Anyone try San Diego Super Strain?

I've read on a couple sites that this stuff is done in less than 10 days (Rebel Brewer says as soon as 4 days)! I usually let my stuff go for 4-5 weeks (pale ales and IPA's). Anyone try this stuff? Does it really work that fast?!?! Cheers!

yeah, it works pretty fast. Its pretty much like WLP001 California but is known to ferment faster. Its a great strain and one I was sure to culture since its not something they offer year around. I think it has only been released once.

I've gone grain to glass in one week with this strain.

It's offered year round now.

I've never used it but a couple folks in my homebrew club have with great results. Anecdotaly a guy mentioned it took an high gravity ipa to fg in 2-3 days

Don't know what you mean by fast but I have got an APA that was brewed on Sunday using a 1 liter starter of this stuff. Typically with this brew the blow off bucket sounds like a marching cadence (bubble...pause...bubble...pause). Two hours after it was in the primary krausen had started to form and the blow off bucket was like a vigorous pot of boiling water. Three days later, it's still going strong and I don't see it slowing down any time soon. Fast to start but finishing may be another topic.

The one thing to know about WLP090 is that is as finicky as a lager yeast. You NEED to be able to finely control the fermentation temperature if you want that "super" performance. It's a clean yeast at most temps much like the Chico strains, but if you want big beers to be done in a week, you need to keep it between 65 and 68 the WHOLE TIME.

I love this yeast- it's my house strain.

daksin said:

The one thing to know about WLP090 is that is as finicky as a lager yeast. You NEED to be able to finely control the fermentation temperature if you want that "super" performance. It's a clean yeast at most temps much like the Chico strains, but if you want big beers to be done in a week, you need to keep it between 65 and 68 the WHOLE TIME.

I love this yeast- it's my house strain.

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Thanks for the advice, I can't wait to try this yeast! I've built a nice temp controlled environment in a spare shower(the fiance was REAL happy about that) so that should work out well!

Its a good strain but not much different from WLP001 IMO. And since my LHBS charges more for it then the "normal" strains I normally don't bother with it anymore.

jtejedor said:

Its a good strain but not much different from WLP001 IMO. And since my LHBS charges more for it then the "normal" strains I normally don't bother with it anymore.

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They're gouging you. It shouldn't cost any more than any of the other White Labs yeast, nor should the platinum strains. They all cost the same from WL.

I actually just pitched a tube into 4 gallons of an Arrogant bastard clone on August 13th. My OG was 1.076, it's been 10 days and my airlock is STILL bubbling nice and consistently. I've never had a yeast that performed like this. I split 8 gallons for wort into two different carboys and used this WLP090 in one and 007 in the other. The 007 has already lost it's krausen and the yeasties have all fallen down... no more bubbles. The San Diego Super yeast is still eating away and eating that OG down. I will take a reading tonight and let you know what it is tomorrow. So far in my opinion GREAT yeast!

Alright well I took the gravity of the 007, it was at 1.020 however I did not take the gravity of the 090 because I didnt wanbt to lose the air cap on top as it is still fully active. I did notice that the krausen is starting to fade and I expect it to be gone in two days or so. By The end of the weekend I will have a gravity for you.

PoorYorick said:

Alright well I took the gravity of the 007, it was at 1.020 however I did not take the gravity of the 090 because I didnt wanbt to lose the air cap on top as it is still fully active. I did notice that the krausen is starting to fade and I expect it to be gone in two days or so. By The end of the weekend I will have a gravity for you.

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Thanks for the update! I ordered some of the super strain and am patiently waiting to brew a big IPA.....

Cool man. I will give you that gravity reading on Monday, but really... so far very happy that I used it on this beer. Do you already have a recipe for the IPA? Im brewing what should be a nice one tomorrow.

I like it a lot. I alternate between this and pacman. They are both very aggressive yeasts.

My last IPA had OG of 1.067, used Super San Diego and it finished at 1.010 for 85% attenuation. It was mashed at 148F for 75 minutes and had 7.8% crystal malts. Tastes great and is nice and clear.

The other time I used it on an IIPA had OG of 1.075 and it finished at 1.012 for 84% attenuation, with 7.2% crystal & specialty malts, mashed at 152F for 60 minutes. Also turned out great.

Big fan of this yeast!

PS> Both times I used Mr. Malty yeast calculator for proper pitch rate, and fermented between 66-70F.

I've been using 090 for the last number of batches. It is pretty damn clean fermenting and a bit of a beast. I'm in the process of growing some Pacman right now for the next batch to be brewed. Thinking of a Greenflash clone to test. One thing I did notice with Pacman, it's like hanging a beef shank into a pond full of starving pirhana while they devour the sugars.

As everyone has stated, it's very fast. The only thing I'd add is that even though it ferments viciously, the krausen is relatively thin compared to most ale stains, which I like since I don't have to worry about a blowoff tube.

Also, yes it gets down to fg rapidly, but still needs a couple weeks to clear. I have made apas that i could drink in a week, but they were still a but cloudy.

Just following up on my original post. I made a pale ale that started off at 1.062 and was crystal clear and down to 1.01 in 12 days! Clearest beer I've ever made and the fastest yeast I've ever used. Hope this stuff stays around!

