Made starter with wrong yeast

Hi all,

I posted this in the thread for EdWort's Robust Porter (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/bee-cave-brewery-robust-porter-56768/index10.html#post1133381), but realized that probably no one was going to see it this morning.

His recipe calls for Nottingham, but I decided that I wanted to use some of my washed yeast (which is all Wyeast) so I made a starter last night. Instead of putting 1098 (British Ale) I used 1056 (American Ale). I was in a hurry. I was planning on pitching this this afternoon. Should I go ahead and pitch or go buy some extra Nottingham?

Thanks.

kcstrom

1056 will result in a cleaner, less estery beer than 1098, so if you have your heart set on a fruity Englishness in your porter, drop 10 and punt.

But since Nottingham is, while English, a very very clean English yeast, you can pitch your 1056 without a twinge of conscience. American ale yeasts ferment very fine porters; for years I brewed a Robust Porter professionally, and every single batch was fermented with Cal V (WLP051).

Cheers,

Bob

From the wyeast website:

1098: Produces beers with a clean neutral finish allowing malt and hop character to dominate. Ferments dry & crisp, slightly tart, fruity and well balanced. Ferments well down to 65°F (18°C).

1056: Very clean, crisp flavor characteristics. Low fruitiness and mild ester production. Slightly citrus like with cool (60-66F, 15-19C) fermentation temperatures. Versatile yeast, which produces many beer styles allowing malt and hop character to dominate the beer profile. Flocculation improves with dark malts in grain bill. Normally requires filtration for bright beers. DE or pad filtration recommended.

And the Danstar website:
Nottingham: The Nottingham strain was selected for its highly flocculant & relatively full attenuation properties. It produces low concentrations of fruity and estery aromas and has been described as neutral for ale yeast, allowing the full natural flavor of malt & hops to develop.

The differences aren't terribly significant (unless you're lookin for the twinge of traditional fruitiness), they're all solid general ale yeasts. Hey it's Saturday, RDWHAH and pitch it!

Thank you guys for your responses which were so fast. I'm going to plan on going ahead and pitching it.

This site and all of the great people here help me to RDWHAHB. I would be worrying like crazy if it weren't for all of the experienced folks here who help out all the noobs (like me) and each other.

kcstrom

Yea - I would pitch it anyway. I've done that and everything turned out great.

I pitched the 1056. Thanks for all of the responses.

kcstrom