Creating a house strain list.

I need some help deciding which yeasts to purchase to start a "house bank"

First question where is the best place to purchase wyeast packs? my lhbs sells white labs to I’m just ordering what he can’t get.

Second question how does this look for a choice in yeast strains.....
1) 1099 Whitbread Ale
2) 3711 French Saison
3) 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen
4) 1275 Thames Valley Ale

I'm going to be taking these and creating large starters and hopefully making my own frozen slants. Which I have recently become interested in. **dang you people for getting me more addicted to every aspect of brewing** thank you all in advance for the assistance

What type of beers do you typically brew?

well... I have brewed milds, IPA, cream, porter, dunkelweizen, meads, pumpkin, quads. i was looking for a wide range of possibilities. I enjoy ALL beers.

I like the strong banana esters of weizens. I love the strong chocolate character of porters and stouts. I like malty character of English ales; i've become more interested in saisons and its accompanying funk. But I also like session ales that are easy to drink. I like belgian IPAs. does that help?

I don't think you have a yeast collection (in the US anyway) without the old Chico strain ... what is that 1056?

IM a little confused by your response lBussy. I'm just trying to get a group of yeasts for my personal brewery. And what's the "chico" strain?

chico strain is probably the most common neutral ale yeast. it's what sierra nevada uses and it is produced or has a very similar version put out by all the yeast producers. wyeast 1056, white labs wlp001 and us-05 dry yeast. I kept it on hand until i got a hold of some pacman which i like a little better

Buy the book Yeast if you don't have it already. Favorite beer book.

I'm looking forward to trying the Pacific Ale (aka "Pacman"). Designation is WLP041 to answer the next question I guess. It's going in my next brew which will be my "comeback" batch. Only made a couple meads so far.

Chico, to add to what Jester said, is a nickname given to the yeast strain as it was isolated by the folks at the California State University at Chico - home to what was some of the first studies in fermentation sciences in the contemporary US. If a guy's gonna cultivate yeast he has to know the history.

My brewing partner is trying to keep me away from the work I used to do surrounding brewing. I had a very large yeast bank back in the day, it likely took 2-3 times more time to keep up than my brewing which was extensive all on it's own. He keeps saying "let's just brew a beer". Pshfft!

I am currently in the process of creating a huge starter with the pacific yeast, for splitting in part of my library but I was under the impression that pacman and pacific ale were two different yeast. or is pacman just what wyeast calls their strain. also, LBussy, I looked back in the forum. I understand that you were suggesting I have "chico" in my bank. thanks for the idea.

Cyclman: I do own, and love, "Yeast" thats one reason I cant stop thinking about this project. its becoming my hobby to create and propogate yeast. I love watching the stir plate

But to bring it back to my question. with the new addition of the pacific yeast. is there any other must haves for a bank? is the list I came up with missing some, or reasonably complete? great stuff guys, keep it coming

LBussy said:

I'm looking forward to trying the Pacific Ale (aka "Pacman"). Designation is WLP041

Click to expand...

I'm no expert on yeast, but I don't think WLP041 is the same thing as Pacman.

How about bottle harvest a couple? The Bells strain is excellent, get a couple Belgians like Ommegang and Duval; A nice wheat, and then get the ESB (not sure the wyeast number) that 3 Floyds uses for all of its beers.

Chico is boring!

1275 is great in most American and English styles.

I also like 1388 for Belgian beers, the 3711 you have is great for Saisons (just pitched some yesterday). I also like to keep some Kolsch around as I love that base style plus it can do a semi-decent job at some faux-lagers.

PseudoChef said:

Chico is boring!

Click to expand...

neutral is a better word. sometimes thats what ya need. if you want something that'll let your malt and/or hops shine without getting in the way then chico is whats up

rajun50 said:

I'm no expert on yeast, but I don't think WLP041 is the same thing as Pacman.

Click to expand...

you are correct it's not. pacman wlp041 and san diego super yeast are all real similar but not the same. 1056 wlp001, nottingham and us-05 aren't the same strain either just extremely similar in profile.

word on the street is that ballantine brewery used nottingham yeast back in the day. then sierra nevada started using the ballantine yeast. there could be some slight variation due to mutation and repitching if this is in fact the case

lou2row said:

How about bottle harvest a couple? The Bells strain is excellent, get a couple Belgians like Ommegang and Duval; A nice wheat, and then get the ESB (not sure the wyeast number) that 3 Floyds uses for all of its beers.

Click to expand...

i honestly got cought up in the moment of making a really sweet yeast purchase and totally forgot about bottle dregs. what is the strain bells uses, if you remember? thanks for the idea.

