English Ales - What's your favorite recipe?

[TheMadKing]

I agree 100%.

I made a test beer with ten percent brown malt plus pale base, and it was just undrinkable. However, after there months it started to get decent and after half a year it was really good.

Don't know why, but that's how it went.

I somehow suspect that there are big differences regarding this bad taste that needs to age out, from maltster to maltster. Unfortunately, I don't remember which one I used....

Age could definitely be the key. I have noticed a dramatic improvement in my beers containing brown malt after about 3 months. My stout with 10% brown malt just won a gold at the NoVA competition up in the DC area so apparently it's doing something right!

You guys have me nervous now that its going to taste to roasty - I want more a complex fruity SB with maybe just a hint of chocolate, I don't want something that tastes like a brown ale

 

[Miraculix]

Age could definitely be the key. I have noticed a dramatic improvement in my beers containing brown malt after about 3 months. My stout with 10% brown malt just won a gold at the NoVA competition up in the DC area so apparently it's doing something right!

You guys have me nervous now that its going to taste to roasty - I want more a complex fruity SB with maybe just a hint of chocolate, I don't want something that tastes like a brown ale

I wouldn't say that I got roastyness from the brown malt at all. I would say I got unpleasant bitterness from it which aged out and left more malty/bready/toasty flavours, if this makes sense.

 

[TheMadKing]

I wouldn't say that I got roastyness from the brown malt at all. I would say I got unpleasant bitterness from it which aged out and left more malty/breast/toasty flavours, if this makes sense.

It does, sort a burnt bitterness that fades with time

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Drop the brown malt altogether (and just add more invert-- #1 or maybe even a bit of the #3 you have), and leave the recipe otherwise as described in your other iteration. Let the invert sugar and the yeast carry the beer!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I like the flavor and use it in all my porters and stouts

The basis for this recipe was taken from an NHC gold medal winning strong bitter

I'd be a lot more impressed by a recipe that won a British competition - US brewers have some funny ideas about English beers, let alone Scottish ones. I think it's important to emphasise that despite their prominence in the US, strong bitters have almost died out in the UK in the last 50 years, other than in the London market (which is always a bit weird) they tend to be either seasonals or bottle-only specials.

On the one hand, that irregularity means that they've had less "selection pressure" and soin some ways they are much more diverse than regular beers - on the other hand, it often means that the only way to justify small production runs is to partigyle off the main bitter recipe, Fuller's being a classic example.

I'd certainly insist on brown malt in a porter, but the brown and amber in this beer is taking it away from a straight strong bitter and more into old ale/winter warmer territory. Which isn't to say they won't make a delicious beer, but using appropriate language does help set expectations in the minds of the listener.

If you look at strong ales in the real world, you'll see that historically they could be made with just pale malt and 10% sugar and/or DME; more commonly there would be ~10% flaked maize in there as well as the sugar, and in the second half of the 20th century you'd find recipes evolving to include some crystal although it could be as little as 2-5%.

Generally UK brewers have been using far less adjuncts since the 1990s - the Fuller's thread above shows how they used lots of adjuncts in the 1980s version of their partigyle but not now. And I like my stronger beers to have a bit more richness than my session beers, so I probably wouldn't worry too much about invert #1 to dry it out, invert #3 could have a place on flavour grounds (and forget the colour, just use caramel or black malt to tweak the colour - that's what any British brewer would do).

OG 1.056
IBU 43
SRM 10.1 (unless I switch to Invert #3 which raises color to 13.8)

As you can see from the above examples, the BU:GUs are all over the shop from 0.5 to 1.3-ish. Personally I like a decent amount of bitterness and done right this style can "absorb" a fair few IBUs, so I might tweak your bittering a little higher for my personal taste. Nothing crazy, 48IBU would be BU:GU of 0.85.

And even if you were going for a winter warmer, I might knock down your speciality blend to a third for my taste.

