wlp 810 San Francisco Lager - experiences?

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Barley_Bob

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Hey gang! I picked up a vial of wlp 810 San Francisco Lager, and I'm interested to hear what experiences people have had with it.

I have yet to create a dedicated fermentation chamber, but my basement is very cold (+/-57F). However, the temperature fluctuates. So, I thought this more forgiving yeast would be a good way for me to start with lagers.

I know that it's not as clean as a true german lager yeast, for example, but I haven't been happy with the "fast" versions of popular styles. I just want to come a little closer. The biggest issue I see is that it's very low attenuating. Has anyone had success with mashing low to overcome that? Are the other pitfalls and opportunities that I'm missing?

As always, thanks for the help, and I'm looking forward to your feedback!
 
Love this yeast! Made several versions of California common beer and also used it in a marzen. Handles higher temps as well as lower. Clean flavor profile and clears very well. Have had no issues with poor attenuation so far but I do mash low.

One of my favorite strains.
 
Love this yeast! Made several versions of California common beer and also used it in a marzen. Handles higher temps as well as lower. Clean flavor profile and clears very well. Have had no issues with poor attenuation so far but I do mash low.

One of my favorite strains.

Thank you for the great feedback! I did some research, of course, and I had a hard time finding threads that really answered my questions. In fact, I hope to use it in a marzen and maybe a maibock this winter (stand down diehards - I said I want to come closer), and then use it for a California Common and maybe try it in an IPA this summer. The biggest concern I've had has been this attenuation issue.

How did the marzen turn out?

And how low are you mashing? I was think ~148F might be necessary to overcome the expected 65-70% attenuation.
 
I mashed at 150° on all of my batches with this yeast. The marzen was awesome! Compared to some comercial versions it was less malty but only by a small amount. I attribute that to the recipe though. I kept the fermentation between 64-66° for two or three weeks to make sure it was done. My notes tell me the last California common I did (6 months ago) dropped to 1.003 from 1.054!

You will be happy with the results I believe...
 
I mashed at 150° on all of my batches with this yeast. The marzen was awesome! Compared to some comercial versions it was less malty but only by a small amount. I attribute that to the recipe though. I kept the fermentation between 64-66° for two or three weeks to make sure it was done. My notes tell me the last California common I did (6 months ago) dropped to 1.003 from 1.054!

You will be happy with the results I believe...

Really... That is excellent info. Thanks man!

I'm amazed you got such great results as such a high fermentation temperature. That really boosts my confidence. I can't believe that attenuation either! I'll have to revisit my recipe again before I brew. It sounds like I can at least estimate on the high side of the expected attenuation range.

How long did you lager your marzen and cal common?
 
Marzen was 5 weeks at 50° then lagered in the bottle at 38° for 6 weeks. The higher ferm temps I mentioned were for the cali common, NOT the marzen.

I don't lager my common. Just wait two weeks and drink. A lot.
 
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