Question about Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale yeast

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Mohanbrau

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I brewed NB's The Innkeeper with Wyeast 1469 last Tuesday. 5 gal batch, all-grain mash at 153F, 1 qt starter. Fermentation took off like a shot, and itquickly developed a thick, rocky kraeusen on top. I started it a 72-74F for 24 hours, then moved it to the basement at 67F.

Almost a week later, the thick kraeusen is still there, although bubbling in the airlock has slowed to a crawl. Shouldn't the foam have fallen back into the beer when fermentation slowed down? I've never used 1469 before, and never had a kraeusen head persist beyond the initial vigorous fermentation stage with any other yeast.

Is this normal for 1469? Could it be the result of an infection? Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!
 
It's normal for 1469 to do this. The krausen takes a very long time to fall; that's if it does at all. I've had mine in primary for three weeks sometimes and there is still krausen when I keg it.
 
I brewed NB's The Innkeeper with Wyeast 1469 last Tuesday. 5 gal batch, all-grain mash at 153F, 1 qt starter. Fermentation took off like a shot, and itquickly developed a thick, rocky kraeusen on top. I started it a 72-74F for 24 hours, then moved it to the basement at 67F.

Almost a week later, the thick kraeusen is still there, although bubbling in the airlock has slowed to a crawl. Shouldn't the foam have fallen back into the beer when fermentation slowed down? I've never used 1469 before, and never had a kraeusen head persist beyond the initial vigorous fermentation stage with any other yeast.

Is this normal for 1469? Could it be the result of an infection? Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!

I did Bobs Pride of Raubsville with this yeast for the first time, and I'm experiencing the exact same thing. It's literally as if the krausen, and I mean the whole damn krausen, is REFUSING to drop out. I plan on racking into a keg and force carbing inside of a week or more regardless of what the krausen does... Odd odd yeast, that I hope tastes great.
 
Jamil used that yeast on the cybi episode for Black Sheep. He said it was crazy. It shot golf-ball sized blobs of yeast out of his airlock.
 
Jamil used that yeast on the cybi episode for Black Sheep. He said it was crazy. It shot golf-ball sized blobs of yeast out of his airlock.

Doing the Innkeeper kit from NB. The blowoff at 64F was like a crime scene. Not like a scummy wash - serious handfulls of full density yeast goo. Crazy and a little bit scary!

10 days later at a 64F pitch for 2 days then 1F/d ramp to 70F and there's still lots of stuff at the surface. A pretty low gravity beer so it's done by now but I'm still waiting...
 
I neglected to mention that it was a 5 gal batch in a 6 gal carboy, so there was plenty of headspace for the kraeusen. Nothing went up the blowoff tube, I had no mess at all.

And the kraeusen did eventually fall, around a week ago. It's been in the primary for 2 weeks now, and I'm bottling today. At this point, it looks like everything turned out fine. The samples I've taken for FG have tasted great. Thanks for the hand-holding.
 
Same experience for me, I had 10 lbs of Golden promise and decided to use 1469... made a small starter, pitched on Saturday afternoon and 8 hours after ptiching ..KABLOOEY! gobs and gobs of gobs and gobs...plugged a 1/2" blowoff line twice and blew the stopper out... today it has slowed enough for me to put in an airlock...used this yeast many times (7-8) but this time was dramatic..I really whacked it with oxygen so I am guessing that was the reason.... but I'll rack this weekend and check the gravity...
 
This yeast has to be hands down my favorite British yeast. I've made the Shakespeare Stout Clone, 2 innkeepers and a summer bitter with it. Just a terrific stone fruit apricot thing and great malt character - but yeah it kicks off some serious krausen that sticks around forever.
 
I really like the flavors this yeast gives to the beers I've used it on. I think I used it on a dark mild and a porter. And I'm planning on brewing up that Innkeeper from NB in the next couple weeks. But I don't remember the krausen lasting especially long. Maybe I was just distracted by drinking other homebrews to notice how long it lasted.

Also, (kinda :off:) if you think that one lasts a long time, you should try the 2565 Kolsch yeast. That krausen holds up forever. I did one batch that still had a full 2 inch krausen at the 2 week mark, when I transferred it to secondary. I have another batch from the yeast I washed from that first batch. I don't have another carboy to transfer into, so this one will be sitting in primary with the krausen for even longer.
 