I'll say it again - the colour of British beers is meaningless, and you certainly shouldn't adjust taste ingredients to hit a colour target based on commercial beers coloured with caramel.

 

[TheMadKing]

I'd be a lot more impressed by a recipe that won a British competition - US brewers have some funny ideas about English beers, let alone Scottish ones. I think it's important to emphasise that despite their prominence in the US, strong bitters have almost died out in the UK in the last 50 years, other than in the London market (which is always a bit weird) they tend to be either seasonals or bottle-only specials.

On the one hand, that irregularity means that they've had less "selection pressure" and soin some ways they are much more diverse than regular beers - on the other hand, it often means that the only way to justify small production runs is to partigyle off the main bitter recipe, Fuller's being a classic example.

I'd certainly insist on brown malt in a porter, but the brown and amber in this beer is taking it away from a straight strong bitter and more into old ale/winter warmer territory. Which isn't to say they won't make a delicious beer, but using appropriate language does help set expectations in the minds of the listener.

If you look at strong ales in the real world, you'll see that historically they could be made with just pale malt and 10% sugar and/or DME; more commonly there would be ~10% flaked maize in there as well as the sugar, and in the second half of the 20th century you'd find recipes evolving to include some crystal although it could be as little as 2-5%.

Generally UK brewers have been using far less adjuncts since the 1990s - the Fuller's thread above shows how they used lots of adjuncts in the 1980s version of their partigyle but not now. And I like my stronger beers to have a bit more richness than my session beers, so I probably wouldn't worry too much about invert #1 to dry it out, invert #3 could have a place on flavour grounds (and forget the colour, just use caramel or black malt to tweak the colour - that's what any British brewer would do).



As you can see from the above examples, the BU:GUs are all over the shop from 0.5 to 1.3-ish. Personally I like a decent amount of bitterness and done right this style can "absorb" a fair few IBUs, so I might tweak your bittering a little higher for my personal taste. Nothing crazy, 48IBU would be BU:GU of 0.85.

And even if you were going for a winter warmer, I might knock down your speciality blend to a third for my taste.

I'll say it again - the colour of British beers is meaningless, and you certainly shouldn't adjust taste ingredients to hit a colour target based on commercial beers coloured with caramel.

Absolutely great feedback as always, thank you

On this side of the pond I wouldn't consider a beer at 1.056 to be "strong" as that's a fairly average OG for most American ales, so I need to recalibrate a little bit.

So just to make sure I understand, you would swap out the invert #1 for invert #3 and cut the specialty blend to 1/3 and still consider it to be within the realm of strong bitter?

I want this ale to be much more drinkable than I would consider a strong ale or winter warmer to be, but on the high end of gravity for an English Pale Ale. I do want richness but I also want enough hop bitterness and dryness to make it easy to drink 3 of these in a sitting without feeling like I've just eaten a feast.

 

[kmarkstevens]

I'd certainly insist on brown malt in a porter.

What do you suggest as a substitute for brown malt for an English porter? Understand brown malt is in the standard definition for an English porter, and I've also gone thru enough Shut Up About recipes to know that many brewers didn't follow convention.

I've sourced brown malt both on line and from my local HBS. To my palate, it tastes like ass. I'm not patient enough to wait 3-6 months for the true flavor to come thru. I do have invert 1-4 available.

Anyhoo, would appreciate suggestions. Orfy, who has some damn fine recipes, used chocolate for his porter.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

On this side of the pond I wouldn't consider a beer at 1.056 to be "strong" as that's a fairly average OG for most American ales, so I need to recalibrate a little bit.

Oh I get that, whereas here in general you won't see anything above 4.5% on cask outside busy city-centre pubs, except perhaps as a one-off at Christmas or something. But then the culture here, at least historically, is going to the pub for a couple of hours and drinking (20oz) pints every 30-40 minutes whilst you set the world to rights, and that just doesn't really work with 6% beer.

you would swap out the invert #1 for invert #3 and cut the specialty blend to 1/3 and still consider it to be within the realm of strong bitter?

