Wyeast 1882-PC Thames Valley II

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motobrewer

I'm no atheist scientist, but...
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Anyone know what's up with this yeast? I thought regular Thames Valley was the Brakspear yeast, so what is this?

I'm brewing an ESB with it:

9.25 Maris Otter
1.25 Simpsons Medium Crystal

unfortunately no EKG, so I'm using US Goldings.

9.0 HBU @60
4.5 HBU @0
 
Just got my hands on some yesterday...but I'm not sure when I'll get to brew. Keep us posted.
 
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....
 
was a champ in the starter

pitched saturday, was going like crazy that night and sunday morning.
 
Yeah, mine too. Did a starter Thursday evening and it had completely flocculated out by brewtime Sunday morning. Pitched it into the fermenter at 2pm and it was happily bubbling away by 6pm.
 
what'd you brew jkarp?

i was thinking of washing this and making an English IPA....but that would be two very similar beers right after another.....
 
It was actually for my neighbor. He found a recipe for a mild he wanted to try. I'm sufficiently impressed with this yeast though that I may follow this mild up with a porter on the yeast cake.
 
yeah, i was really thinking of dumping a porter on mine too, but I have a fresh keg of porter about to be tapped....

maybe i'll do a small, quick dry stout for st. paddy's. or a brown...
 
I'm split between a bitter and the Old Cantankerous clone in the Jan/Feb Zymurgy.
 
Dropped incredibly clear after 11 days.

I got around 72% AA but I did some....stupid....stuff with the fermentation.

I bet you'd get mid-high 70's easy.
 
I think it tastes great. This is my 7th brew, so my green beer tastes aren't terribly developed.

But, this could be my best beer to date. I wanted to take a picture of how clear it became, but my wife seemed to have lost our camera.....
 
I was at my LHBS a few hours ago and the boss man had a kegged pale ale with cascade/fuggles blend and 1882. Turned out fruity, but not sweet, and the hops came through really nicely.

Convinced me to buy an Activator pack of it.
 
Any more updates of the beers brewed with this yeast? I've got a starter going now that I'll be using for a dark mild I'm brewing tomorrow. That should give me a nice opportunity to top crop some for a RIS I'm making the next Saturday.
 
an RIS with a thames valley yeast? jesus. that'll be interesting at least.

Should be good, right?:D

EDIT: We're actually going to make a 10 gallon batch and split it up into two carboys. One will be fermented with the thames valley II and one with wy1028. We'll then bottle half of each carboy, and combine the rest of each carboy to age on some oak. That way we'll have 3 versions of the beer to compare.
 
Saw this at the LHBS and picked up a packet of it along with Denny's. Plan on using it next week probably in an ESB since I already have plenty of stout. Montanaandy
 
I'll be interested in hearing about the mild too.

I'm thinking that the fruitness of the yeast would be appealing (to my palate, at least) to round out the maltiness. I used London III (Wyeast 1318) once and like the hint of sweetness it contributed.
 
Results are in (if flat 2 week old beer is the desired result)

Recipe:

Type: All Grain Best Bitter
Date: 15/02/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.85 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.00 (not my best day, but acceptable)
Measured Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
AA%: 75
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.30 %

Bitterness: 35.2 IBU
Est Color: 9.7 SRM

Ingredients:

8.50 lb Gambrinus ESB Malt (Pale Malt) (4.0 SRM) Grain 87.18 %
0.50 lb 70-80 deg. L - Crystal/Caramel (75.0 SRM) Grain 5.13 %
0.50 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.13 %
0.25 lb Wheat Malt (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.56 %


1.20 oz Whole - Northern Brewer [7.20 %] (60 min) 31.7 IBU
1.00 oz Whole - Williamette [4.80 %] (10 min) 3.5 IBU
1.00 oz Pellet - Fuggles [4.70 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)

1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)

1 Pkgs Thames Valley II (Wyeast Labs #1882) [Starter 1000 ml] Yeast-Ale

Tasting notes:

- Malty, slightly fruity aroma
- Slightly sweet, slightly fruity flavour; stone fruit does come through
slightly, as per Wyeast's profile. Still comes through dry overall.
- Bitterness comes through nicely; glad that I decided to dry-hop for a bit
more balance.
- No diacetyl noticable.