I'm fermenting a 1.039 dark mild with 1469, and temperatures have gotten away from me. For 24 hours after pitching, I kept it at 64-66 F. 30 hours after pitching I woke up to find it at 71 F. I took the carboy out of its "cool brewing" fermentation chamber to top-crop some yeast, and the day went haywire and I wasn't able to get it back in the ferm. chamber. Unfortunately the ambient temp also got hot, and when I went to bed, about 48 hours after pitching, the beer temp was 76. Fermentation was starting to slow.

Any predictions about the flavor of this mild? Too much fruit or fusel alcohols? I hope that the fact that I was conservative for the first day will help me.

Thanks in advance.
 

Not much you can do now but get those temps down and wait it out. Chances are the beer will be quite fruity/estery, but it may not be all bad, especially considering your starting gravity and lowish ferment temp.

I am not a fan of this yeast at warmer temps (70+F) as it can produce overpowering apple/peachy flavors, but I doubt you'll get much fusel alcohols.
 
bierhaus15 said:
Not much you can do now but get those temps down and wait it out. Chances are the beer will be quite fruity/estery, but it may not be all bad, especially considering your starting gravity and lowish ferment temp.

I am not a fan of this yeast at warmer temps (70+F) as it can produce overpowering apple/peachy flavors, but I doubt you'll get much fusel alcohols.

All right. We'll see what happens, and I'll post back here for posterity.
 
All right. We'll see what happens, and I'll post back here for posterity.

Results?

I have a porter fermenting with this yeast right now. It's been going for a week and still has a 3/4" creamy krausen and the airlock is still showing a lot of activity. The OG was 1.079 so it is no surprise that it isn't quite done yet. I've been able to keep the temp in the 60s, but I'm curious how much the mid-70s effected your dark mild.
 
Just had a curious episode with this yeast. Made a 1.056 smoked porter with it. 2 weeks at 68 and FG was 1.022 and no krausen at all. Roused the yeast and let it sit another week to try and drop it more. After that week, still at 1.022, but now tons of krausen! What the heck?! Figured I'd bottle if it wasn't gonna drop anymore, then a week into that, bottle bombs! It was not an infection, nor over priming. The yeast just all of a sudden decided to kick it up again after bottling. Don't think ill use this yeast again.
 
Piratwolf said:
What did you discover?

signpost said:

My goodness, sorry I never posted back here; I'm not on HBT much these days. I needn't have worried about letting it creep into the mid-70s. The beer turned out great. The fruitiness complemented the crystal malt in my mild, and the perception of sweetness helped because 1469 attenuated more than I expected (1.008). Don't be afraid to mash high with this yeast.

Another thing--top crop this yeast! I've been top-cropping from a blowoff tube (shortened racking cane), harvesting pitchable quantities of beautiful, pure yeast and brewing with that with great results. It's a fun and easy technique. I'm about to brew my fifth batch with this yeast (i.e. the fourth generation beyond the original culture), and the beers seem to be getting better and better... Mild, ESB, Best Bitter, American Brown Ale. Next up an American Pale Ale, and if the yeast continues to perform, then I'll make an IPA and a barleywine.

After that I figure I'll stop with the 1469, only because I want to brew some lagers. But I could easily see myself turning into a crusty old guy who brews nothing but British and American ales, using the same culture of 1469 for decades. It's great stuff.

EDIT: One more thing. I have noticed that even with low-gravity ales, 1469 can ferment steadily for seven days or so. Then, in the second week, when the thick krausen is still sitting on top and you're beginning to wonder whether all that yeast in suspension will ever drop out...BOOM--the krausen drops, and you have a brilliantly clear beer. I expected 1469 to finish as quickly as 1968 or 1098, and it doesn't, which was a surprise. But the difference is only a few days, and the resulting beer is beautiful.
 
Just had a curious episode with this yeast. Made a 1.056 smoked porter with it. 2 weeks at 68 and FG was 1.022 and no krausen at all. Roused the yeast and let it sit another week to try and drop it more. After that week, still at 1.022, but now tons of krausen! What the heck?! Figured I'd bottle if it wasn't gonna drop anymore, then a week into that, bottle bombs! It was not an infection, nor over priming. The yeast just all of a sudden decided to kick it up again after bottling. Don't think ill use this yeast again.

If there was krausen, you shouldn't have bottled. Fermentation didn't start back up in the bottles, it started when you saw the krausen. I just went through a similarly challenging fermentation with S-33 and had to wait for the krausen to drop and yeast to begin settling before I bottled it.
 
