Wyeast American Ale - Mutant?

So I brewed an AG American Amber Ale yesterday. Picked up some hops and yeast at the LHBS. I had heard good things about Wyeast American Ale - LHBS only had one pack left and it was already inflated. He told me all of the American Ale Yeasts he gets from Wyeast come pre-inflated but that he's never had any problems with using them. I assumed the inner nutrient packs were rupturing during shipment.

Anyway, I brew, cool the wort to around 76 degrees, and go to pitch, when I notice that the inner packet is unbroken. Odd. How did it inflate then? I decided to Google it at this point and it seems that quite a few people have had this experience but it seemed to work for them. Oh well, I pitch the yeast into the carboy. Put it in the basement where ambient is around 65 degrees.

3 hours later it's already developed a krausen and the airlock is going pretty steadily. Get up this morning and go to check on it (approx 16 hours after pitching) and it's a mess. Blew the airlock right out, foam coming down the side of the carboy, etc.

Just seems amazing to me that yeast over a month old, no starter, pitched directly into the wort had this phenomenal of a growth rate. Not seeing any signs of infection, just lots and lots of yeast foam.

Anyone else have experience with this strain?

Nothing sounds unusual here, except for the claim that all 1056 comes pre-inflated. There are several things that can cause yeast to release CO2 during storage.

Every time I've pitched at 76 I have gotten extremely fast and violent fermentations (plus tons of unpleasant hot alcohols).

MalFet said:

Nothing sounds unusual here, except for the claim that all 1056 comes pre-inflated. There are several things that can cause yeast to release CO2 during storage.

Every time I've pitched at 76 I have gotten extremely fast and violent fermentations (plus tons of unpleasant hot alcohols).

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I always pitch at that temp and have never had any problems with off tastes, though the krausen doesn't usually form until much later when the wort has already cooled to ambient.

I try not to pitch over 70-72 anymore. That's not where I want to ferment, so why pitch there, and then stress the yeast with 6-8 degree temperature drop?

plus, a wyeast pack isn't an optimal yeast pitching rate, so let it sit on the cake to soak up the off flavors that'll likely be produced. ALWAYS make a starter or series of starters to ramp up the cell count.

Rich_S said:

I always pitch at that temp and have never had any problems with off tastes, though the krausen doesn't usually form until much later when the wort has already cooled to ambient.

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Fair enough. There is no shortage of literature on why you should pitch and ferment well below 76 degrees with 1056, but you are of course free to do as you please.

Your pitching and handling procedures are not terribly kind to your yeast, and unpredictable fermentations go hand-in-hand with that. Krausen, likewise, is only indirectly related to rate of fermentation. You can have a lot of krausen with a relatively slower fermentation, and less krausen with a relatively more vigorous fermentation.

Between the hot temps, the low pitching rate, and the old cells, unexpected fermentation rates don't surprise me. It is extremely unlikely that you're seeing the results of any kind of mutation.

malkore said:

I try not to pitch over 70-72 anymore. That's not where I want to ferment, so why pitch there, and then stress the yeast with 6-8 degree temperature drop?

plus, a wyeast pack isn't an optimal yeast pitching rate, so let it sit on the cake to soak up the off flavors that'll likely be produced. ALWAYS make a starter or series of starters to ramp up the cell count.

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I am definitely going to get a flask and stir plate and start making starters at some point, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

MalFet said:

Fair enough. There is no shortage of literature on why you should pitch and ferment well below 76 degrees with 1056, but you are of course free to do as you please.

Your pitching and handling procedures are not terribly kind to your yeast, and unpredictable fermentations go hand-in-hand with that. Krausen, likewise, is only indirectly related to rate of fermentation. You can have a lot of krausen with a relatively slower fermentation, and less krausen with a relatively more vigorous fermentation.

Between the hot temps, the low pitching rate, and the old cells, unexpected fermentation rates don't surprise me. It is extremely unlikely that you're seeing the results of any kind of mutation.

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I didn't literally mean the yeast cells were mutating, sorry if I wasn't clear on that. I was more wondering if the American Ale strain is just extremely high powered.

Rich_S said:

I didn't literally mean the yeast cells were mutating, sorry if I wasn't clear on that. I was more wondering if the American Ale strain is just extremely high powered.

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Not particularly; it's a good strong fermentor, but it tends to run the middle of the road on most things. It's a good neutral strain.

You can make starters with nothing more than a growler and airlock, or foil. No stir plate required.