Wyeast 1882-PC Thames Valley II

Yep, mine looked exactly the same - kinda like cottage cheese.

Wyeast 1882-PC Thames Valley II Update.

The Best Bitter using Cascade for bittering and Fuggles for flavor/aroma was a success. It was the tap of choice at our Mother's Day gathering. I've brewed this Fuggles based beer in different forms, but this is my favorite batch. The 1882-PC allows the malt to come through, but still has a subtle amount of the esters you'd except in a British beer. Bittering with Cascade gave it some complexity that it lacked when it was all Fuggles.

On to the third generation of this yeast. There a Brown Porter on its forth day in the feremeter chugging away downstairs. First time using brown malt has me anxious to taste the results.

Made Northern Brewer's "Broken Spear Bitter" recipe with 1882. Still in primary and will be kegging it straight from primary. Will update in the next few weeks.

please do, i've been thinking about that recipe

I can vouch for the Broken Spear recipe with this yeast. I've had it on tap for almost 2 weeks now, trying to wait for a party tomorrow to really open the floodgates. I'll report back this weekend. I have a summer ale heavily late hopped with Amarillo, something I hope the fruity esters of this yeast will meld nicely with. Yeast has been very floccolant.

Sorry for the late update. The Broken Spear bitter came out fantastic. The grain bill has roughly 2% black malt for coloring. I'm a bit unsure if the black malt also added a dryness or slight roast to the beer or if that was a yeast contribution. It may also have a minerally, slightly grainy quality. The former might be the yeast, the latter might be a result of using a corona mill that is noticeable on younger, low gravity beers. Esters were slightly restrained this being the first pitch, having used a 2-cup starter and a 65F fermentation temperature. Dropped brilliantly clear after a week or so in the keg, post dry-hop.

Rinsing the yeast cake for my second batch, a ~100% pils hopped with 3.5oz of Amarillo at 15 minutes, I used a bit of slurry and probably fermented at 64-65F. My attenuation suffered, down to 67% from 75%. The body is medium/medium-full (mashed higher than I wanted at 155F) but I think I got more supporting esters such as apple/pear. The large Amarillo hop addition (lemony grapefruit) could be masking it. This pale beer has dropped very clear despite not using irish moss. Unfortunately I lost half the keg due to my inexperience in kegging.

A third batch using a commercial wort, about 12% crystal/carapils, also left a medium/full mouthfeel. It was a bigger beer (1.057) but attenuated more, again at 75%. This one was fermented at 68-69F for 3 days and allowed to free rise, eventually getting to 78F. Esters definitely more pronounced, apple/pear. The beer has a smaller Cascade/Willamette whirlpool addition that is stronger in the commercial version. My fermentation esters seem to be fighting with it in aroma/flavor, though to be honest the beer is just 6 weeks old.

So far I think I like the strain. It drops clear and provides some character, that at least for me, needs careful pairing if using a lot of hops. It seems to have done well with the EKG/Styrians of the bitter, stood up to Amarillo, but oddly seems to fight with the Willamette/Cascade (if fermented warm). Whether it accentuates the malt is a quality that I'm not picking up on, yet.

14thstreet said:

...A third batch using a commercial wort....

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?

go on...

I got the wort from Lakefront Brewery, their Riverwest Stein, at the AHA Rally on May 16.

good god that's awesome.

do they regularly distribute wort? they charge? I should think of becoming an AHA member, lol...

I think it was only the special event rally that they gave out wort. Up to 250 people got 5 gallons worth. Because I wasn't a member, I joined and paid $33. More spilled on the floor than I'll probably brew all year!

Good to see that others reported success/solid results with this yeast. I just picked up an activator packet of it yesterday and plan to use it Sunday in a mocha porter. I intend to wash the yeast once it's done and save it for a future batch. I'll evaluate the results on bottling day, as well as once the brew is carbonated and in the glass. I'm just glad I went to the LHBS on the day the yeast arrived (I was told that yeast had come in yesterday) since they only got one packet in.

I'm coming round to the conclusion I'm having problems finishing/attenuating and/or bottling with this strain. Some of my last IPA recipes have mashed low (148-153F) and used sugar in the boil, to give me an attenuation of 85%. Typically a two week ferment at 65-68F then bottle to 1.8-2 vol of CO2 with table sugar. The beers have been hopped with leaf EKG and after a 1-2 week carbonation period I'd say a good 1/8 of an inch sediment is in the bottle - a combination of hops and granular bits of yeast. Beers generally have dropped clear with or without finings. They've been small 1.5 gallon batches so my pitching rates and other volume/weight/temperature measurement errors could have more of an effect on the final product. The main problem I've had is the preponderance of gushers. Frustrating.