I want this ale to be much more drinkable than I would consider a strong ale or winter warmer to be, but on the high end of gravity for an English Pale Ale. I do want richness but I also want enough hop bitterness and dryness to make it easy to drink 3 of these in a sitting without feeling like I've just eaten a feast.

As I say, it's not really hard and fast. I'd tend to the view that for it to be a strong bitter it should be using typical bitter ingredients - so pale malt, crystal, invert #1/2, maybe a smidge of chocolate. So using things like brown and amber are getting a bit away from that. Hence I compromised and suggested a third. Same with invert #3 - probably OK in some cases, but using both the brown/amber and the #3 is probably getting a bit far from a true bitter. But that's just IMO.

 

[TheMadKing]

Oh I get that, whereas here in general you won't see anything above 4.5% on cask outside busy city-centre pubs, except perhaps as a one-off at Christmas or something. But then the culture here, at least historically, is going to the pub for a couple of hours and drinking (20oz) pints every 30-40 minutes whilst you set the world to rights, and that just doesn't really work with 6% beer.



As I say, it's not really hard and fast. I'd tend to the view that for it to be a strong bitter it should be using typical bitter ingredients - so pale malt, crystal, invert #1/2, maybe a smidge of chocolate. So using things like brown and amber are getting a bit away from that. Hence I compromised and suggested a third. Same with invert #3 - probably OK in some cases, but using both the brown/amber and the #3 is probably getting a bit far from a true bitter. But that's just IMO.

I appreciate it and followed your advice using only 1/3 of my bag of specialty grain. My invert was closer to #2 than #3 I think, so I have high hopes that this will end up being a great beer. I even under shot my gravity by a couple points and only hit 1.050 so it'll be a little more sessionable

 

[FlyDoctor]

I recently racked a batch of Ron Pattinson’s Fuller’s 1910 AK to a cubitainer - and wow it either is contaminated - or the 2 ounces/5G of fuggles has really given it a the oft-described ‘dirt’ flavor. Thing is - I’m not generally a fuggles hater and actually like the bit of earthiness I get. Maybe there was just more this time - or this batch of hops has it more (first crack at a new pound).

Has anyone else brewed that recipe? I’m wondering if anyone has had similar results - and what age might do to it?

Thanks

 

[Hanglow]

One of the dark Star brewers has posted a brewsheet for 1989 gales hsb to Twitter, looks interesting. I'm on my phone otherwise I'd post a link. It's a very good strong bitter, Fuller's still make it since they took over gales.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Assuming it’s something like this recipe : http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2008/10/fullers-ak-1910.html then I wouldn’t blame the recipe, more likely contamination or oxidation somehow.

What vintage were the Fuggles? Not 2017 by any chance? Everything turned out earthy that year, thanks to a particularly dull August.

 

[kmarkstevens]

FlyDoctor, my first cubetainer didn't work out so well. It carbonated but this didn't deflate as it should have. I need to try again.

I really like both of these AK recipes.

 

[FlyDoctor]

Assuming it’s something like this recipe : http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2008/10/fullers-ak-1910.html then I wouldn’t blame the recipe, more likely contamination or oxidation somehow.

What vintage were the Fuggles? Not 2017 by any chance? Everything turned out earthy that year, thanks to a particularly dull August.

The grist was essentially that (sugars being some #2 and #3) - but the hops were different. The recipe came from the book he published on vintage beer for home brewers (not one of the self-published books). The key is that it has an ounce of fuggles at 60 and another at 30.

The yeast was harvested 1968 which had been in a nalgene bottle for two months - and I was lazy and didn’t make a starter - so I am suspicious of that. The fact that I would say ‘dirt’ was such a prominent flavor made me question whether the 2 ounces of fuggles may also be an issue.

