Cellarscience Cali Ale Yeast

[hoppysailor]

We’re just getting back into home brewing and we’re not in a position to do starters with liquid yeast like we used to. Does anyone have experience with CellarScience Cali ale yeast? Also wondering about pitch rates based on OG. The description talks about grams per gallon but doesn’t mention OG.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I'm sure others will chime in with additional info, but I've used it just once on this recipe. In my case my OG was 1.062 and FG ended up at 1.009. I used 2 pks of it to be on the safe side, although I probably could have been ok with just one pk. I believe these are 12 grams pks.

Here are some additional threads mentioning this yeast...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/search/8388969/?q=cellar+science+cali&o=relevance

 

[dmtaylor]

One pack is enough for up to 6 gallons at any gravity. Personally for standard strength beers I would only use half a pack and save the rest for another later batch, save some money. No need for starters with dry yeast, it is one of the other huge advantages of dry.

 

[redrocker652002]

I have used it a few times. Never had any issues that I can remember other than maybe it started a bit slow. I usually do ale's with OG in the 1.055 to 1.060 range and I never noticed any issues with it not handling it. I use 1 packet per 5 gallons. I have used Bry97 and US05 as well. They all have seemed to perform well in my cases.

 

[hoppysailor]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Use it with confidence!

It was dirt cheap when they first released it, so I decided to gamble and bought into it in a big way. In terms of flavor, it's certainly Chico-ish. As for where it sits within that family, I think it's in a great place: it responds more quickly to cold crashing and is less powdery than -05 and it doesn't require the pitching rate that BRY-97 needs to avoid its famous lag. It's my favorite dry Chico. It tastes like Chico and it has no quirks. It's easy to get along with.

I only use Chico for WCIPAs these days, so I haven't goofed around with Cali in the same way that I played around with -05 and -97. I pitch it at 64-66F, then let it free raise to 68F once it establishes itself. When it hits 1/4 gravity I let it free raise to 72F. That'll get you a nice Chico-style ale.

I hope you found this useful.

[Edit: I also tried Cellar Science's Baja lager strain. Fortunately, I didn't go big on that purchase. It's awful.]

 

[hoppysailor]

Use it with confidence!

It was dirt cheap when they first released it, so I decided to gamble and bought into it in a big way. In terms of flavor, it's certainly Chico-ish. As for where it sits within that family, I think it's in a great place: it responds more quickly to cold crashing and is less powdery than -05 and it doesn't require the pitching rate that BRY-97 needs to avoid its famous lag. It's my favorite dry Chico. It tastes like Chico and it has no quirks. It's easy to get along with.

I only use Chico for WCIPAs these days, so I haven't goofed around with Cali in the same way that I played around with -05 and -97. I pitch it at 64-66F, then let it free raise to 68F once it establishes itself. When it hits 1/4 gravity I let it free raise to 72F. That'll get you a nice Chico-style ale.

I hope you found this useful.

[Edit: I also tried Cellar Science's Baja lager strain. Fortunately, I didn't go big on that purchase. It's awful.]

Thanks for the intel. We’ll give it a try.

 

[Miraculix]

Use it with confidence!

It was dirt cheap when they first released it, so I decided to gamble and bought into it in a big way. In terms of flavor, it's certainly Chico-ish. As for where it sits within that family, I think it's in a great place: it responds more quickly to cold crashing and is less powdery than -05 and it doesn't require the pitching rate that BRY-97 needs to avoid its famous lag. It's my favorite dry Chico. It tastes like Chico and it has no quirks. It's easy to get along with.

I only use Chico for WCIPAs these days, so I haven't goofed around with Cali in the same way that I played around with -05 and -97. I pitch it at 64-66F, then let it free raise to 68F once it establishes itself. When it hits 1/4 gravity I let it free raise to 72F. That'll get you a nice Chico-style ale.

I hope you found this useful.

[Edit: I also tried Cellar Science's Baja lager strain. Fortunately, I didn't go big on that purchase. It's awful.]

Wow, sounds like a great yeast. I'm gonna try it if I can find it reasonably priced somewhere here in Germany.

 

[Slim M]

Use it with confidence!

It was dirt cheap when they first released it, so I decided to gamble and bought into it in a big way. In terms of flavor, it's certainly Chico-ish. As for where it sits within that family, I think it's in a great place: it responds more quickly to cold crashing and is less powdery than -05 and it doesn't require the pitching rate that BRY-97 needs to avoid its famous lag. It's my favorite dry Chico. It tastes like Chico and it has no quirks. It's easy to get along with.

I only use Chico for WCIPAs these days, so I haven't goofed around with Cali in the same way that I played around with -05 and -97. I pitch it at 64-66F, then let it free raise to 68F once it establishes itself. When it hits 1/4 gravity I let it free raise to 72F. That'll get you a nice Chico-style ale.

I hope you found this useful.

[Edit: I also tried Cellar Science's Baja lager strain. Fortunately, I didn't go big on that purchase. It's awful

Yeah tried Baja 3 times, I’m a slow learner. CellarScience German is great though.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Yeah tried Baja 3 times, I’m a slow learner. CellarScience German is great though.

Thanks for that! There's a part of me that wanted to give German a try, but the Baja experience was so bad that I didn't want to take the risk. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Slim M]

Thanks for that! There's a part of me that wanted to give German a try, but the Baja experience was so bad that I didn't want to take the risk. I'll give it a shot.

I’ve used the German for about 10 - 12 batches no issues. Pretty much 34/70 to me.