Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley Alcohol Tolerance

I am planning a barley wine with OG in the 1.1000 range and I just harvested some super healthy slurry of 1275 from a red ale with 20 IBU and an OG of 1.050. Wyeast claims that it can go up to %10 ABV in it looks like an OG of 1.100 would be pushing or exceeding that capability.


Has anybody used 1275 on a barley wine or high ABV beer with success? I would hate to have a barley wine stall out on me, but I am really thinking I want a barley wine that focuses on malt with some unique yeast character.

It seems to me that if you really wanted the flavor/character imparted by 1275, you could start fermenting with that and finish with something fairly neutral with a higher alcohol tolerance. But considering I've never done anything like that before, take my advice with a grain of salt.

tyll-matic said:

It seems to me that if you really wanted the flavor/character imparted by 1275, you could start fermenting with that and finish with something fairly neutral with a higher alcohol tolerance. But considering I've never done anything like that before, take my advice with a grain of salt.

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Smartest first post I've read here. Spot on advice. You been reading "Yeast"?

I haven't; but I do try to read a lot of posts here and at other forums. I'm fairly new to brewing (since June of this year, done about seven batches myself and then some with my brew buddy); but I try to read all I can get my hands/web-browser on. My main resources for a while now have been John Palmer's "How to Brew" and "Brewing Classic Styles" by Palmer and Zainasheff. Yeast, though, and the other micro-organisms that we use in brewing are particularly fascinating to me. Is "Yeast" worth a read? In short, thanks for the compliment!

Permo - sorry for derailing your thread somewhat; did you decide what to do?

tyll-matic said:

Permo - sorry for derailing your thread somewhat; did you decide what to do?

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I am actually thinking that I will pitch a pile of 1275 into the barley wine and then after a week I will pitch an actively fermenting WLP007 starter into the barley wine to help finish the job. I might even get some nice flavor from the WLP007. I am making a 10 gallon batch of barley wine with a 3 hour boil with a very simple grain bill. Simply a 55 pound sack of pearle pale ale malt. I need kettle caramelization and yeast character to really add to this barley wine. I am going to charge it with 80 IBU of columbus at 90 minutes with zero finishing hops ( well the verdict is still out on the hops....its either going to be zero finishing hops or a huge amount of chinook)