 

[FlyDoctor]

FlyDoctor, my first cubetainer didn't work out so well. It carbonated but this didn't deflate as it should have. I need to try again.

I really like both of these AK recipes.

Thanks for the tips!

Regarding cubitainer - sorry yours didn’t work! I haven’t been carbonating mine as I never really found that they did much (or I wasn’t brave enough to let them build up sufficient pressure!)

I serve them either directly from the spigot - or through an Angram angina I have - and they seem OK - thought still nowhere near the way I get them in a pub though...maybe I will try to carb again with my next batch

 

[TheMadKing]

I appreciate it and followed your advice using only 1/3 of my bag of specialty grain. My invert was closer to #2 than #3 I think, so I have high hopes that this will end up being a great beer. I even under shot my gravity by a couple points and only hit 1.050 so it'll be a little more sessionable

So I packaged this today at 7 days in primary, after reading the whole English ale temperature thread. It still tastes a tad green but I think it's actually just grassy notes from dry hops in suspension and not from acetaldehyde. It was a diacetyl bomb 2 days ago but it's cleaned up nicely now. I'm just worried that I'm packaging it too soon and it's going to taste green.

I'm also going to switch to 1318 from 1968 on the next one because this beer feels a bit thin. I'll probably also mash higher to help with that as well.

 

[kmarkstevens]

I posted this in a separate thread but this one is more appropriate.

Start with a disclaimer that I've never been to the UK. BUT I have been interested in English session beers (which is most of them, right?), and been brewing a lot of English style low ABV beers for the past few years.

Tonight (on the way to the airport for a biz trip to Hanoi) I stopped by the Machine House brewery in Seattle. They claim to be fermenting authentic English style beers served at proper cask temperature, carbonation and with appropriate beer engines.

The oatmeal stout was good, ESB hit a good spot but sweet baby Jesus, their mild is ambrosial. Not quite sure how to describe it, but the roast character hit the right spot. Somewhat akin to Guinness (in the widget can sans the roasted barley) being complex yet simple.

I dunno if this is a typical dark stout, and suspect it is, but now I have a target to brew toward. I will have to go back when the brewmeister is around and see if he will give some tips and tricks.

Their website: A surprisingly light-bodied session ale with a rich roasted malt character. Incredible drinkable, the deliciously balanced chocolate and caramel malt character makes the Dark Mild a cult favorite.
ABV: 3.7%
SRM: 28
OG: 1.036
FG: 1.008
IBU: 20
Mash: 2-row, Crystal, Dark Crystal, Chocolate
Hops: Nugget, Progress, Goldings

Thoughts on the brain bill? I'm guessing it is something like:
75% 2-row
15% Crystal 60
10% chocolate

 

[bierhaus15]

That recipe looks fine, although roasted malt in a "traditional" mild is not very common. More likely to see invert sugar. But brew what you want, my mild of choice uses roasted barley and tastes more like a 3% porter.

If I were brewing that, I'd go something like 7% C40, 3% C80/120, and 2-3% chocolate, with a nice fat yeast like WLP002, 1099, or 1318.

 

[Miraculix]

I posted this in a separate thread but this one is more appropriate.

Start with a disclaimer that I've never been to the UK. BUT I have been interested in English session beers (which is most of them, right?), and been brewing a lot of English style low ABV beers for the past few years.

Tonight (on the way to the airport for a biz trip to Hanoi) I stopped by the Machine House brewery in Seattle. They claim to be fermenting authentic English style beers served at proper cask temperature, carbonation and with appropriate beer engines.

The oatmeal stout was good, ESB hit a good spot but sweet baby Jesus, their mild is ambrosial. Not quite sure how to describe it, but the roast character hit the right spot. Somewhat akin to Guinness (in the widget can sans the roasted barley) being complex yet simple.

