Pacman...pro's and con's?

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whitehause

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So I'm looking to harvest some Pacman and was wondering if those with experience have any good info on the pro's and con's of this yeast(temps, styles, things to watch for...ect). I harvested some Bell's and have loved it. I hear a lot of good things about Pacman, so I'm thinking this will be my next harvest.
Thoughts?:mug:
 
So I'm looking to harvest some Pacman and was wondering if those with experience have any good info on the pro's and con's of this yeast(temps, styles, things to watch for...ect). I harvested some Bell's and have loved it. I hear a lot of good things about Pacman, so I'm thinking this will be my next harvest.
Thoughts?:mug:

I LOVE pacman yeast! I've never harvested out of the bottle, and just purchased it and then saved it and reused it. But it's a great "clean" well attenuating ale yeast, that's for sure.

I was worried the first time I used it, about 6 years ago now I think, because my house is so cold in the winter and I couldn't get it much above 60 degrees. But I didn't have to worry- it made a super clean lager-like beer. (I did the "Dead Guy" clone).

After that I started using it in a lot of different American styles- IPA, APA, American amber, and cream ale. It's really a nice strain.
 
So I'm looking to harvest some Pacman and was wondering if those with experience have any good info on the pro's and con's of this yeast(temps, styles, things to watch for...ect). I harvested some Bell's and have loved it. I hear a lot of good things about Pacman, so I'm thinking this will be my next harvest.
Thoughts?:mug:

I've been wanting to do the same thing. What beer are you harvesting it from?
 
I've never used it, but was told WLP090 (San Diego Super Yeast) is the same... and I LOVE it, one of my house strains.

***090 might not be Pacman***
 
I've been wanting to do the same thing. What beer are you harvesting it from?

I'm going to try using Dead guy(because I have some) but I've heard it's one of the harder ones to harvest from. Most people I've read have had good results with some of the stoudts.
 
I've never harvested from a bottle before. Do you just pour off the beer real slow until the almost gone, then swirl whats left and go for it?
 
I almost gave it a try with Rogues once, but I only had one bottle. I decided one wasn't enough, and I aborted the plan. I'm thinking I'll buy a 6'er soon and give it a shot...
 
I have harvested it twice now. First time was the dregs from a bottle each of chocolate stout and their single malt ale from the GYO series. This time I used just a bottle of the oatmeal stout. I used the first harvest to ferment out a holiday ale. It turned out great. I would recommend it to anyone interested in doing a little experiment. Definitely gives you that extra little bit of intimacy with the beer.
 
You can find threads galore on harvesting Pacman, and what beers give you the best results. For the later posts, you can also find threads about how to harvest yeast. Essentially, if you can make a starter and you have good sanitation practices, you can easily harvest yeast. I recently had success with the dregs from one 22 oz. bottle of the Chocolate Stout. I pitched it into 300 ML of starter wort, let it settle, decanted, and then pitched that into 700 ML of starter wort. (Those volumes were based on unscientific guesses- don't take that as expert advice on how to step up.) Once that was done, it was decanted again and pitched into a gallon of Vienna/ Mt. Hood SMaSH. The decanted beer from the starters tasted fantastic; clean, with a little hint of Rogue. I have been fermenting the SMaSH in a swamp cooler, but even at the cooler temperature, it ripped right into the wort, even blowing out the airlock. Visible signs of fermentation were done in a few days. A fun experiment, highly recommended, and I should end up with enough yeast left over to wash and keep around for my next 5 gallons of American style ale.
 
Thanks Herbie,
I'm familiar with the harvesting process, my question was based more towards the experiences people have had using this yeast. Ferment temps, attenuation,flocculation, styles of beer they have brewed and the flavor profile they got at a given ferment temp.
I see you had good results at lower temps. Did it floc well for you? What were your Sg and Fg?
 
It's a fantastic strain. I usually ferment at 60, and it will run through almost anything you throw at it. It took my American barleywine from 1.110 to 1.018 in just over 6 days. Left it in primary for a month total, kegged, and then left it in the fridge for a year. One of my best beers ever.
 
I've seen PacMan yeast for sale at multiple places. Anyone have a thought on the Pac-Man yeast compared to the San Diego Super Yeast?
 
I see you had good results at lower temps. Did it floc well for you? What were your Sg and Fg?

I checked last night, and I think I was getting attenuation in the high 70s. The beer from the testing jar tasted very clean. It floced well. So basically what Wyeast says it will do. My impression is that it will work in any beer where you would normally use Chico. A nice American ale that you want to be highly attenuated and hops focused? Go for it. Southern Brown Ale? Not so much.
 
Definitely as advertised. Good attenuation, clean flavor profile, medium floc (does clear w/ cold crash). Good for many styles. Not much more to say than that.
 
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