Pacman Yeast for my Two-Hearted clone?

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
kingmatt

kingmatt

Hop Addict
HBT Supporter
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
1,477
Reaction score
1,876
Location
PA
I am gatherin ingredients for a Bell's Two-Hearted clone and it calls for a Wyeast 1056 American Ale activator but I have really heard great things about the Pacman and was wondering if I could substitute it. Would that affect the recipe negatively at all?
 
Pacman might even be better since it tends to attenuate a little more. The Bell's yeast is not very flocculent at all and 2-Hearted is highly attenuated. I have a 2-Hearted clone (more like 'inspired') made with harvested Bell's yeast fermenting right now. I made it the weekend before this past weekend and it's just now starting to floc out a bit.

I decided to use Simcoe for bittering instead of Centennial and a mix of Simcoe/Centennial for late boil additions. I'll prob just stick with all Centennial for the Dry Hop. I also subbed a pound of Wheat malt for a pound of base malt (which was Golden Promise).
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
Pacman might even be better since it tends to attenuate a little more. The Bell's yeast is not very flocculent at all and 2-Hearted is highly attenuated. I have a 2-Hearted clone (more like 'inspired') made with harvested Bell's yeast fermenting right now. I made it the weekend before this past weekend and it's just now starting to floc out a bit.

I decided to use Simcoe for bittering instead of Centennial and a mix of Simcoe/Centennial for late boil additions. I'll prob just stick with all Centennial for the Dry Hop. I also subbed a pound of Wheat malt for a pound of base malt (which was Golden Promise).
Click to expand...


How many total oz of hops are you using in yours? What is the total DME in yours?
 
Mine is all-grain, I think it was around 12# grain total. I can't remember the total amount of hops but I didn't go for huge bitterness. I think my OG was around 1.066 and my IBUs were around 48 (Tinseth). My Fast Ferment Test FG was 1.0115 (not a typo, that's 4 decimal places).
 
The Bell's yeast is definitely a uniquely fruity strain and it's easy to cultivate from a bottle. If you live somewhere it's distributed, just grab a couple bottles of fresh Oberon and use that yeast to get the correct flavor profile.
 
Duster72 said:
The Bell's yeast is definitely a uniquely fruity strain and it's easy to cultivate from a bottle. If you live somewhere it's distributed, just grab a couple bottles of fresh Oberon and use that yeast to get the correct flavor profile.
Click to expand...

I actually just bought a case of Oberon and am enjoying them now while my first batch of Kobayashi Wheat is still in primary. How do you cultivate yeast from a bottle?
 
I used a single bottle of Bell's Pale Ale that someone sent me in a Secret Santa swap. I just made ~1 cup of 1.024 wort and after I carefully poured the beer (and left the sediment) I flamed the bottle opening and dumped the wort (aerated very well!) right into the bottle and covered with foil. A few days later there was krausen and I just stepped it up from there, in a flask and on a stirplate.

I used lower gravity wort than a normal yeast starter because it can be easier on stressed yeast. I increased the gravity for each step; 1.032 for the second step and 1.040 for the last step.
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
I used a single bottle of Bell's Pale Ale that someone sent me in a Secret Santa swap. I just made ~1 cup of 1.024 wort and after I carefully poured the beer (and left the sediment) I flamed the bottle opening and dumped the wort (aerated very well!) right into the bottle and covered with foil. A few days later there was krausen and I just stepped it up from there, in a flask and on a stirplate.

I used lower gravity wort than a normal yeast starter because it can be easier on stressed yeast. I increased the gravity for each step; 1.032 for the second step and 1.040 for the last step.
Click to expand...


Hmmm, sounds a little involved with a high risk of not getting the proper yeast for a somewhat expensive brew like the Two-Hearted clone. I think I will just use the Pacman and try my hand and yeast cultivation when I get a few more batches under my belt. Thanks for all the input though!
 
I think Wyeast 1028 London Ale might be a better flavor profile match for B2H, but Pacman will also give you a great beer.
 
kingmatt said:
Hmmm, sounds a little involved with a high risk of not getting the proper yeast for a somewhat expensive brew like the Two-Hearted clone. I think I will just use the Pacman and try my hand and yeast cultivation when I get a few more batches under my belt. Thanks for all the input though!
Click to expand...
I would think pitching the proper amount of Bell's yeast would be the lowest risk of getting the proper yeast for a Bell's 2-Hearted Ale. I already brewed a low gravity Pale Ale with the harvested yeast (tastes great), the 2-hearted clone used a washed slurry from that first batch. I'm sure the Pacman will be fine too. Please report back your results and I'll do the same. Best of luck.
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
I would think pitching the proper amount of Bell's yeast would be the lowest risk of getting the proper yeast for a Bell's 2-Hearted Ale. I already brewed a low gravity Pale Ale with the harvested yeast (tastes great), the 2-hearted clone used a washed slurry from that first batch. I'm sure the Pacman will be fine too. Please report back your results and I'll do the same. Best of luck.
Click to expand...

My fear is not that the harvested yeast wouldn't work, it's that my lack of experience would cause me to harvest it improperly and that would lead to problems. Won't be brewing it for a few weeks because of a work trip upcoming but I'll defintely report back on how it turns out!
 
Heck yes, Pacman yeast is AMAZING. I recently had it take down my IIPA from 1.091 to 1.011 in 8 days. Tastes great too....and floccs like mad. I think pacman is great for most styles where attenuation and a clean profile of flavor is preferred.
 

Similar threads

G
Bell's Quite Brite yeast
Replies
1
Views
432
mac_1103
mac_1103
kurds_2408
Yeast Help for DIPA Clone
Replies
3
Views
207
day_trippr
day_trippr
L
Is There a way to Deconstruct this Beer Information to Make an Extract Based Clone Recipe?
Replies
14
Views
942
BrewnWKopperKat
BrewnWKopperKat
TeflonTom
Troubles with Haze
Replies
5
Views
737
Jag75
Jag75
hilljack13
Ever tried to clone? Looking at festbiers
Replies
8
Views
1K
AlexKay
A
Brewer's Friend 300

Latest posts

Back
Top