I dunno if this is a typical dark stout, and suspect it is, but now I have a target to brew toward. I will have to go back when the brewmeister is around and see if he will give some tips and tricks.

Their website: A surprisingly light-bodied session ale with a rich roasted malt character. Incredible drinkable, the deliciously balanced chocolate and caramel malt character makes the Dark Mild a cult favorite.
ABV: 3.7%
SRM: 28
OG: 1.036
FG: 1.008
IBU: 20
Mash: 2-row, Crystal, Dark Crystal, Chocolate
Hops: Nugget, Progress, Goldings

Thoughts on the brain bill? I'm guessing it is something like:
75% 2-row
15% Crystal 60
10% chocolate

My dark mild actually hits you're description to the point, with a recipe pretty close to yours. But I go heavier on crystal. I use 60l and, if I remember correctly, 20 or even 30%. 5% black malt and ten to twenty percent flaked wheat or wheat flour for a creamy head. Rest pale malt. Carbonation with 2.5g sugar per 0.5 litre.

I designed this one to work at 3%abv, so if you have higher abv you might want to lower the crystal a bit.

Mine has about 15 ibus, bittering only, und was fermented with Windsor (it was actually the mangrove Jack version of it, so I only suspect it to be Windsor), a low attenuating yeast is important for this one.

It is nice directly after carbonation, but it is the bomb after two months.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

interested in English session beers (which is most of them, right?)

It's as redundant as saying hoppy IPAs - British drinking culture is all about session drinking, anything much above 4.5% is the exception.

the roast character hit the right spot. Somewhat akin to Guinness (in the widget can sans the roasted barley) being complex yet simple.

Historically that roastiness is not part of mild character, but if it works for you then go for it. Chocolate is a fairly rare ingredient in milds, some of the 1950s Lees Best Milds had <5% but that's the only example that comes to mind.

Typical milds at their peak in the mid 20th century would look something like this :

Pale malt (occasionally some or all was replaced by mild malt, but not common)
Optional 10% maize
Sometimes a bit of crystal
Typically 10-15% invert (but could be anywhere from 5-25%)
10% recycled slops.

If you want something a bit fancier, then those Lees Best Mild recipes look nice although they were somewhat atypical in a)having a Best Mild (it was a short-lived fad after WWII) and b)having a pale ordinary mild and a dark Best Mild, usually it was the other way round.

 

[Hanglow]

Most modern milds won't be like that though, they all ditch the invert and maize. Which is a shame, but thankfully the slops have gone too The 1952 Lees Best would be my go to for those old drinking milds http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2010/07/lets-brew-wednesday-1952-lees-best-mild.html . I think a bunch of people have brewed this one now and its good

Elgoods Black Dog is a good modern one from a trad brewery, it has a fair amount of crystal and roast barley in it

Joey Holts mild has a fair amount of crystal and a touch of black malt. It's also on the bitter side (relatively of course) I think about 32 IBU or so. I suspect they keep their soft water for this so it's not too intrusive though

 

[TheMadKing]

Most modern milds won't be like that though, they all ditch the invert and maize. Which is a shame, but thankfully the slops have gone too The 1952 Lees Best would be my go to for those old drinking milds http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2010/07/lets-brew-wednesday-1952-lees-best-mild.html . I think a bunch of people have brewed this one now and its good

Elgoods Black Dog is a good modern one from a trad brewery, it has a fair amount of crystal and roast barley in it

Joey Holts mild has a fair amount of crystal and a touch of black malt. It's also on the bitter side (relatively of course) I think about 32 IBU or so. I suspect they keep their soft water for this so it's not too intrusive though

Can someone explain what "slops" are? In the US slops are what you feed to hogs on a farm and consist of rotting food waste

 

[Hanglow]

It is returned beer As in spoiled/flat beer that rather than poured down the drain was reused in the next brew. This happened in pubs too, it was frequently the case that the slop tray (as in spillage from each drawn pint) was poured back into the cask at the end of the night so as to not waste anything.

