Cream Ale Yeast Mistake

[hennesse]

I was planning to make a Gennesse-style Cream Ale, but as I was pitching the yeast into the starter, I noticed I had purchased White Labs WLP060 (American Ale Yeast Blend) instead of WLP080 (Cream Ale Yeast Blend).

The grain is ground, the starter is swirling on the stir plate, I have two months' yeast on hand, and I'm ready to brew first thing tomorrow morning...

Anyone familiar with these two yeasts? Is the result going to turn out a lot different than what I planned? If so, I might use all local water, and save the 9 gallons of bottled water for later.


For 10 gallons of finished beer
Amt Unit Description
13 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
3 lbs Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
8 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 15L (18.0 SRM)
2.00 oz Liberty [3.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.25 oz Liberty [3.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min
2 pkg Cream Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP080)

Rochester, NY Water
9.00 gal Water - Broad Run, Virginia
9.00 gal Water - Deer Park®, Bottled
1.3 g Salt (NaCl)
1.1 g Baking Soda (NaHCO3)
0.7 g Epsom Salt (MgSO4)

P.S. I'm making this "lawnmower beer" for a friend who remembers drinking many gallons of Genny in college years ago.

 

[Omahawk]

I'm sure the American Ale blend will make a good lawnmower beer.

That being said: I recall a year or so ago, listening to a BN podcast (Brew Strong I think) at White Labs tasting room where they drank beers made with the exact same base wort, but with different yeasts. It was a relatively neutral grain bill that would allow tasters to see the contributions of individual yeasts. Jamil noted that he had always just used American Ale/Cal Ale yeast for his cream ales and liked them fine, since he didn't believe there was a significant cream ale taste contribution from the Cream Ale yeast. However, he was surprised that the beer they drank with the White Labs Cream Ale yeast had a real cream ale character compared to the other beers. Take that for what it's worth.

If it were me, I'd just go with the American Ale blend you are ready to pitch and know that it'll still probably turn out great.

 

[bja]

P.S. I'm making this "lawnmower beer" for a friend who remembers drinking many gallons of Genny in college years ago.

I'm willing to bet that he won't be able to tell the difference.

 

[hennesse]

Jamil [...] was surprised that the beer they drank with the White Labs Cream Ale yeast had a real cream ale character compared to the other beers.

That's what I was afraid of.

I called White Labs yesterday afternoon and asked which yeasts are blended into WLP060 and 080. The cheerful girl who answered told me that was proprietary information, but after she read the descriptions of the two, assured me that I "would be alright".

So I retrenched - I used the milled grain, since I didn't want to store it for a month or more, and am using the American Ale Blend, but I substituted Belma and Cascade and saved the Liberty hops and bottled spring water for another day.

I guess this is now called a "Blonde Ale". Yuck - the whole idea was to bottle this batch and give it to my friend. But now I'm stuck with 10 gals of yellow water. I've got an idea - I'll just drive my tractor in 2nd gear so mowing MY lawn will take twice as long, and I'll get twice as thirsty, and the stuff will disappear twice as fast. Problem solved.

Next time I order yeast, I'll be sure to wear my reading glasses !!!

 

[inflictor-of-grimness]

That's what I was afraid of.

I called White Labs yesterday afternoon and asked which yeasts are blended into WLP060 and 080. The cheerful girl who answered told me that was proprietary information, but after she read the descriptions of the two, assured me that I "would be alright".

So I retrenched - I used the milled grain, since I didn't want to store it for a month or more, and am using the American Ale Blend, but I substituted Belma and Cascade and saved the Liberty hops and bottled spring water for another day.

I guess this is now called a "Blonde Ale". Yuck - the whole idea was to bottle this batch and give it to my friend. But now I'm stuck with 10 gals of yellow water. I've got an idea - I'll just drive my tractor in 2nd gear so mowing MY lawn will take twice as long, and I'll get twice as thirsty, and the stuff will disappear twice as fast. Problem solved.

Next time I order yeast, I'll be sure to wear my reading glasses !!!

Get some simcoe hops and dry hop the crap out of it. That's what I'd do anyway.