Big brew day coming up. Which English Ale yeast?

I have a big double-brew day coming up. A buddy and I will be doing 2 10-gallon batches in one day. The first 10-gallon batch is Janet's Brown Ale and will be done with Wyeast 1056.

My question is, for the second batch, an English Bitter, I would like to split the 10-gallons with 2 different English ale yeasts. I was thinking about using the Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale yeast for one of the 5-gallon carboys. What would you recommend I use for the other carboy? I would like to keep it in the English style, but be able to notice a difference with the yeasts.

I love 1318, but I would read through the manufacturer's descriptions and pick one that sounds good to you. This is coming from someone who buys most of his yeast from the discount expired bin without reading those descriptions first.

You might try WLP 006 if you have access to White Labs yeast. It's the Bedford Ale strain, which is Well's strain. It's a seasonal release, and I think it might be near the end of it's run right now. It still has the distinctive English character, but is not as overpowering on the esters as 1968. Think Well's Bombardier vs Fuller's ESB.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Ringwood (1187), if you have a way to aerate. A vastly different yeast, but that still will make a tasty bitter, is Thames Valley (1275): it's very biscuity and clean compared to 1968 and would make for a nice contrast. The only problem is you'll have to fine it because if you don't, it'll keep its unflocculant butt in your beer for a long time.

I love WLP002 for all my bitters, Great yeast.

If you go with Dry English Ale WLP007, it flocculates like crazy. Don't let it mess with you. If you make a starter culture, you may see what appears to be cottage cheese whirling about your flask. It's just flocculated yeast.

I keg my Porter tomorrow (made with WLP007).

kellzey said:

If you go with Dry English Ale WLP007, it flocculates like crazy. Don't let it mess with you. If you make a starter culture, you may see what appears to be cottage cheese whirling about your flask. It's just flocculated yeast.

I keg my Porter tomorrow (made with WLP007).

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Word. I've actually had the yeast stall the stir bar even, in a large starter.

I like Wy1968 or WLP002 for cask conditioned ales with very low levels of carbonation. I don't like them for bottled beers with higher carbonation levels.
For bottled beers, I like Wy1028, but I don't like WPL013 which I find lacking in character.
I love WLP023 for either cask conditioned or bottled. I don't think there is a Wyeast equivalent.
I haven't tried any of the other yeasts mentioned, so I can't comment.

Hope this helps.
-a.

I'm trying WLP013 in a huge RIS (1.11OG). We will see how it goes...

jfr1111 said:

A vastly different yeast, but that still will make a tasty bitter, is Thames Valley (1275): it's very biscuity and clean compared to 1968 and would make for a nice contrast. The only problem is you'll have to fine it because if you don't, it'll keep its unflocculant butt in your beer for a long time.

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I have the means to filter the beer. Do you think filtering is enough clean up the 1275, or do you think it definitely needs fining, like gelatin? This sounds like an interesting yeast to go with in this experiment.

OlieNH said:

I have the means to filter the beer. Do you think filtering is enough clean up the 1275, or do you think it definitely needs fining, like gelatin? This sounds like an interesting yeast to go with in this experiment.

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Filtering would be enough I think, altough I can't vouch for it. Fining is more traditional for cask bitters. Your choice. If you want it to carb naturally, filtering isn't an option. If you don't give a damn about somewhat arbitrary rules about what "real ale" is, filtering is most probably fine..

1275 is supposed to be Brakspear's yeast (altough they claim their yeast is multistrain), now used by Wychwood. It makes sense that they would use a slower yeast, in regards to flocculation, than many of their competitors because they "drop" their beer: after a 18 hours, they drain from the primary fermentor into another vessel for the fermentation to finish. If they were doing that with some of the lightning fast yeasts that drop clear so fast they have to be roused periodically (via pumps) in order to finish, they might have problems with attenuation due to yeast population loss.

I really like 1275, but not it's not your typical fat, buttery, estery English yeast. It's more on the clean and malty side. It can also get some "mineral" qualities. The best beer I have ever brewed (an ordinary bitter) was brewed with this yeast.

Wlp 002

I nearly spat out my beer when I saw the plug for WLP006 Bedford Bitter. Someone else uses this?!

This is a fantastic, possibly the best, yeast for an English bitter. Do yourself the favor and pick some up, even if you aren't using it for the split batch. I thought 1318 had it all, but this yeast really does. Great flavor, ferments out in 2 days, clears as well as 1968, and produces little diacetyl. In short, if you like brewing bitters, try this yeast.

And the rest of you, if you haven't tried it already... you only got one more month before it is gone till next year.

bierhaus15 said:

I nearly spat out my beer when I saw the plug for WLP006 Bedford Bitter. Someone else uses this?!

This is a fantastic, possibly the best, yeast for an English bitter. Do yourself the favor and pick some up, even if you aren't using it for the split batch. I thought 1318 had it all, but this yeast really does. Great flavor, ferments out in 2 days, clears as well as 1968, and produces little diacetyl. In short, if you like brewing bitters, try this yeast.

And the rest of you, if you haven't tried it already... you only got one more month before it is gone till next year.

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Can you top crop it too ? Cherry on the sundae if you can.

I use carboys, so no top cropping, but I do wash yeast, so I can definitely reuse.

Check out Wyeast 1335. I use it often for my English ales and really enjoy it. I've also had great results with Wyeast 1882-PC. Never needed to filter with either since they flocculate really well. Just give them a bit of time (3-4 weeks depending on the OG) and you'll be very pleased with the results. At least I have been.

jfr1111 said:

A vastly different yeast, but that still will make a tasty bitter, is Thames Valley (1275): it's very biscuity and clean compared to 1968 and would make for a nice contrast. The only problem is you'll have to fine it because if you don't, it'll keep its unflocculant butt in your beer for a long time.

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Thanks, jfr1111. I decided to go with the 1275. The package date goes back to May, so I will be making a nice, big starter to get it going again.

I appreciate everyone's feedback! So many great options and so much great knowledge on this forum!