Wyeast 1968 London ESB Experience

I brewed an ESB yesterday using Wyeast 1968. From what I read, it has a tendency to cop an attitude (mainly high finishing gravities not related to recipe or mash temps).

Please post your troubles you had in the past with this strain, what you think caused it, and what you did to fix it or would change in the future. Also, if you've only had good experiences with it, post that too. It will be reassuring to me.

I love it, but it drops clear sometimes too quick. So just rouse the yeast a couple times during fermentation to help it finish down where you want it.

+2. Also it is very hard to rinse/wash. It does, however, make a very tasty, slightly sweet, ESB.

Not to 'jack' but is it a yeast that responds well to repitching on the cake?

I used it for an ESB which finished at 1.024 and is too sweet to drink, IMO. I've got it sitting in the keg hoping it will mellow a bit, but probably won't lose much sweetness.

I did however pitch a Brown Porter onto the 1968 cake from that ESB and that beer turned out amazing.

i used this for a redhook ESB clone -- made a liter starter of slurry -- had no problems getting to attenuate well. ESB was fantastic.

Just as I suspected I'm having some fermentation problems. My fermentation temperature started off at 68F. First of all, 16 hours after pitching (I used a starter size calculated on mrmalty.com), I wasn't getting any blow-off tube activity. I really thought my tube would be bubbling at that point, so I rocked the fermenter. The tube started bubbling pretty rapidly (30x/minute). It continued at as I went to bed last night (28 hours after pitching). I woke up 7 hours later and the blow-off tube had stopped sometime in the night. I tried rocking the fermenter, but the bubbles would only come out when I rocked it but not afterward.

Before I left for work today I turned the temp up to 69F. When I get home I'm going to rouse the yeast again and if I don't have any blow-off activity, I'm going to check the gravity. If it's too low, I'm thinking of turning the temperature up to 72F and rocking the fermenter after it reaches that temp. Does that sound like a good plan?

Also, does anyone see a problem with using Whirlfloc (similar to irish moss) with this yeast? I just talked to a buddy of mine, and he thought that maybe the yeast dropped out more quickly because of it. I know this strain tends to drop out easily near the low end of the temp range, but could Whirlfloc make that worse?

jescholler said:

When I get home I'm going to rouse the yeast again and if I don't have any blow-off activity, I'm going to check the gravity. If it's too low, I'm thinking of turning the temperature up to 72F and rocking the fermenter after it reaches that temp.

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Well raising the temp to 69F and rocking the fermenter didn't get the blow-off tube going again so I checked the gravity...1.022. I did notice that things were churning away at the top of the beer, but there was no krausen. That leaves me somewhat hopeful. Since most of the fermentation is done, I'm going to risk the fruity notes and raise the temperature to 72F and let it rise overnight. In the morning I'm going to give the yeasties a wake-up call and see what happens.

For the record, I poured a pint of my ESB last night and it was better than I was expecting... the sweetness has mellowed a bit and actually drank quite nicely. Still, I wish it were a bit drier, but I'm not going to dump it

jescholler said:

Well raising the temp to 69F and rocking the fermenter didn't get the blow-off tube going again so I checked the gravity...1.022. I did notice that things were churning away at the top of the beer, but there was no krausen. That leaves me somewhat hopeful. Since most of the fermentation is done, I'm going to risk the fruity notes and raise the temperature to 72F and let it rise overnight. In the morning I'm going to give the yeasties a wake-up call and see what happens.

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i dont think you'll risk fruity notes at this point. i do that to beers i have a problem finsihing where i want. i think once your 48-72 past pitching, most of the fermenting is done, its just the last few points and raising the temp shouldn't be an issue.

Evan said:

i dont think you'll risk fruity notes at this point. i do that to beers i have a problem finsihing where i want. i think once your 48-72 past pitching, most of the fermenting is done, its just the last few points and raising the temp shouldn't be an issue.

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That is what I was thinking.

This morning I checked the temperature of the fermenter and it was at 71F. I gave it a rocking to get some of the yeast back into suspension. I had to go to work about 30 minutes later and didn't have any blow-off activity at that point. Hopefully it will be bubbling when I get home.

I'm just trying to plan my next move. If I don't have blow-off activity, should I make a starter and pitch that into the fermenter? How likely is that to work?

I've also heard that people in my situation sometimes rack their stuck batch onto a yeast cake from another batch. If I were to do that, would I make a batch with 1968 or would I use a different yeast since I'm having trouble with it? I don't want to affect the flavor profile or clarity (that's why I chose 1968 in the first place). I'm open to suggestions.

What was your starting gravity?

I made a British Pale (1.055 SG) with the 1968 that did just fine. Fermented a little warm but didn't get a lot of esters. I'd use it again.

Tried the Danstar Windsor for similar duties once - took forever to finish and didn't attenuate well at all.

carbon111 said:

...Fermented a little warm...

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I think that's the key with this strain.

jescholler said:

That is what I was thinking.

This morning I checked the temperature of the fermenter and it was at 71F. I gave it a rocking to get some of the yeast back into suspension. I had to go to work about 30 minutes later and didn't have any blow-off activity at that point. Hopefully it will be bubbling when I get home.

I'm just trying to plan my next move. If I don't have blow-off activity, should I make a starter and pitch that into the fermenter? How likely is that to work?

I've also heard that people in my situation sometimes rack their stuck batch onto a yeast cake from another batch. If I were to do that, would I make a batch with 1968 or would I use a different yeast since I'm having trouble with it? I don't want to affect the flavor profile or clarity (that's why I chose 1968 in the first place). I'm open to suggestions.

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I think that the alcohol level at this point is probably too high to allow any new yeasties to do anything if you were to add them.

