Krausen WLP001 vs US-05

[Pharmer88]

I've used US-05 for most of my batches so far but right now I have 2 IPA's going with one of each of these strains (wlp001 and US-05). I was a little worried about the wlp001 from the minute I opened the vial. It fizzed a little bit but didn't really try escaping like others I've had from them. I aerated my wort well as always and had the pitching temp at about 76-78 F. No activity at all at 7 hours and by 12 an airlock bubble here and there maybe. By 24 hours bubbles started more frequently and a krausen (I guess) with bigger bubble bath like bubbles started to grow. My parallel batch and previous US-05 batches have always had a big thick sticky/goopy looking krausen growing within a couple hours.

Is it normal to see this different of a krausen from 2 strains that are supposedly so similar?

Not only does the WLP001 krausen look strange to me, the whole batch almost looks like it's separating. The top gallon or so is really clear looking with patches of stuff suspended within it while the bottom 4 gallons are cloudy normal looking primary. This batch isn't looking very healthy to me so far

 

[ColoHox]

How old was your WLP001 vial and how has it been stored? Based on your description, it sounds like the viability in that vial was pretty low, hence the long lag time. It will probably pick up soon.

I suspect the two beers will have fairly different flavor profiles with the different pitch rates/fermentation profiles.

 

[Pharmer88]

We ordered the kits in December and the vials went right into the fridge. They were 2 months from being outdated. It has picked up but I guess I havent had that issue with viability yet and was afraid of contamination. The next thing on my want list is a stir plate to help with making good starters from the yeast I've been collecting from primary's in the past. I'm still pretty intrigued by the differences in krausen appearance between these two similar strains in beers that are so similar as well.