California Ale yeast

[CircleC-Brewer]

How vigorous is the fermentation using White Labs California Ale yeast? My 1 liter yeast starter did not have the activity I typically see after 24 hours. The culture was good until October. The starter just looks like it is stuck. Unfortunately, I need to pitch it into my 5 gallon batch tonight. Not sure if this batch is going to be a bust.

 

[davesrose]

What kind of yeast sediment do you see? I often make California Commons as my lighter ales...and WL California Ale yeast is something I've used quite a bit. I've found it has an average attenuation and floculation is pretty good. It seems like a relatively*clean* yeast strain that can take off if from a starter.

Starter activities are always hard to determine since I've had some really intense ferments from starters that haven't any kraeusen during the starter...and some have lots of kraeusen but slower ferments. Some of the fermentation duration and flocculation is just due to the strain used...I guage yeast viability in starter by sediment volume.

 

[amercuric]

California Ale Yeast (WLP001) is my go-to yeast, so it's awesome to to see people discuss what they think of it. I just brewed an amber with this strain and it tastes great!

These are some of it's characteristics from my observations:

-Rate: If pitched directly from the vial, California Ale yeast can take up to 72 hours to see airlock activity. However, if pitched from a starter, there may be immediate airlock activity.

-Flavor: California Ale Yeast seems passive in it's flavor profile, so it will accentuate the flavor of the malt and hops. So unlike Belgian Ale yeast, for example, California Ale Yeast is subtle and not necessarily a specific element to the recipe. That said, I do believe it may produce some flavors. Yet I haven't used enough variety of yeast to pinpoint the flavor for which WLP001 is directly responsible. For a wild stab in the dark, there's a lurking suspicion it may help produce a "butterscotch" flavor. Yet that probably is from the malt.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I've never had WLP001 produce any butterschotch flavors at all. Cali is probably the cleanest fermenting ale yeast and if you ferment at proper temps, everything should come out totally clean.

 

[hopshead]

I don't really see a krausen in my starters. That said, WLP001 is my most favorite yeast. I just did a top cropping experiment (see my blog Homebrewed Beer) and the california ale yeast plowed through a ferment almost complete at 48 hours. It is a very clean yeast. Lag times will vary depending on handling though. Pitch it from the vile and you will possibly have a 48 hour lag time.

 

[CircleC-Brewer]

Well, my 5 gallon batch of IPA has a healthy amount of krausen. I guess I was a little impatient with my yeast starter. For my five gallon batch, I did use my new o2 system to insure good oxygenation of the wort. Everything looks great.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I just used some first generation washed WLP001 about 2 weeks ago. I made a starter that sat on a stirplate for about 16 hours, it had a small krauesen, but most of my starters will not actually foam, usually I see little activity.

Having said that, before I built my stirplate, I would swirl as often as possible and there was always the sound of fizz (co2 coming out of suspension). Even though there was no real signs of krauesen or activity, it took of in about 6 hours.

All of my starters have worked very well, regardless of the amount of noticeable activity.

Goes to show that it is not necessary to actually see activity for your starter to be growing.

 

[HomebrewJeff]

I've never had WLP001 produce any butterschotch flavors at all. Cali is probably the cleanest fermenting ale yeast and if you ferment at proper temps, everything should come out totally clean.

+1 - That is generally why I would use 001, is for the clean ferment. Regarding the starter, on the stir plate I would never get more than a 1/8" foam... I could tell the starter was fermenting though, based on the color change of the wort.

In my main beer, I can't think of a time when I didn't see at least some activity after 15-20 hours.