Chico is solid for pales, IPAs, and some browns. 1450 is also nice. Full mouthfeel, but less flocculant.
I really enjoyed 1968 in my last brown. It Fullers strain. Accentuates malt and nice fruitiness. Makes a super clear beer quickly. S04 works okay but is a little tart for me.
I've enjoyed 3787 and 1214 for Belgians. 3787 is the Westmalle strain and is used by several belgian breweries.
I love 3944 for wits. Super top cropper, produces a huge krausen! Fruity and lightly tart.
3711 gives you a maintenance free saison, although a little more citrusy than I like.

If it were me, and I had to select a few, I would go... 1968, 3787, 3944, and 1056. Though I would miss some of those others....

jester5120 said:

neutral is a better word. sometimes thats what ya need. if you want something that'll let your malt and/or hops shine without getting in the way then chico is whats up

Click to expand...

I know - just stirring the pot. Sometimes I feel that a brewer gets caught up in something just because that's what's popular and doesn't experiment with other things. Been setting up side-by-side experiments with S-05 and WY1275 in American styles lately to really dial in some recipes. In my experience (which doesn't mean anything!), S-05 attenuates too much for my tastes and leads to more of a biting bitterness. 1275 seems to be more in balance, while still giving great attenuation. Going to add WLP007 to the mix soon.

CloverBrew said:

But to bring it back to my question. with the new addition of the pacific yeast. is there any other must haves for a bank? is the list I came up with missing some, or reasonably complete? great stuff guys, keep it coming

Click to expand...

Do you plan on any lagers?

I think the list you have there will get you a long way down the road. You can always add later as the mood strikes you. I think the only ones I would add for ales if I was headed for a desert island (with a refrigerator of course!) would be the WLP017 Whitbread Ale and maybe the WLP810 San Francisco Lager ... which is used for Steam Beers.

Throw in some meads and lagers and your list grows ....

rajun50 said:

I'm no expert on yeast, but I don't think WLP041 is the same thing as Pacman.

Click to expand...

WLP041 is definitely Pacific Ale yeast:
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp041.html

Now you may be question whether Pacman = Pacific Ale ... that's the only way to which I've heard it referred but I am willing to be wrong.

Pacific ale and Pacman are not the same strain. wlp041 is Redhook's house, Pacman is Rogue's and according to the information I found in a few mins of searching these two strains, there's no relation. Just to clear up any confusion.

Some ale strains that I think make good house strains are:

American:
wy 1272 Am II
us-05 (chico)

English:
wy 1318
wy 1968 ("that esb" strain)
wy 1275

Belgian:
wy 1214
wy 3724 (dupont)

wheat:
wy 3068 all the way.

German:
wy 1007
wy 2565 (kölsch)

NordeastBrewer77 said:

Pacific ale and Pacman are not the same strain. wlp041 is Redhook's house, Pacman is Rogue's and according to the information I found in a few mins of searching these two strains, there's no relation. Just to clear up any confusion.

Click to expand...

I was indeed confused, thank you for clearing it up. So it seems that Pacman is WY1764. I'm going to snag some Rogue ales, enjoy the beer, and culture up the dregs.

WRT the comment that Chico is "boring": It's been my experience that far too many brewers have beer that is far too "exciting". This goes back to the argument about Budweiser and whether it's a good beer. If you can make Budweiser then you are an excellent brewer. Similarly, if you can make a beer where you are hampered by Chico being "boring" then you have reached an important milestone in your abilities.

LBussy said:

WRT the comment that Chico is "boring": It's been my experience that far too many brewers have beer that is far too "exciting". This goes back to the argument about Budweiser and whether it's a good beer. If you can make Budweiser then you are an excellent brewer. Similarly, if you can make a beer where you are hampered by Chico being "boring" then you have reached an important milestone in your abilities.

Click to expand...

Agreed. The Chico strain is a classic for a reason. Super clean and forgiving even at warmer temps, it gives that nice, soft peach ester when it's cool, and if you're a washer, subsequent generations make for a very nice house yeast. Still clean and forgiving but you can drive some nice fruitiness from it that's really pleasant in American ales. I did an all citra amber last year with 3rd gen 05 at about 58-60 degrees that was just incredible.

this was the purchase:

French Saison 3711
Weihenstephan Weizen Wyeast 3068
Thames Valley Ale Wyeast 1275
Whitbread Ale Wyeast 1099
Belgian Abbey Ale Wyeast 1214.

you guys helped alot thanks. next adventure...Major yeast propogation and freeze