1272 for a brown ale

[eadavis80]

I am brewing up Adventures in Homebrewing Best Brown Ale clone next week. I'll be using some harvested 1272. I normally use either 04 or 1098 for darker beers, but was told 1272 is the 'house strain' for Bells by my LHBS. However, I know the words 'tart' and 'fruity' appear in the strain's description. I'm hoping if I ferment cool I can avoid those descriptors in this brown ale, but am hoping for a touch of the 'nut' WYeast also notes in its description. How was your experience with 1272 when using it for a brown ale - one of the suggested styles for the strain. Thanks.

 

[eadavis80]

It's pretty fruity for a brown ale - not terribly happy. Hope it mellows a little over time... I had the same issue when I made C. Slobber with 041 White Labs. I drank the beer, but it wasn't one I really looked forward to that much.

 

[thehaze]

1272 is a pretty versatile yeast and would go well with a Brown.

I guess it depends how sensitive you are to " fruitty esters ". I do not seem to have that problem, even when I ferment hot.

 

[Oginme]

To minimize the fruity esters WY1272 can throw, ferment it cool, starting around 62F to 64F and bring it up to 68F after most of the activity is finished. It comes out pretty clean.

 

[eadavis80]

I fermented about as cool as I can with the swamp cooler. I'm just going to have to use 1098 or 05 next time I do a brown ale. I've had better luck with those. The beer should be drinkable, but it wasn't what I wanted.

 

[eadavis80]

Racked it yesterday and it tasted a little more like a traditional brown with just mild fruity tones now, so that's an improvement. Hopefully by late September it comes around even more.