Is WLP002 really that fast??

Check the gravity.

3 days is pretty normal for WLP/w1968/s-04 from my experience but as most says let it go longer to "clean up"

Kegged it last Saturday. With 2 weeks of the secondary pitch of Notty, I had only dropped from 1.020 to 1.018. Figured I had squeezed as much out of it as I could.

Drinking 1 now. I am pretty sure most of the yeast profile I am getting is from the 002. Pulled 1 pint to purge the yeast from the keg. My second pull was all but brilliantly clear. Light mineral taste as the beer warms and I am just barely picking up the EKG I used to finish. The yeast left just enough of the caramel sweetness from the crystal to really round this beer out.

Man I love this yeast.

Reviving this relic of a thread. I have been brewing steadily with 002 since this thread. And I still love it. I have been listening to a lot of Jamil podcasts as well and have started getting good results pitching low, letting this yeast free rise, then ramping up a couple more degrees as ferment slows (which is usually around day 3). I usually do a moderate sized starter, then pitch most of my English beers at around 64F with this strain. I set my temp controller to 66F and let the beer rise into that range. Then around 72 hours, I kick it up to 68F. Once the krausen drops (usually between 72-96 hrs) I set the temp to 70F for clean up and dry out.

I've also gone to 10 gallon batches and have been doing a lot of side by side comparisons of yeasts. Last Friday, I decided to try Jamil's ESB from BCS, 5 gallons with WLP002 and 5 gallons with 005. I'd not tried the 005 before and was interested to try it in a recipe I have made before head to head against a yeast I have tried before.

Anybody on this thread have experience with 005? Reading the descriptions on White Labs's site, it sounds like it's just a more attenuative version of 002. I took it through my 002 temperature-ramping regimen side by side with the 002 (see above). I have only been a little more than 4 days in the carboy so I have not yet taken a gravity reading. But at least visually, it appears to be performing identically to the 002.

1L starters for each. I had positive pressure against both airlocks in about 6-7 hours. By 12 hours I had krausen (which has been typical when I pitch an actively fermenting starter). Both fermented vigorously for about 72 hours then dropped krausen. Neither has dropped clear yet although if past performance is any indicator, I expect I'll see some significant clearing by tomorrow. They are both off-gassing steadily still today.

So far, the only real difference I have noticed is that the 005 ran 1-2F warmer in the early stages of active fermentation than the 002. When I pitched the starters, I poured off a little of the starter beer into a glass to smell and taste before pitching. It seems like the 002 was a little more estery than the 005, but I am not placing a great deal of stock in that since it was unhopped, over-aerated starter wort after all.

Has anyone else used these side by side? I'd be interested to hear any observations so I can know what differences to look for as these 2 beers develop.

I love WLP002 but have only used WLP005 a couple times. If memory serves me correctly you definitely want to do a Diacetyl rest with 005, and it produces more esters than 002.

I generally ferment 002 at 66, then ramp to 68, and finish for a few days at 70. They are both going through these steps now. They were at 66f from Friday afternoon until Monday afternoon. I ramped to 68f Monday evening and then up to 70 this morning. I plan on leaving there until this weekend when I check the gravity and start to bring the temp back down slowly to clear things up for kegging.

I would think that's sufficient for diacetyl rest, wouldn't you?

winvarin said:

Would it not leave behind too much residual sweetness for something big like a barley wine? I would be worried that you'd leave behind too much malt sweetness with a big grain bill

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I'll provide an update as well. I used WLP002 in an English Barleywine OG 1.102 - mashed at 148. It had fermented down to 1.023 on the 5th day. I racked to a keg for secondary after a few weeks and let it sit in my 50-55* basement all winter and it was at 1.022 when I bottled (carbonated in the keg prior to bottling). So that's about 77% apparent attenuation and 10.7% ABV.

It's really tasty as is - definitely not sweet (one friend actually said it needs more sweetness, but I think he's looking for a little caramel character from oxidation that he's probably used to from buying commercial barleywines). I wouldn't hesitate to use WLP002 again in a big beer.