American Imperial Stout yeast choice

[ffaoe]

So I am planning on making a 2.25 gallon batch of American imperial stout shortly and need help choosing a yeast. The OG will be 1.125
This is by far the highest gravity beer I have ever attempted to brew.
Initially, I was going to use two packets of US-05 but now I don't think it will work with a gravity that high.
Would WLP001 California ale work with a huge starter? Is there a better choice out there that will ferment clean and not stall out?
Any experiences with American imperial stouts?

 

[logan_the_huge]

1.125 is a pretty high OG but I think the us-05 should be fine. I would check the numbers on a brew calculator site, mrmalty or another one just to make sure you're counts are ok. With a 2.5 gallon batch, 2 packs of rehydrated yeast sounds like it could be overkill, but I've never done anything that high gravity so I can't say for sure.

 

[ffaoe]

@logan, you're right, two packets would be too much. The calculators suggest a single packet.

 

[logan_the_huge]

Ok I thought so. Realized I never answered the second question either but I can't be of much help. I've used the California ale and it produced good beers, but I've only used it on pales and IPAs. Can't say how it will hold up in an imperial stout. It wouldn't be my choice for this, personally.

 

[NoPantsBrewing]

I've done high abv stouts with s05 before and that works out well. My next imperial stout I plan on trying wlp090 though. I just used it on an american barleywine and it worked out great.

 

[lilbova3]

I did a Breakfast Stout clone with Wyeast 1056 American Ale and it turned out just fine. Just get your pitch correct.

 

[edroberts]

I've had good success with Wyeast 1084 in imperial stouts. It's tolerance is up to 12%, which is right at your threshold. Denny's Favorite is also a great choice (Wyeast 1450), but I think it's tolerance is only 10%.

 

[mkeckjr]

OP: Just wanted to point out that US-05 and WLP001 are the same yeast strain (Sierra Nevada, also Wyeast 1056), meaning if you are concerned about using US-05 because you're worried about it stalling out, then the same would be true of WLP001.

I think, however, that this is a great yeast choice if you want a clean fermentation. I know that it will tolerate alcohol to at least 12% from personal experience in a Russian imperial stout, and ferments up to 80% apparent attenuation. Your recipe, at 80% attenuation, would finish at 1.025, giving you about 15% ABV. Supposing WLP001 doesn't get you all the way to that 15% ABV, I would use it in combination with WLP099 (the Thomas Hardy strain) which will ferment up to something like 25% alcohol. Since it's pretty estery for large beers, I would not use that yeast alone. If I were you I'd start with WLP001, to get a mostly clean fermentation, and then if WLP001 quits, make a starter of WLP099 and pitch it at high krausen, which should get you the rest of the way there.

 

[cantrell00]

OP: Just wanted to point out that US-05 and WLP001 are the same yeast strain (Sierra Nevada, also Wyeast 1056), meaning if you are concerned about using US-05 because you're worried about it stalling out, then the same would be true of WLP001.

I think, however, that this is a great yeast choice if you want a clean fermentation. I know that it will tolerate alcohol to at least 12% from personal experience in a Russian imperial stout, and ferments up to 80% apparent attenuation. Your recipe, at 80% attenuation, would finish at 1.025, giving you about 15% ABV. Supposing WLP001 doesn't get you all the way to that 15% ABV, I would use it in combination with WLP099 (the Thomas Hardy strain) which will ferment up to something like 25% alcohol. Since it's pretty estery for large beers, I would not use that yeast alone. If I were you I'd start with WLP001, to get a mostly clean fermentation, and then if WLP001 quits, make a starter of WLP099 and pitch it at high krausen, which should get you the rest of the way there.

Really hand info here... Thanks!

 

[rwing7486]

I would use dry yeast Nottingham or S-05. Both will give you clean fermentation with little to no esters. Liquid yeast would just be a waste of money imo for this beer style, but to each their own.