General Purpose English Ale Yeat?

[countchunkula]

Hi, I'm trying to find a yeast that I can use for English styles ranging from Bitter to Stout. I really liked Wyeast West Yorkshire 1469 in Northern Brewer's Innkeeper kit.

Would 1469 work for an oatmeal stout?
Would it work for English IPA?
Is there another strain that would work for all these styles?

 

[paparker21]

Honestly, i've been really pleased with white labs 0002. I've used it on my APA, my winter ale, and my oatmeal stout - its turned out well on all of them. doesnt bring anything special, but it doesnt negatively effect any of them either.

 

[BigEd]

I like London Ale, Wy1028, WL013. It works well in a variety of styles.

 

[mountainman13]

Keep it simple. Fermentis Safale S-04

 

[veritas524]

Keep it simple. Fermentis Safale S-04

This

 

[BradleyBrew]

S-04 is good but it would not be my first choice for an IPA. Try White Labs dry english ale yeast. It is a very versatile yeast.

 

[Golddiggie]

Wyeast 1318 London Ale III works... It's one of the few yeast strains I use time and again. I like it far more than 1469.

 

[azscoob]

I have been making starters from my slanted old a$$ notty featured in my Reapers Mild recipe, it has been making some really good beer, I have slanted several from the second generation as well so I dont run out anytime soon.

 

[PseudoChef]

Keep it simple. Fermentis Safale S-04

S-04 is arguably the most boring English yeast available!

1275 (personal favorite and "house" strain), 1098, 1469, heck, even 1728 are all awesome yeasts. I really like 1968 as well.

I'm an English yeast whore.

 

[moorerm04]

S-04 is arguably the most boring English yeast available!

Yeah but S-04 is a beast.... I pitched a starter into a 1.065 oatmeal stout, and literally in 48 hours she was sitting at 1.018 and stable.

 

[countchunkula]

Thanks for the responses. I take it that I have a lot of options, but 1469 is not one of them.
I'll do a bit more research on the strains suggested.

Thanks, all.

 

[Golddiggie]

PseudoChef, have you tried 1882-PC yet?? It's on my list of favorite yeast strains...

The yeasts I use time and again are: 1318, 1335, 1882-PC, 1728 and 1768-PC... I do hope that Wyeast puts 1882-PC into their normal lineup soon. I'd love to be able to use it at any time, and not have to wait for it to come around, or hoard it and then make sure I have enough viable yeast via multiple starters.

BTW, I'm doing styles from the British Isles for my brews. So using strains from the UK is a critical part of that. Of course, I'm also using all UK 2-row base malt (MO and Bairds Pale Ale malts) plus as many other grains that come from over there as I can possibly get.

 

[PseudoChef]

PseudoChef, have you tried 1882-PC yet?? It's on my list of favorite yeast strains...

Yeah, just two or three times, I think. Got some weird grape-y (vinous grape-y, not artificial Welch's grape-y) flavors from it. How's the 1768?

 

[Golddiggie]

Yeah, just two or three times, I think. Got some weird grape-y (vinous grape-y, not artificial Welch's grape-y) flavors from it. How's the 1768?

I used it in my MO SMaSH and it did a solid job. I also used it in a brown ale that I'm drinking right now.

I didn't get the grape-y flavor you mentioned from 1882-PC... You can get some stone fruit esters from it, could that be what you picked up? I plan on using 1882-PC in my mocha porter when I brew it within the next two batches. I like how it leaves a good amount of the malt profile behind. Especially good since I don't use one lick of chocolate or coffee in the mocha porter.

 

[mountainman13]

S-04 is good but it would not be my first choice for an IPA. Try White Labs dry english ale yeast. It is a very versatile yeast.

Just for S's&G's I split a batch of my all Chinook house IPA that I normally ferment with US-05 and tried 04 with it. It actually went over better with the garage crowd. Definitely had more of an English IPA flavor due to the from the 04 vs. the 05. Personally I prefer the 05 for IPA's as well, but I'm not a huge fan of English/British IPA's.