I use 1469 all the time. I top crop it and when I reach my f.g I stir the krausen back in and cold crash it at 50 for a few days. It starts off after a day with a white billowy krausen and a couple of days later it has brown worm like streaks in and then as it's finishing becomes this gooey pizza dough like consistency. In the Yorkshire squares they top crop all the time and recirculate the yeast and spray it back on top of the krausen which I assume stops it getting so hard and gooey. I open ferment which makes it easy to deal with. It's a great yeast, I make cask ale and it's perfect for that.
 
This yeast is crazy. I use 1968 all the time and I thought that one was crazy. LHBS was out of 1968 and I went with 1469 for a imperial porter. Started at 1.075, Was in my basement at 68 F ambient and beer went to 70 F. 5 gallons in 6 gallon carboy blew out foam, foam and more foam. Ended up moving it to my divided kegerator that has one side at about 60F. Beer cooled to 64 F overnight, but there was a 1-2 pints of beer in kegerator bottom. I had blowoff tubes in 2 qt pitcher with a pint of water in it. Is there a way to reduce the foam in the blowoff pitcher?
 
Talk about reliable and low maintenance. I love this yeast. It ferments to the numbers every time, drops clear after 10 days and goes well in anything from American and English pale ales to porters and stouts. It performs well with open fermentation (i.e.: bucket with loose lid) and the krausen really needs top-cropping or thick super-yeast is basically going to waste. I end up getting enough off a 6 gal batch to direct pitch at least two other batches.
 
Talk about reliable and low maintenance. I love this yeast. It ferments to the numbers every time, drops clear after 10 days and goes well in anything from American and English pale ales to porters and stouts. It performs well with open fermentation (i.e.: bucket with loose lid) and the krausen really needs top-cropping or thick super-yeast is basically going to waste. I end up getting enough off a 6 gal batch to direct pitch at least two other batches.

Would you mind describing the top-cropping process? I'm familiar with the concept, but not the actual procedure or steps employed?

Thanks
 
Would you mind describing the top-cropping process? I'm familiar with the concept, but not the actual procedure or steps employed?

Thanks

Sure... I ferment 5 and 6 gallon batches in an 8 gallon brewing bucket. The head space is critical, especially for a true top-cropping strain like 1469.

Here's my procedure:

1) Pitch required amount of yeast and leave lid loose on top of bucket. You can use airlock too if you want, but its claimed these strains perform best in 'open' set ups.
2) Using a sanitized ladel, skim and discard krausen at 24 hours after pitching. This is early floc yeast and hop gunk you don't want. It may mutate your strain if you use it. A second krausen forms in the fermentor, usually quite quickly after.
3) After another 24 hours harvest your yeast in 2 or 3 jars. I use pint sized mason jars. Put in fridge for 1 hour. At this point I lock down my fermentor lid and add an airlock. A third krausen will form and (if 1469) will stick around for another 8-9 days. Let it drop before packaging beer.
4) Pull jars out of fridge after said hour and top with cooled, boiled distilled water. Stick back in fridge and burp a few times over 2 days as it will want to off-gas usually. After that, lock it down and leave until next brew day.

There's a video on youtube if you seach "top cropping yeast" (the one with the Clash tune). Basically the same thing I do. You can use blow off tubes and fancy rigs if you want, but honestly its not needed. As long as you sanitize well and use the exact same harvesting schedule every time, your yeast won't mutate. My current strain of 1469 is on it's 8th cycle and still going by the numbers.
 
Interesting thread. I am on gen 3 (3rd after original from Wyeast). Innkeeper (top cropped), Oatmeal Stout (top cropped), Porter and Special Bitter. The Special Bitter krausen did hang around long at all. Opened fermenter after about 10 days - no krausen and gravity at about 1.008. I will be rinsing the yeast from the Special Bitter. Thinking of doing an ESB next.

A note on temp - I like to ferment it at close to 70 - I like the fruity esters in English ales.
 
I keep it around 70 as well, though I don't pick up a lot of fruitiness. Perhaps the long D rest I do takes care of it.

The stuff is nuts though. I find it tends to keep off-gassing after storage. I noticed the lid on one of the pint jars I use for storage was bulging up the other day (1/3 full with packed yeast), so I cracked it to relieve pressure and yeast spewed out just like expanding foam. I ended up with a giant noodle of gooey yeast climbing its way out of the jar!
 
What kind of attenuation are you all getting from 1469? Please list your corresponding mash temps too.
Thanks!
 