WY1968 is the equivalent of WLP002. WLP002 is notorious for yielding the same results you're describing, as far as i've read.

Alright. I feel a bit silly for not RDWHAHB. I checked the gravity today after 5 days and it's at 1.016. That brings my attenuation at this point up to 71%, which is the high end of the range that Wyeast specifies. I was hoping for something around 1.013 since I mashed at 149F and added 2oz. of corn sugar to the boil to get my FG a little lower. It looks like I should be right where I hoped (I'll even be very happy with 1.016).

I don't know how many times it's been said on here, but don't judge your fermentation by airlock/blow-off activity. I get the big slap on the wrist for the day and will definitely not be a Yoda brewer for a while (see this post by Revvy https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/home-brewing-heres-your-sign-thread-126224/#post1409663).

<-- That's me on the right with my gravity sample.

??? I don't know

On the Wyeast website, it states: "A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete." The temp range on this yeast is 64-72 F. So what temp would i do a diacetyl rest? I'm familiar with a diacetyl rest in lagers, but not an ale. Do I raise the temp to 72?

with the fullers strain it won't hurt to raise a few degrees as fermentation finishes. i have good results fermenting at 18-20c (18 for cleaner and 20 for fruitier) and raising to 22c (72f) as fermentation is finishing, which is generally not long after it starts. i hold for a few days, then leave at room temp for a few more, then taste for diacetyl. i have found this yeast to be particularly moody; make sure it's really healthy going in or it will turn its back on you and drop to the bottom, and you will have diacetyl soup!

dinnerstick said:

with the fullers strain it won't hurt to raise a few degrees as fermentation finishes. i have good results fermenting at 18-20c (18 for cleaner and 20 for fruitier) and raising to 22c (72f) as fermentation is finishing, which is generally not long after it starts. i hold for a few days, then leave at room temp for a few more, then taste for diacetyl. i have found this yeast to be particularly moody; make sure it's really healthy going in or it will turn its back on you and drop to the bottom, and you will have diacetyl soup!

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Thanks. Will do.

I've used 1968 countless times with no issues. It ferments out usually within 4 days at 68 deg. I usually then let it sit for 10 more to clean up.. It is my go to yeast. I generally use it for Porters, Pales, single IPA's, Stouts and occasionally a few others and it has never let me down. We have pitched 11 generations before with no issues. Just my experience with it.

Cool. I pitched it Friday evening and within 6 hours it was moving quickly in the carboy. This yeast seems clumpy if that is a word. Different looking than other strains I've used.

I'm surprised at the number of commercial IPAs that use the Wyeast 1968 yeast. It's now my primary yeast that I use especially for IPAs. My Goose Island IPA clone works out mighty fine. So after your ESB batch is done, rouse the yeast and make it work again on a nice IPA. This is a good yeast.

I'm using 1968 for a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale Clone. It's my first time using this yeast - I've read that this is the closest approximation to Stone's house strain.

OG was 1.080 and I only realized after pitching that the Wyeast package says the yeast is good for beers up to 1.060... Regardless, it seems to be doing fine. I pitched at 75F and it is now bubbling like crazy at 69-70F. It is fermenting much differently than the typical American Ale strains I've used. Tiny little yeasties swimming around very civilized, but the blowoff is extremely aggressive.

I'm worried I won't get the attenuation I want...hope I don't end up with a really sweet version of this beer. Looking forward to seeing how this works out either way.

Wlp002/w1968 is a great yeast. I have always got good results if I keep the early fermentation temps low

I have used it in beers over 1.060 but not a 1.080 beer let us know how it works out

Dirty25 said:

Wlp002/w1968 is a great yeast. I have always got good results if I keep the early fermentation temps low

I have used it in beers over 1.060 but not a 1.080 beer let us know how it works out

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It's been about 19 days since I pitched and I'm getting a reading of 1.028. I was shooting for 1.018...but it hasn't gone any lower in the last five days.

I'd say I'm a somewhat intermediate to advanced noob at brewing after about 20 or so batches, so don't discount the yeast for 1.080 brews yet. I'm still learning. This was a partial mash recipe and I believe I under pitched by about 25%.

Anyway, the sample I tasted is excellent - I just have to look past the sweet/syrupy finish. Hopefully after some more conditioning it will mellow out a lot. I'll dry hop it on Monday, Keg it over the weekend, and let it sit for at least a few weeks.

If you have any suggestions for lowering the gravity further at this point, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

This is my house strain. I've had zero problems with it. I've fermented IPAs, Bitters (Ordinary, Best, ES), and I'm fermenting a brown right now. It'll be the darkest and maltiest type I've used this strain in. I might try it in a porter later this year.

I've washed this yeast multiple times and haven't had any problems. I couldn't tell you what generation I'm in with it, but if I had to guess I'm probably somewhere around 5 or 6.

I have really enjoyed this strain and have had lots of great success (hitting my numbers, and hitting some amazing flavors). If it doesn't work for you, then try something else. Good luck!

11 years later...checking in with my first go-round with this strain. So far it seems to fulfill what I have read of it so far: finicky, slow to start, bitchy, but damn does it produce a good bitter. Mine, even with a starter, didn't spit bubbles in my 1.056 og esb for nearly 9 hours. After about a day of steady but not vigorous bubbles...nothing. I roused it and bumped it from 66 to 69 degrees, bubbles. Then nothing. So I roused it again...more bubbles for while, then nothing. Long story short, this is a hiiiiighly floculent strain from what I see, throws a lot of banana and some esters at warmer temps, but DAMN does the final product taste great if you hold its hand all the way to the finish line. It finishes just a little higher than I would like, but man every time I pour a pint I say, "actually, damn, that's pretty great..."
Long story short, I will definitely try this one again, but will oxygenate with pure O2 next time.