Advice for a Yeast Strain for my English Barleywine

[amrmedic]

Hello

I am trying to find a yeast strain for my English Barleywine.

I am expecting an ABV of 12%. Most yeasts I see are rated for ABV of 10% or less. I wanted to use Wyeast London Ale III, but it is up to 10% alcohol tolerance. I see they are coming out with Rogues Pacman ale which is up to 12%, but I dont know how well this would work for an English Barleywine.

Any thoughts?

 

[GuldTuborg]

I like the 1318 yeast as well, but I've never used it in a barleywine before. If you do decide to try it, let us know how it goes. Other good choices would be 1728 or 1968. Before you cry foul about the 1968 recommendation, that yeast does very well in high gravity worts, and generally exceeds the standard attenuation rate if treated right. Pelican Brewery uses it in their "Stormwatcher's Winterfest" barleywine, which clocks in around 13%. I have a local brewery that uses it in their 11% barleywine (which only starts out at OG 1.1), and it's quite simply the manna of the gods.

That said, yeasts will generally always exceed the alcohol tolerance given by Wyeast if treated right. Just pitch a big, healthy starter, aerate well, ferment cool and pitch cooler, and toss some yeast nutrient in for the last few minutes of the boil.

 

[Bokonon]

I like White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale, which looks like its the same/similiar strain as Wyeast 1098.

I've seen the WLP007 go up to about 11.5% ABV and haven't tried higher but it should come pretty close

 

[dcp27]

1098, 1728, or 3787 should all be able to handle that and would all work well in an english barleywine