Love the yeast. My house yeast for all English styles (most of what I brew). I've both top cropped and harvested from the cake with it. My sweet spot is around 67-68. I also go at a slightly reduced pitching rate to bring the esters out a bit. It gets a pleasant cherry-stonefruit-nutty thing that I love.

I can get anywhere from 60% attenuation (using 158 mash and lots of dextrinous malts) in my super low gravity session beers, up to 80% if I mash low (147 or so) and use some sugar in the grist. For "average" gravity beers and a 152ish mash, I'm usually also around 70% attenuation.
 
I agree with Qhrumphf. This is pretty much my house strain for english ales, I always have something fermenting with it. Attenuation ranges are similar. Around 70-72% id say is average for a beer mashed at 152-154 and with less than 10% specialty malts. I ferment between 63 and 68, depending on style.
 
I just bottled a pale ale that finished at 76% attenuation. I mashed at 149F for 75 mins. I was expecting 5.4% and ended up with 6.2%. First time mashing this low (with 1469) and first batch using MO instead of domestic 2 row.
 
The flavors 1469 kicks out are incredible. I think I'd like to brew something focusing entirely on the yeast. Maybe a Maris Otter smash with a single bittering charge to around 20 ibu. I could be nuts here, but it might work to try a british take on dunkelweizen: 55% MO, 40% wheat, 5% chocolate with bittering to 15 IBU. Push fermentation up to 74F for increased esters. Anyone try something like this and have it turn out well?
 
i've done several m/o smash beers with this strain. my favs are fermented at 70-72 f. it gives great green apple flavors and not in the bad way. i also used on a rye'd bitter and it works fantastic in the upper temp range.
 
i've done several m/o smash beers with this strain. my favs are fermented at 70-72 f. it gives great green apple flavors and not in the bad way. i also used on a rye'd bitter and it works fantastic in the upper temp range.

Did you make your MO smash beers hop or yeast dominant? I don't pick up green apple in my brews, but something very interesting and fruity I can't quite describe. I've heard people mention stone fruit, but I've never tried one to compare.

EDIT: if stone fruit is a general term applied to peaches, apricots, plums, etc., I'm not sure I would describe it as that either.
 
Did you make your MO smash beers hop or yeast dominant? I don't pick up green apple in my brews, but something very interesting and fruity I can't quite describe. I've heard people mention stone fruit, but I've never tried one to compare.

EDIT: if stone fruit is a general term applied to peaches, apricots, plums, etc., I'm not sure I would describe it as that either.

mine are yeast dominant and the best way to describe the apple flavor is that of apple skins.
 
1469 is my go to yeast for english styles, ive probably used it around 80 times. I usually prefer to ferment it at around 65. It usually tastes a little dull young, but after 2-3 weeks in the cold conditioner I get this lovely figgy ester. Like green fresh figs. And a bit of generic jam.
 
As I sit here sipping my 1469 special bitter, I am thinking more green melon (honeydew?) than green apple. I am not getting the tart, bitter taste I often get from green apples.

Details:

OG: 1.044
FG: 1.008
3.8% Med. Crystal (50-60)
3.0% Dark Crystal (135-65)
5.6% homemade toasted MO (45-50)

Mash 154
From BeerSmith
Real Atten - 66%
Apparent - 81%

The attenuation numbers seem out of whack to me. I haven't paid much attention to them in the past. I need to do a bit more investigating to see if I am missing something in BeerSmith.
 
1469 is my go to yeast for english styles, ive probably used it around 80 times. I usually prefer to ferment it at around 65. It usually tastes a little dull young, but after 2-3 weeks in the cold conditioner I get this lovely figgy ester. Like green fresh figs. And a bit of generic jam.


80 times! Wow! Have you tried it in any brown ales ? I am thinking if brewing the popular nut brown recipe on here and have a pack of 1469 yeast to use up. Not sure if the fruit thing will go well.
Also does it work well in American ales?
Thanks.
 
80 times! Wow! Have you tried it in any brown ales ? I am thinking if brewing the popular nut brown recipe on here and have a pack of 1469 yeast to use up. Not sure if the fruit thing will go well.
Also does it work well in American ales?
Thanks.

I've used it that much too, and in absolutely anything English, including English browns. In addition to fruit i get some nuttiness too, so i could see it working well.

You could use it for American beers, but it would be fruity for them. High pitching rate, lots of aeration and bottom range ferm temps and it might work, but unless you have to use that yeast I'd go with a different one.
 
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