Made a starter, then decided I don't like the yeast

I recently loaded up with a load of yeast and hops. I have about 6 different types of each to choose from. However, I also have 2 vials of white labs that is more than 3 months out of date. One is a Super High Gravity Ale Yeast. The other is the European Ale Yeast.

So I made a starter out of the European Ale Yeast using some old LME that I don't want in my beer and after 2 days it started bubbling the airlock and now after 3 days, it's going pretty well at about a bubble every two seconds (it's only a 1L starter). However, I started thinking about it and, well, I made a stout with this yeast and I didn't really like it all that much.

I was going to use it for my Alt Bier, but now I don't know. Does anybody else use this yeast strain? In my limited experience, it's definitely a yeast that benefits from at least a month of conditioning. Can anyone here say positively that it's worth brewing with? Personally, I think it has a spicy kind of burnt yeasty taste, sort of like a Belgian, that I don't care for. Then again, maybe it was just the stout that I made. Think it'll be better for an Alt with a few months of cold conditioning? I don't know. I don't have much experience with that yeast, just the stout. I guess I'm just looking for anyone else who's used the yeast and liked the finished product...

The only way you'll ever really know, is to go ahead and use it. How bad could it be? Why waste the money?

I pretty sure its the strain Jamil Z prefers to use in conjunction with Lactobacillus to create a Berliner Weisse.

landhoney said:

I pretty sure its the strain Jamil Z prefers to use in conjunction with Lactobacillus to create a Berliner Weisse.

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Yes, that's what he said. But in an odd twist to the OP's predicament, he recommends that you NOT make a starter for a Berliner Weisse because it' s such a low gravity beer.

landhoney said:

I pretty sure its the strain Jamil Z prefers to use in conjunction with Lactobacillus to create a Berliner Weisse.

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Yes, in the book he recommends the European Ale yeast, or US-05. I'm probably going to just use the latter, as I don't see the yeast, per se, being a terribly key ingredient (it's all about the lacto).

For an alt, both White Labs and Wyeast have a specialized Alt yeast, or Jamil recommends the German Ale yeast (which is distinct from the European Ale yeast).

olllllo said:

Yes, that's what he said. But in an odd twist to the OP's predicament, he recommends that you NOT make a starter for a Berliner Weisse because it' s such a low gravity beer.

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Decant it and don't pitch all the slurry. I was just proposing a possible use for the yeast that seems to be proven.