Yes it is as manky as it sounds.

 

[TheMadKing]

It is returned beer As in spoiled/flat beer that rather than poured down the drain was reused in the next brew. This happened in pubs too, it was frequently the case that the slop tray (as in spillage from each drawn pint) was poured back into the cask at the end of the night so as to not waste anything.

Yes it is as manky as it sounds.

gnarly - I hope they boiled it before adding it to a fermenting beer

 

[balrog]

Hm. I can't seem to find "Manky Slops" as an ingredient on the Ritebrew website anywhere...

 

[bierhaus15]

Speaking of slops, anyone ever come across an autovac?

https://rlbs.ltd.uk/auto-vac-tray-auto-bak-economiser-complete-with-nrv-pipe.html

 

[ba-brewer]

It is returned beer As in spoiled/flat beer that rather than poured down the drain was reused in the next brew. This happened in pubs too, it was frequently the case that the slop tray (as in spillage from each drawn pint) was poured back into the cask at the end of the night so as to not waste anything.

Yes it is as manky as it sounds.

Don't think I will adapt that commercial practice into my home brewing process.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Don't think I will adapt that commercial practice into my home brewing process.

I'm not sure it would even be legal to do in the USA.

 

[Hanglow]

Autovacs are still used in some parts of the UK, I think some pubs in yorkshire and edinburgh still use them. They shouldn't be, its pretty rank imo and I'm a bit surprised they are still allowed.

 

[kmarkstevens]

Isn't the Newcastle brewery infamous for using slops?

While I haven't tried a Lee's Best Mild, I have made dozens of Shut Up Recipes. I even got a birthday recipe for an AK that was great. I do have various homemade inverts, maize, a dozen English yeasties, etc. So I've got the ingredients and have made many a drinkable pint. That said, the mild at the Machine House brewery was fantastic.

Just reinforces that after the divorce is final, I NEED to go to the UK for a sampling tour to fully appreciate what the end product should taste like. It's one thing to take a Shut Up recipe and make something tasty, it's another to know what it should taste like and shoot for that.

 

[kmarkstevens]

Isn't the Newcastle brewery infamous for using slops?

While I haven't tried a Lee's Best Mild, I have made dozens of Shut Up Recipes. I even got a birthday recipe for an AK that was great. I do have various homemade inverts, maize, a dozen English yeasties, etc. So I've got the ingredients and have made many a drinkable pint. That said, the mild at the Machine House brewery was fantastic.

Just reinforces that after my divorce is final, I NEED to go to the UK for a sampling tour to fully appreciate what the end product should taste like. It's one thing to take a Shut Up recipe and make something tasty, it's another to know what it should taste like and shoot for that.

 

[shoreman]

Thought this would be a good place to post.

Do any of you have this book?

https://shop1.camra.org.uk/index.php/product/brew-your-own-british-real-ale/

I have the first version of the book - https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-us/...MItPuj2sru5QIVCZ2zCh00pwYoEAQYAiABEgLTx_D_BwE

and was wondering if the new version has updated or new recipes? Thanks.

 

[cire]

Thought this would be a good place to post.

Do any of you have this book?

https://shop1.camra.org.uk/index.php/product/brew-your-own-british-real-ale/

I have the first version of the book - https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-us/...MItPuj2sru5QIVCZ2zCh00pwYoEAQYAiABEgLTx_D_BwE

and was wondering if the new version has updated or new recipes? Thanks.

Yes, my copy is of the third edition. AFAIAA the recipes were not updated, but some were replaced by others.

Graham was a great source of information and is greatly missed. The book contains lots of brewing information in addition to recipes and is a worthy purchase for anyone interested in British Beers.

