunky stuff...
 
I did a split batch of English IPA: WLP023 Burton Ale and WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale. After 3 weeks, I took the gravities. OG: 1.068, single infusion mash at 156 F.

The Burton ale sample finished at 1.014, tastes good, nice maltiness.

WLP026 finished at 1.007 and tastes terrible. Extremely dry, bitter, no maltiness at all. I almost wonder if I got an infection, because this stuff is nasty. Obviously, at only 3 weeks, I will have to give it some time in bottles. But geez, how did it make to 1.007? That's 90% attenuation.
 
I had an identical experience. Tasted like rubbing alcohol at bottling time. However, last night I cracked the first bottle that was filled 3 weeks ago and, hot damn, is it ever good.

I did a split batch of English IPA: WLP023 Burton Ale and WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale. After 3 weeks, I took the gravities. OG: 1.068, single infusion mash at 156 F.

The Burton ale sample finished at 1.014, tastes good, nice maltiness.

WLP026 finished at 1.007 and tastes terrible. Extremely dry, bitter, no maltiness at all. I almost wonder if I got an infection, because this stuff is nasty. Obviously, at only 3 weeks, I will have to give it some time in bottles. But geez, how did it make to 1.007? That's 90% attenuation.
 
Yup, mine's still a little "hot", but the flavor from the yeast is very noticeable.

I like it, and expect it's going to come into its own very nicely.
 
I had an identical experience. Tasted like rubbing alcohol at bottling time. However, last night I cracked the first bottle that was filled 3 weeks ago and, hot damn, is it ever good.

Thanks for the reply, at least gives me some hope :)

I'll try to remember to report back on how it tastes after conditioning.
 
What do you mean by MD??

:off:
Just ordered some of the WLP026, so reading through this thread. The MD reference made me laugh. First thing that came to mind was the half full bottle of Mad Dog sitting on top of the basement fridge. Been around for close to 30 years. Nasty looking! Caps all rusty, label's peeling off, but can't throw it out. Brings back memories of being younger.
:tank:
 
Back on topic . . .


Threw a starter of WLP026 together last night.
Sure glad I read this thread or I'd be posting, "Did I ruin my starter?" :D
WLP026 is ugly.

Thanks to the OP!
 
Let me know how it turns out!

I ended up entering this batch in the HBT competition.. I don't know why, but I did.
 
I got a scare from WLP026 when my batch tasted like rubbing alcohol at bottling time. After three weeks in the bottle it was fine. But I put the lion's share of the bottles back for longer conditioning and now, close to six weeks in the bottle it's best ESB I've ever had. So, so good. It's the first time I've had a batch go from nasty to delicious just by waiting.
 
I got a scare from WLP026 when my batch tasted like rubbing alcohol at bottling time. After three weeks in the bottle it was fine. But I put the lion's share of the bottles back for longer conditioning and now, close to six weeks in the bottle it's best ESB I've ever had. So, so good. It's the first time I've had a batch go from nasty to delicious just by waiting.

Oh good, I just finished bottling a brown ale with WLP026, and the flavor at bottling wasn't very good, but this gives me hope that the batch will be good.
 
Let me know how it turns out! I ended up entering this batch in the HBT competition.. I don't know why, but I did.
Although I made a lot of changes on the fly, it was a good brewday. The WLP0026 is performing fine. Pitched at 6:00pm last night and woke up to a bubbling carboy. So far I'm keeping it at the bottom end of its temperature range, 67-68 degrees. Any suggestions there?

This is my version of the Shiver Me Bitter ESB for the Greenwood Rover Memorial Swap. I'm hoping the WLP0026 makes it a little unique from the others.

The only thing that has me worried is that I dropped my CDN thermometer into the wort just as I was finishing up chilling. Stirring with one hand and bumped the hand holding the thermometer. The stem was sanitized, but not the stuff on top. I'm hoping the WLP0026 is stronger than anything growing in the rubber around the buttons. Couldn't retrieve it until pot was drained. Good thing it's waterproof! :cross:

CDN in Pot.jpg
 
My pub ale with the WLP026 finished at 1.006 but I prefer it over the Windsor batch. It has a really unique flavor and fruitiness.
 
I took a growler to a party of Homebrewers yesterday. I got a lot of Raves, and one guy who said it smelled too alcoholic.

Personally, I love the flavor this yeast gives my ESB, and I'm just wondering what I can do from eating every last bit of sugar in the fermenter because a 6.9% house beer is potentially dangerous.
 
I took a growler to a party of Homebrewers yesterday. I got a lot of Raves, and one guy who said it smelled too alcoholic.

Personally, I love the flavor this yeast gives my ESB, and I'm just wondering what I can do from eating every last bit of sugar in the fermenter because a 6.9% house beer is potentially dangerous.

I've notice that if I drink it at refrigerator temperatures it does indeed have a pretty strong alcohol flavor. But the drinks from the bottom of the glass seemed better. So I started serving this at 55F and it's much, much better when it isn't so cold. Try serving it a little warmer and see what you think.
 
I just picked up two vials of this from my LHBS, they're expired so I got them for $3/vial.

I have no plans to brew a beer using this strain right away, but I want to cultivate it to use later.

I'm very new to this, but I'm thinking:

- Pitch both vials into a 2L 1.040 starter
- Run it on the stir plate for 48 hrs
- Sterilize a few jars in a pressure canner
- Jar the whole deal in a few pint jars without decanting the liquid
- Use each jar as if it was a fresh vial for the next six months or so

Any pointers? I'm really excited to use this yeast!
 
if you're planning on using this within 6 months or so, I say don't worry about re-culturing for now, just make a bigger-than-usual starter before you're going to brew, or step up a starter a few times.

No reason to risk any contamination by opening it up and doing a starter now, just to save it for later.
 
I just shook the vial for 30 minutes and it still had like 15 minutes more to get it suspended so I could pour. I had the vial sitting on the cap in the fridge, so I ended up sterilizing a toothpick to scrape through the concrete cake still at the top. By the time I had cleared the top, it was already sticking again to the bottom of the vial. I think I was able to get 80% of the vial into the flask. A couple large chunks ended up on the stir plate and had to be thrown out. WLP022 is like peanut butter; WLP026 is like weak concrete.

Update: 2.5 hours after dropping into the flask, the WLP026 has a very large collection of large bubbles going. It took off fast and amazingly large bubbles.
 
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