Included in a recent order from my LHBS was a pack of Wyeast 1318. They notified me by email that they were out of stock and asked if I minded if they substituted a similar yeast. I OKed the replacement but didn't note the replacement or change the recipe and they didn't make a change on the invoice, so don't know which Wyeast product it is.
I generally overbuild my starters by about 100B cells for future use. As I was entering the packaging date of the yeast in the pitching rate calculator I found the yeast pack to be over 5 months old, so decided to just do a 250B cell starter and split it into 4 vials, which I did.
I have brewed 3 beers with starters from these vials and all 3 beers had the same problem. The yeast floculated well, but didn't settle out. Instead it formed a layer of particles about the size of bread crumbs. After 3 weeks, I finally got it to settle out by cooling down to 50 degrees F and agitating a few times a day. When I agitated particles looked to be settling well, but many of them returned to the top within a few minutes. These beers were fermented at 67F +/_2 degrees.
The starters all looked normal for floculant yeast starters. They were all refrigerated after 24 hours and settled well. The beers were all kegged and conditioned for a couple of weeks. I'm drinking one now that exhibits no off flavors at all 3 weeks in the keg.
Has anyone had a similar experience with an English Ale yeast? Is this characteristic to a particular strain?
I generally overbuild my starters by about 100B cells for future use. As I was entering the packaging date of the yeast in the pitching rate calculator I found the yeast pack to be over 5 months old, so decided to just do a 250B cell starter and split it into 4 vials, which I did.
I have brewed 3 beers with starters from these vials and all 3 beers had the same problem. The yeast floculated well, but didn't settle out. Instead it formed a layer of particles about the size of bread crumbs. After 3 weeks, I finally got it to settle out by cooling down to 50 degrees F and agitating a few times a day. When I agitated particles looked to be settling well, but many of them returned to the top within a few minutes. These beers were fermented at 67F +/_2 degrees.
The starters all looked normal for floculant yeast starters. They were all refrigerated after 24 hours and settled well. The beers were all kegged and conditioned for a couple of weeks. I'm drinking one now that exhibits no off flavors at all 3 weeks in the keg.
Has anyone had a similar experience with an English Ale yeast? Is this characteristic to a particular strain?