Nike_Eayrs said:

Just following up on my original post. I made a pale ale that started off at 1.062 and was crystal clear and down to 1.01 in 12 days! Clearest beer I've ever made and the fastest yeast I've ever used. Hope this stuff stays around!

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It's a year-round yeast, and a popular one at that. I think it's here to stay

I just picked up some wlp090 today and started a 1500 ml starter. I pitched it at 69 degrees . I'm going to use this for my latest IPA ... I will post results .

My Bourbon County Stout clone (SG ~1.129) is still bubbling away 10 days later.

Gravity reading? No way! I'm letting this thing finish its work first. Another few days and it should be done. A bubble every 21 seconds at the start of day 10.

I've had issues with the last two vials I've used. Fermentation is taking much longer than previous batches and it's not floc'ing out well at all. Note: a starter was made for the two separate batches.

ShinyBuddha said:

I've had issues with the last two vials I've used. Fermentation is taking much longer than previous batches and it's not floc'ing out well at all. Note: a starter was made for the two separate batches.

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Fwiw, the starter that I cold crashed seems to have performed far worse than the one that I pitched at high Krausen. I will have a bit of data to confirm that in a few days.

Well my starter is bubbling away pretty good by now it's been 16 or so hours and its doing great . Can't wait to see how it does with my Stone ipa clone recipe.

dankbru said:

Well my starter is bubbling away pretty good by now it's been 16 or so hours and its doing great . Can't wait to see how it does with my Stone ipa clone recipe.

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You shouldn't have an airlock on the starter as you want to have gas exchange. Grab a piece of foil, spray some sanitizer on it, and loosely place it over the opening. That will keep anything from falling in while allowing CO2 and O2 exchange.

ShinyBuddha said:

You shouldn't have an airlock on the starter as you want to have gas exchange. Grab a piece of foil, spray some sanitizer on it, and loosely place it over the opening. That will keep anything from falling in while allowing CO2 and O2 exchange.

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It's been going for about 24 hours you think I should replace airlock with foil ? I just don't want any contamination ... One of my first starters and I wanna keep it pure ... Is foil the norm ? What benefits will I get from using foil instead of airlock?

Replaced airlock with foil ...

Should I be stirring /shaking after 24 hrs or just let be ?

After a day and a half looks like most of the yeast has settled to the bottom of my starter this yeast is fast ! I'm thinking about pouring off the wort and pouring in some fresh , cooled off wort . I want to grow these yeast so I can save some before I pitch .

ShinyBuddha said:

You shouldn't have an airlock on the starter as you want to have gas exchange. Grab a piece of foil, spray some sanitizer on it, and loosely place it over the opening. That will keep anything from falling in while allowing CO2 and O2 exchange.

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I generally agree with this advice, but I think it's poor form to give it to someone in the middle of growing a good starter. There are risks with a more open fermentation. Some people have a really bad time with just using foil (although the majority, myself included, has it work perfectly fine). If the guy has a beer in mind, I'd be inclined to leave it be and just gently point him in an alternative/better direction, rather than do something that can jeopardize a good sanitary starter for a beer he's already got in the works.

I ferment within 20 feet of my front door and I would never just use foil in the spring/summer/fall in light of the fact that an airlocked starter will be more sanitary (though less optimal) for any beer that I was really depending on coming out well. Airlocked starters have worked well for many years. It may not be the best possible option, but it's predictable and works fine. Do a search for "fruit fly in my starter" for an alternative opinion.

I just tested the samples from my two Bourbon County Stout clones. This was two 3.25 gallon batches (actually batch 1 came in around 3 gallons while batch 2 is probably closer to 3.75). I made the batches on successive days with identical grain bills, although I added more DME on the second batch because the first one was a bit light on fermentables, so I used the second batch to up the average. These will be combined for a full 6.5gal secondary. Here's what I got:

Batch 1 / Batch 2

OG 1.124 / 1.132 (Target was 1.129)
FG 1.033 / 1.036 (batch 2 still has a bubble every 30 seconds, so isn't done yet)
Attenuation: 73.4 / 72.9 (but batch 2 is still going a little bit)

I used a 2L starter (split between the two batches) and aerated with pure O2 before pitching. I probably slightly underpitched, to be honest.

Sir Humpsalot said:

I generally agree with this advice, but I think it's poor form to give it to someone in the middle of growing a good starter. There are risks with a more open fermentation. Some people have a really bad time with just using foil (although the majority, myself included, has it work perfectly fine). If the guy has a beer in mind, I'd be inclined to leave it be and just gently point him in an alternative/better direction, rather than do something that can jeopardize a good sanitary starter for a beer he's already got in the works....

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Very good points Sir. In general, I go by advice given to me at my LBHS, these forums, and what I've read and try to pass what I've learned.

I have used it in a Pale Ale and a big Hopped Porter (more like a Black IPA). Both fermented fast (6 days or less), clean flavor profile and able to harvest and repitch. I do believe White Labs has added it to the regular lineup.:cross:

Just want to give an update ,brew day has finally ended whew ! My Og on my pale ale came out at 1.062 and wort has chilled to 75 degrees I'm pitching my starter of yeast white labs San diego super strain .....going into 68 degree fermentation lets see how it does ....