planning on exploring some english styles

[WolvinMaine]

Hey Folks,

Well, I am looking to brew up a few English ales for my next few batches, specifically looking to do an ordinary bitter for one of my kegs to get things started, then harvesting the yeast, and moving on to a NE brown ale and an English IPA for the fall, and then finishing with an oatmeal stout for the winter months. My LHBS stocks Whitelabs, with which I have had very good success previously and I plan on trying some of their strains. To date, I have made my English ales with safale 04. My understanding is that WLP 002 is very similar, if not the same strain as safale 04, so while I like the yeast, I want to try something new. Also I live in Maine, where many of the larger breweries not named Allagash use the Ringwood strain (WLP 005) so I am not really interested in using that either as I get to sample those wares frequently. So, along those lines, I am looking at:

WLP 006 Bedford Ale yeast
WLP 007 Dry English Ale yeast
WLP 013 London Ale yeast
WLP 023 Burton Ale yeast

So, any favorites of these 4 out there, and is there one that folks think do a good job on multiple styles?

Thanks!

 

[dwarven_stout]

WLP 023 is the only one I've tried, but I love it. Light fruity esters (made me think of pear and red apple) and good attenuation. It's so good in bitters that I don't want to try anything else, and it makes a good stout, too!

 

[babalu87]

Wyeast 1968

 

[lowlife]

I love wlp02 for low-med gravity oatmeal stouts and brown ales. I think it tastes nothing like 04 but then again I havent used s04 in a long while. I use 13 for porters sometimes as well. 13 is oak estery.

supposedly s04 is whitbred
and WLP007 Dry English Ale is Whitbred - dry (mr malty data)

 

[bigolbigbelly]

I have used the Burton in almost all of my English styles and loved it. The best ESB and an amazing stout. Just a warning, Flocculation is extremely high. I usually had to shake the fermentor after the first couple days. Makes a very clear final product.

 

[dwarven_stout]

I have used the Burton in almost all of my English styles and loved it. The best ESB and an amazing stout. Just a warning, Flocculation is extremely high. I usually had to shake the fermentor after the first couple days. Makes a very clear final product.

Couldn't have said it better myself. ;-)

 

[Gremlyn]

I love 023, but i find it's a terrible flocculater.

 

[WAdamC]

WLP007 is my favorite for pales and IPAs. It works quick and flocs hard. The IIPA I made with it turned out amazing. It also made a great Two Hearted Ale clone. I haven't used it in any English beers yet, though.

 

[Craigvu]

i've heard great things about 023. One of our microbreweries here in SD uses a custom made strain based on it for most of their brews...and they're fantastic. I'll be using it for my next bitter, red, stout sequence of yeast saving/washing.