Strong RIS and Danstar Windsor

I brewed a strong RIS yesterday -- I started with the Brewer's Best RIS kit but added an extra 1.5 lbs of pale DME. OG was 1.092. I pitched it on top of the yeast cake from a batch of Caribou Slobber I bottled which uses Danstar Windsor ale yeast, basically because I didn't make a starter and I wanted to use the Safale-04 in the kit for something else.

After reading a bit about Danstar Windsor, apparently it is somewhat low attentuation? Should I be worried that my high gravity RIS won't ferment completely? I have nice airlock activity after less than 12 hours so it seems healthy at least.

It just won't really dry out much. It'll still fully ferment but should just finish with some residual sweetness.

Agreed... its not the fact that the yeast will not fully attenuate. Mostly likely the Windsor yeast will eat as much sugar as that strain does. I'm sure it will turn out fine. Plus it sounds like you are making a English version of a RIS. Which would allow more room for a little residual sweetness not like the big IBU American versions.

The Windsor yeast is a low attenuating variety by design. I'm sure you noticed that with the Slobber. Each time I used it, it attenuated around 62%, which is normal for that strain. The 04 has a higher attenuation. You might wind up with a higher FG than you want.

Well I guess the yeast was pretty healthy because this is what I came home to today:


Assuming the batch isn't totally ruined (fingers crossed), is it worth repitching w/ S-04 to clean up the residual sugars the Windsor leaves behind? Or should I just wait and see what happens?

bk0 said:

Well I guess the yeast was pretty healthy because this is what I came home to today:

Assuming the batch isn't totally ruined (fingers crossed), is it worth repitching w/ S-04 to clean up the residual sugars the Windsor leaves behind? Or should I just wait and see what happens?

Click to expand...

The same thing happened to me last year when I brewed that kit, and that was without the added DME. Clean it up, attach a blow-off, it's not ruined. I'd be surprised if it doesn't finish high. It might help to pitch some 04 to bring it down where you want it. How warm are the temps? Windsor's high end is 70F.

Thanks for the help. I cleaned her up and threw in the packet of S-04 for the hell of it. This is going to be a weird frankenbrew.

Temps were around 70 here today, unusually warm, so it probably got too hot. Hopefully it'll be drinkable.

I think you did the right thing by adding the S-04. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when the beer is ready. With the crazy temps we're having, I wouldn't be surprised if your fermentation temp is in the high 70s. Try a swamp cooler to get it down, especially with the new yeast addition. You may have some mild off flavors from the warm ferment, but this is a good beer to cover that up. I have a friend who fell in love with this beer, and I just served her the last one at my St Paddy's party. Good luck.