EarlyAmateurZymurgist said:
I am surprised that the strain has not yet been recommend, but White Labs WLP005/Wyeast 1187 is a very versatile multi-strain British yeast. Ringwood is the most widely used commercial ale yeast strain on the East Coast. It completely dominates the Northeast where Alan Pugsley-built breweries dominate craft brewing.
I am fairly certain that I am the source of Ringwood in the homebrew trade, as I passed it around on slant a lot in 1994 and 1995. I plated the multi-stain yeast from a hydrometer sample taken at the old Wild Goose Brewery in Cambridge, Maryland. To the best of my knowledge, I am the first amateur brewer to identify and isolate both of the stains that make up this yeast.
As mentioned above, Ringwood contains two different strains of yeast. One strain is highly flocculent. In fact, it is so flocculent that it will leave an overpowering level of diacetyl in the finished product if used by itself. The other strain is highly attenuative, but tends to be powdery. Together, they produce a beer with a nice ester and malt profile that contains just with just enough diacetyl to be interesting.
The key to using Ringwood correctly is aeration. Ringwood, being of Yorkshire origin, requires higher dissolved oxygen levels than your standard British-style yeast. Ringwood also clears better than any British yeast that I have ever used. Plus, it can be repitched basically forever, that is, as long one maintains good brewhouse biological quality control. Over time, Ringwood will adapt to one's brewery.
What styles would you recommend it in? I recently made a bitter and split the batch between 002 and 005. Side by side, I preferred the ester profile of the 002 (although I admit being partial to 002's flavor and aroma profile, so my observations are by no means objective.
It was solely a matter of personal preference. Individually, each beer was excellent. I simply enjoyed the 002 more when used in that beer.
But I wonder if there are beers where 005 would be preferable. I currently have 2 northern English browns on tap (same wort split between 002 and 013). I made the beer expecting the 002 to once again be a clear favorite. As they mature however, I find myself really enjoying the 013.
I'm currently on an opened ended "brewing quest" to match British yeasts up with some of my favorite British styles and am willing to have 005 earn a place in the lineup if I can match it with the right recipe. I plan on concentrating on these styles:
- bitter
- ESB
- English IPA (occasionally)
- stout (alternating seasonally between a dry stout in the spring and summer and an oatmeal stout in colder weather)
- NE Brown
And I may work in a barley wine at some point. I've never brewed one.
I can get white labs more easily fresh. The candidate yeasts are:
-002
-007
-013
-005
-006 since it should be available as the seasonal yeast now.
So far, my preference has been 002 in the ordinary bitter (and I am betting it will transition well to the ESB). And I really like 013 with the brown.
I'd like to settle on no more than 3 but preferably 2 yeasts that I can go to regularly an get to know them well. I'd like one that ferments drier and one that leaves a little residual sweetness so that I can dial them into the beers above. I'd also like one that when fermented cold, stays neutral enough that I can use it in an American IPA when I am in the mood for something more hoppy.