Overall impression (at this stage):

- A nice balance of a touch of fruit and dry maltiness. Bitterness comes through well. Will see how dry-hopping changes things.

Hope this helps.
 
well i've pulled a few pints of this by now. again it was an ESB:

1.054 -> 1.013

9.25 MO
1.25 Simpsons Medium

60 minute mash at 154F.

2oz US Goldings at 60
1oz US Goldings at 1

primary for 3 wks, keg for 2wks.

It's excellent. Little fruitiness on the nose. mouthfeel is fantastic. little sweetness, very malty, low hop by design (~29 IBUs) but they're there. perfect session beer, wonderful color.

I've made a bitter before using WY1098. I've never used Thames Valley I, so I don't know how this compares. Ridiculously flocculant, but i didn't have to rouse to achieve target FG or anything. If I had done some harvesting before, I would have tried it with this, but I didn't think it was a good idea to have my first go-around with this yeast.
 
Whoops, just realized I never updated this thread. Mild with the 1882 was good. The porter however was outstanding. Flocs like crazy and just the perfect fruitiness for a porter. Wasn't over-attenuated for a yeast cake pitch either. 74% attenuation for a FG of 1.018.
 
Update on my best bitter and this yeast.

I really like this yeast. While I wouldn't use it on all of my British beers, it would certainly be in rotation with 1968 and 1275. I like the hint of fruitiness that really shines through; I can see how this would be great with a porter. Yep, flocced out beautifully and attenuated really well - went from 1.044 to 1.011 after 10 days in primary and a week in secondary being dry-hopped.

I washed it three times and have three half pint jars with a nice, thick, white layer in the fridge.
 
Like a couple of others, I made a mild to get this yeast started, but now I’m trying to figure what to do next. So far in this thread there’s mention of: Mild, Porter, Old Ale, Pale Ale, Dark Mild, RIS, ESB, Best Bitter and Strong Porter.

Nugent’s Best Bitter looks tasty, and with the warmer weather coming, it would make a good seasonal transition beer. But he also mentioned a Pale Ale with Fuggles and Cascade, a combination that could work well for a springtime brew.

Have to weigh that against the “plan ahead” guy looking over my shoulder saying that KingBrianI’s idea for a RIS would be excellent planning for next fall/winter. Even a porter would age well.

There are just too many possibilities. Every time I make a decision, someone comes up with an idea that sounds irresistible. I’m so confused.
:confused::drunk::eek:
 
yeah I battle with that every time I plan my next brew. right now it's going to be an IPA.

but i really wanna brew a kolsch soon to be ready by may-june.

i'd also like to brew a light vienna style for summer.

i'd also like to brew an Oktoberfest soon for a nice 6mo lager.

i'm also almost out of porter, and this ESB isn't gonna last long and it's tasty.....

decisions, decisions....
 
Like a couple of others, I made a mild to get this yeast started, but now I’m trying to figure what to do next. So far in this thread there’s mention of: Mild, Porter, Old Ale, Pale Ale, Dark Mild, RIS, ESB, Best Bitter and Strong Porter.

Nugent’s Best Bitter looks tasty, and with the warmer weather coming, it would make a good seasonal transition beer. But he also mentioned a Pale Ale with Fuggles and Cascade, a combination that could work well for a springtime brew.

Have to weigh that against the “plan ahead” guy looking over my shoulder saying that KingBrianI’s idea for a RIS would be excellent planning for next fall/winter. Even a porter would age well.