 

[Franktalk]

I also have the third edition. It is great! I've brewed many of the recipes, Fuller's London Porter, ESB and London Pride, Courage Director's Bitter, Youngs Special Bitter, Timothy Taylor Landlord, all came out excellent. You'll appreciate the beers more if you seek out and use the appropriate yeasts. Wheeler doesn't specify a particular yeast for any recipes, so you must do a bit of detective work to find one. Of course, finding appropriate yeast is easier now with the work that suregork and others are doing with identifying strains and their origins.

 

[shoreman]

Thanks - can you post that info on the yeasts? I’ve been searching for a house yeast.

 

[eimar]

Being a homebrewer I don't like to waste my time brewing low ABV beers. 90% of my production are doppelbock, tripel , belgian dark strong, imperial stout. But Bass Pale ale is one of my favourite standard ABV beer. Bass used to be available in Montreal but now I have to brew it at home. I found a recipe published by the Brew your own magazine. I usually buy Wyeast products but for brewing a beer similar to Bass pale ale, the Whitelabs WLP023 (Burton Ale) is the way to go.

https://byo.com/article/5-british-ale-clone-recipes/

 

[Hanglow]

Current cask brewed Bass is still surprisingly good too, it's made by Marstons currently and is probably about the best cask beer of theirs I've had. For such an old beer it's one I've only fairly recently tried for the first time from cask, I think I had it for the first time about two years ago.

The recipe I have for draught bass is this

Pale Malt 85%
Maltose syrup 10%
Extra dark Crystal (340 ebc) 5%
hops are challenger for bittering and Northdown for flavour/dry hop aroma, brew it to 4.4% abv and 26 IBU. LOTS of sulphate in the water.

 

[bwible]

Nah, it's famously their yeast - which is why I'm sceptical that 002 or 1968 are really from Fullers.”

Many here have probably seen this many times but I’ll throw it out there to anybody new. Where this info comes from about which yeasts are supposedly from which brewery. If this is not in stickies someplace it should be.

http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm

I have found some of these strains next to impossible to come by here (I am in PA on the east coast of the US), and most of the listed White Labs English strains are limited release only from their vault. Which in my experience has never opened. “Only 225 more orders until your order ships.” I read there was something done with their vault recently but when I asked nobody here knew anything about it and I didn’t manage to find anything new available. I would really like to try the WLP026 some time. Just not to be had though.

The strains I’ve used are mostly Wyeast 1028 for English Pale Ales and bitters (supposedly Worthington White Shield?) and I like the result this yeast produces. When I was making mild regularly I found Wyeast 1275 best to my liking for milds. Won several first place category ribbons for mild made with 1275.

I would describe the 1275 as very clean and more neutral with less character than most of the other English strains I’ve used. The 1028 has more character and the word I would use is minerally. I have also made barleywine with the 1275 using the cake from the mild as a starter. In my experience I would compare 1275 favorably to 1056 and just about say I could use them almost interchangeably.

 

[ba-brewer]

@bwible you missed the vault purge release by about 5months. I believe they are revamping but have not heard anything either.

I have a beer made with wlp026 on tap now, that does seem like decent yeast. It does make me a bit nervous because it is diastaticus and POF- so if might be hard to tell if you get a cross contamination. It had a bit of banana flavor at first but that seems to be fading some now, that might be helpful to identify it's presence.

Initially it also had a touch of vanilla which was sort of nice. @Northern_Brewer made a comment about that in the vault thread, which got me wondering if some wheat added to the grain bill might increase the vanilla flavor.

Think I will try wlp026 again soon in an English IPA.

WLP039 is available as a seasonal vault release now, I used it in some golden ales with good results. It is pretty clean, attenuated well, lets the hop flavor come through and drops clear quickly.

 

[eimar]

Hanglow, Until around the year Bass was available in the Quebec government owned liquor stores. Then when Bass was acquired by "the devil" ( as a Belgian I completely dislike Abinbev-INterbrew ) it completely disapeared of the Canadian market. The way I understand, cask Bass is still brewed under contract by Marstons.