American Yeast

[rodwha]

I used plenty of WLP001 (and 1272) prior to dumping my liquid strains. Since then I've used US-05 which is said to be a dry version of WLP001 (and 1056?), but I have found that US-05 seems to give a tighter yeast sediment in the bottle and gives ever so slightly better attenuation. I'm thinking of washing some from a low ABV brew and keeping that.

As I brew all sorts of American ales are there any other yeasts that I ought to look into? I prefer high flocculating and higher attenuating strains and also like to keep my fermentation locked into one temp for ease (it's at 64*). Something I can see being nice would be a yeast that leaves a clearer beer for my lighter varieties.

San Diego Super looked interesting.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Notty drops very clear (clearer than US05)and has high attenuation. It's very clean in the low 60's as well. I prefer US05 though.

 

[Hello]

The SD Super Yeast should be a pretty good one. I would stick with US-05, but you can certainly try the other. Also, what about WLP007 or WLP008?

 

[rodwha]

These are strains (I will keep US-05 going) that I'm considering with flocculation the biggest deal, but attenuation and temp also important.

White Labs:
WLP 051 California V
WLP 060 American Blend
WLP 090 San Diego Super

Wyeast:
1272 American II
1332 Northwest

Some of these have a higher ideal temp than I'd like (mid 60's). I'm curious if anyone has fermented WLP 060 around 65* instead of their min temp of 68*.

 

[Psylocide]

Notty all day long. I ferment at 61-63° for my cream ales, attenuates great, fast, clean, crisp and drops like a rock.

Took my last cream ale from 1.043 down to 1.004 in a week.

 

[Yooper]

I don't care all that much for the Super San Diego strain. I wanted to love it, since it sounded great but my own beers made with it have been disappointing.

I thought maybe it could be just me, but I had a friend here this past weekend who is a Grand Master II BJCP judge (I'm just a lowly certified judge) and she picked up on it right away. I had two beers side-by-side from the same wort. One used WLP001 and one used WLP090. They were markedly different, and the one with WLP001 was much better. It was "cleaner" and hoppier and best all around.

 

[RmikeVT]

I used plenty of WLP001 (and 1272) prior to dumping my liquid strains. Since then I've used US-05 which is said to be a dry version of WLP001 (and 1056?), but I have found that US-05 seems to give a tighter yeast sediment in the bottle and gives ever so slightly better attenuation. I'm thinking of washing some from a low ABV brew and keeping that.

As I brew all sorts of American ales are there any other yeasts that I ought to look into? I prefer high flocculating and higher attenuating strains and also like to keep my fermentation locked into one temp for ease (it's at 64*). Something I can see being nice would be a yeast that leaves a clearer beer for my lighter varieties.

San Diego Super looked interesting.

Wyeast 1272 & WLP051 Cali V are both more flocculent than the chico strain and great for American Porters/Browns/IPA/Pales

There are some English strains I consider quite clean and very suitable in american styles (IPA/Pale/Porter/Stout/Brown) Wyeast 1469, WLP007 and WLP013 - although I find as the gravity of the beer increases the more I like to lean toward US-05. If I'm lets say below 1.050, I like the clean english strains becaues they leave some malty notes and backbone in the beer to balance the bitterness, especially in something like a session ipa or really hoppy pale ale.

You are kind of asking the question that is answered by "this is why we homebrew" The world is your oyster, explore different grain bills, yeast strains and hop combos and in my experience you will make a lot of good to above average beers and every once in a while you hit the ball out of the park with a certain combination and then you write that one down for posterity.

On a side note, I've also found I can really manipulate my attenuation with mash temps and pitching healthy starters of liquid strains. So, don't let the stated attenuation % on the white labs and wyeast web sites deter you from using a strain, just drop your mash temp a bit and you will get what you are looking for. Of Course I am talking middle of the range temps and gravities. Of Course if you are making a barelywine or RIS at 1.110 and you are already mashing at 148 for 90 mins the US-05 is going to out attenuate something like WLP013, but if you are making a 1.065 IPA or Porter you can probably manipulate the mash temp to get the desired attenuation you are looking for with med attenuator vs high attenuator.

 

[chickypad]

I'll put in a plug for WY1217. It's seasonal only in the fall right now but should be coming back out soon. I had some issues with 05 not dropping out as fast or as clear, and also ran into some subtle but odd flavors (maybe fermenting too low? I've heard about the peach thing which kind of described it). I love 1217, attenuates really well and drops clear IME, I ferment it around 66. I accidentally ran out due to poor planning so I've been using 007 in my hoppy American ales with good result. WL claims it's similar to 002 in flavor but I find it much cleaner.

 

[permo]

As I brew all sorts of American ales are there any other yeasts that I ought to look into? I prefer high flocculating and higher attenuating strains and also like to keep my fermentation locked into one temp for ease (it's at 64*). Something I can see being nice would be a yeast that leaves a clearer beer for my lighter varieties.

San Diego Super looked interesting.

Wyeast 1098 or Wyeast 1187. Both make excellent American ales, finish in 3-5 days and drop clear. Wyeast 1187 Ringwood ale is one of my favorites...super bright and clear beers in no time.