There are just too many possibilities. Every time I make a decision, someone comes up with an idea that sounds irresistible. I’m so confused.
:confused::drunk::eek:

The fuggles and cascade pale ale actually sounds really good. Have you ever tried shipyard's IPA? It's all fuggles I believe and uses ringwood yeast. Anyway, the flavorful yeast and the fuggles really play nicely together, and I think this yeast, with it's subtle fruitiness would work in a fuggles pale ale really well.
 
The fuggles and cascade pale ale actually sounds really good. . . . this yeast, with it's subtle fruitiness would work in a fuggles pale ale really well.
You know, I think you've convinced me which direction to go. Wondering where this would fall in BJCP land. There's an overlap in the guidelines between a Best Bitter and an APA. The yeast would push it in the English Pale Ale direction, but the Cascade would give it some American character. A loose plan would be Maris Otter as a base grain, 1.045-1.050 OG, 35-40 IBU's, Cascade for bittering / flavor and Fuggles for flavor / aroma. Just out of curiosity, where do you think this would land in terms of style?
 
You know, I think you've convinced me which direction to go. Wondering where this would fall in BJCP land. There's an overlap in the guidelines between a Best Bitter and an APA. The yeast would push it in the English Pale Ale direction, but the Cascade would give it some American character. A loose plan would be Maris Otter as a base grain, 1.045-1.050 OG, 35-40 IBU's, Cascade for bittering / flavor and Fuggles for flavor / aroma. Just out of curiosity, where do you think this would land in terms of style?

I would gravitate towards calling it an English Pale Ale (8C). The american hops are allowed in the style and I think the malt flavor from the maris otter and flavorful yeast would take it a bit out of style for an APA.
 
Anyone have any tips? Damn near impossible to differentiate WLP002 yeast chunks from trub...
Follow the above mentioned thread Yeast Washing Illustrated , but only wait 5 minutes instead of 20. That's what I do, and it works well. -a.
Love the search feature. Dug these posts up while trying to wash my Wyeast 1882-PC and having the same problem. Looking for some conformation that it's the yeast and not something that I may have done wrong. Anyone mind sharing their experience washing this stuff?
 
It's chunky like 1968. I threw a gallon of sterilized water (boiled for 20 mins. and cooled) into my FV and gave it a really good swirl. It eventually started breaking up. There was a lot of material collected at the bottom of the jug that I decanted into after 10 mins, but lots in suspension as well. Decanted the suspended material, gave the jug a shake and repeated.

As mentioned before, after three washings (the yeast is currently sitting under sterilized water only) I managed to get three half pint jars with about 3/8" of creamy, white yeast. The additional washings got the darker, presumably dead yeast out of it, as for as I can tell.

According to Jamil's Yeast Calculator, I would need about 5 tbsps of thick slurry to have enough cells to pitch directly, based on the ever dropping viability. Won't have enough with what I have, so I'll make a big ol' starter to get it going again. Will repeat the same process again after the next brew. Jamil, as well as the brewer that I brewed with at Granville Island Brewing (Vancouver, Canada), that later generations do a better job and make the beer taste better. I guess I'll find out.

Anyway, hope this helps.
 
As mentioned before, after three washings (the yeast is currently sitting under sterilized water only) I managed to get three half pint jars with about 3/8" of creamy, white yeast. The additional washings got the darker, presumably dead yeast out of it, as for as I can tell. . . Anyway, hope this help.
I must have skimmed over your “three washing” post, but that's a interesting coincidence. It also took me three washings before I was happy with the results. Ended up with about 6 fluid ounces of clean yeast.


The picture below is what remained after the final wash. I added more water to it just to see how it would settle out. The new liquid is on top, a thin layer of yeast and a lot of trub at the bottom. What I have in the refrigerator is all like that thin layer. The volume and make-up of the bottom layer has me baffled. I don’t get it when using the exact same technique with other yeasts. Why do these British strains produce this stuff and what is it?

Thames Valley II Yeast.jpg
 
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