I wouldn't call it an infection but the amount and type of sediment in the bottles suggests that I've got a lot of nucleation points for CO2 release. I can't say I've had this happen with other strains I've bottled with.

I brewed 10 gallons of a Landlord clone and pitched 1469 (Landlord's yeast) into 5 gallons and 1882 into the other half. I pitched at 63 degrees and let it rise to 68. I took samples yesterday after 8 days of fermentation and the 1882 sample was noticeably clearer. Both tasted pretty good but the 1882 sample was the unanimous favorite among the people who tasted them. It was slightly maltier and more flavorful.

14thstreet said:

The main problem I've had is the preponderance of gushers. Frustrating.I wouldn't call it an infection but the amount and type of sediment in the bottles suggests that I've got a lot of nucleation points for CO2 release. I can't say I've had this happen with other strains I've bottled with.

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Check out some of the posts from page 40 onward. While I have not experienced that problem with Thames Valley II (as I have yet to bottle with it) there have been problems with gushers, off flavors ect... when bottling with wy1968 and some of the other high flocculating English strains.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/b...files-cybi-other-thoughts-221817/index40.html

My batch is just over two weeks into fermentation and it's still active. I plan on letting it go at least 4-6 weeks before bottling it up. Once I pitch the yeast for a batch, these days, the fermenter doesn't get moved, at all, until it's going to be bottled up. So if it's off-gassing enough to move the airlock, there's something going on inside.

I did have activity pretty quickly using this yeast for the first time. I don't know (yet) what it's really going to bring to the brew, but I'm looking to get another packet of it this week. I might just hold onto it for the batch after this weekends, or one in the next month or two. I'm looking to get a home brew fridge shortly (in the next several days) so I'll have a safe place to store packets of yeast. When I get yeast, especially when I request it from the LHBS, it's very, very, very fresh. So, I'll have at least a few months to use it before I might run into any issues. A simple starter should eliminate those issues too.

IMO, if you didn't let the brew go long enough in primary, then I'm not really surprised you had issues. Especially since the info card specifically states: "A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete." IMO, that's not going to happen when you go ~2 weeks from pitch to bottling.

motobrewer said:

will do. brewin' saturday.

provided the yeast hasn't frozen by now. it's sitting on my doorstep. it's a balmy 10F outside. -3F windchill....

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Geez, you live in Nunavut?

Golddiggie said:

IMO, if you didn't let the brew go long enough in primary, then I'm not really surprised you had issues. Especially since the info card specifically states: "A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete." IMO, that's not going to happen when you go ~2 weeks from pitch to bottling.

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Generally, I might agree with you but it's been my experience that my fermentation (gravity, airlock activity, etc) is finished by 7-10 days. I always let primary go an additional week or two depending on the time I have. For me, the yeast only once in 7 fermentations (2 yeast packets going 3-4 generations on repitches, with or without starters) has given me perceptible notes of diacetyl, so I feel the yeast is cleaning up after itself if it's making it at all. I've had no similar issues with this strain when kegging.

But yes, I check the final gravity of my next pint to see if it's moved further south in the bottle.

bierhaus15, I've been following that thread and I find it hard to believe that in all the years 1968/002 has been out, it doesn't have the reputation for that as say Ringwood would for "ease of use." Certainly strains can change over time, lot to lot more likely, and "container shock" could also be an issue. I'd really be interested to see the QA/QC of both White Labs and Wyeast. The only beers I've made with 1968 was a malted cider and a Fullers Porter clone. Didn't have problems with those but again, may not happen all the time.

mhenry41h said:

Geez, you live in Nunavut?

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no, wisconsin....that post was in the middle of January.

i've found this strain is best extremely young. i've never had to do a d-rest.

I really like this yeast. Behaves very well at warmer fermentation temps (not excessively fruity or estery), attenuates well, flocculates well...great to work with!

Currently using my third generation of 1882, can see going to six at least then trying to bank some.

osagedr, what beers have you been brewing with 1882? Any bottle-conditioned? The beers I've made with 1882 and 1469 (another english limited release strain) have given me issues when I've bottled. Something resembling an infection but no real off-flavors except those associated with overcarbonation. Yeast (I hope) sticking to the sides of the bottle may be providing some nucleation points. Need to warm up the bottles and decarbonate to get a better experience.

I've kegged once with 1882 and of course did not experience any of these issues. Has me up a wall about what's going on.