Danstar Windsor Yeast - Never Again

Ok, so I have brewed quite a few AG batches by now and I have my process down pretty good. I consistently get 75% efficiency, and I always aerate well. I pitched my first package of Windsor yeast on a Porter to give it a whirl. FG ended up being 1.027!!!!

At first, I was pissed. I am in dire need of a Porter or Stout, and I felt badly robbed. Although, after thinking awhile, the flavour of the beer was good although a bit too sweet. Perhaps when its carbed and chilled it will be a decent swill in the evening after dinner or something like that. The sweetness should dampen when chilled.

Anyone else have a simliar experience? The taste of this beer after it has conditioned will determine if I even use this yeast again. Not too optimistic at this point, but time will tell!

Windsor just doesn't seem to attenuate well. Especially compared to other dry yeasts like US-05 and Notttingham. What was the OG on that beer?

Is it bottled?

If not, I would consider throwing some 05 or notty on there.

I've used Windsor (in a Bitter) and took the following steps to address the characteristics of this yeast:

-reduced mash temp to 149°F
-increased sugar (to boil) addition (from 5% to 8%)
-decreased crystal malt (Cara-pils... actually, I took it out all together)
-used gelatin in the keg

The SG went from 1.037 to 1.012, so the attenuation wasn't all that bad (67.5%). The final beer turned out nice, but not as nice as I had hoped. The fruitiness was a sort of generic fruitiness without the uniqueness from such strains as WLP023. So, between the mediocre flavor profile and having to use gelatin... I don't see me using this yeast again anytime soon. But I'm not against it completely.

frolickingmonkey said:

Windsor just doesn't seem to attenuate well. Especially compared to other dry yeasts like US-05 and Notttingham. What was the OG on that beer?

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I have tried it twice when LHBS was out of Notty and 05. Same problem, just doesnt attenuate well at all. I too will never again !!!!

It's not really supposed to attenuate highly.

Windsor has been selected for low attenuation. That's why it is commonly used in the can + sugar recipes. It ferments all of the table sugar and some of the malt sugars, leaving a little body to the beer.

It's also good for small beers (Ordinary Bitters, Milds, etc) for the same reason.

Interesting, I just had a Windsor beer go from 1.060 to 1.006 - and it was temp controlled at 65F so not a real hot fermentation. It surprised me because I did 152F mash and I used this yeast specifically because I wanted a lower attenuation. I used 2 different packs on the same split 10G batch, 1 went to 1.006 and the other to 1.008. Both fermented together in the same chiller. I attribute the difference between the 2 to one being closer to the chiller vent. I am guessing my mash reading was off but I still wasn't expecting THAT low. Good ester profile though and ultimately the beer came out nice.

Newsflash!

Even the spec sheet says it "will leave a relatively high gravity". And is listed as a "Moderate Attentuation" yeast.



Sounds like you need to read your yeast better.

UPDATE: I had a taste of the porter recipe that I made (see OP) using the Windsor yeast. It tastes like chocolate icecream! Its actually a very interesting tasting brew. Although much sweeter than I had planned, this is definately a quaffable if not a very good tasting beer. It is far from the target style, and closer to a Milk Stout without the lactose. No access to the recipe at work or I would post it.

I realize this is an old post, but I would be very interested in seeing your recipe and hopefully brew it someday. I think you made a 'milkshake' beer years before it became hip and people started using low attenuation English yeasts to make sweet IPAs!
CHeers,