Hoping to open March 2013. If you'd like to learn more, check out my blog at crookedrunbrewing.wordpress.com and/or friend me on facebook: Jake Endres.
I got a few Shipyard beers and I have to say...not a fan. Since I won't have a dissolved oxygen meter I think I am going to steer clear of the Ringwood rather than risk a butter-bomb.
A lot of breweries use Ringwood without any diacetyl problems. I think, altough I'm not sure, Bob on here used to brew with it commercialy (as did Wayne in this thread, obviously). Pugsley really likes that butterscotch, borderline popcorn flavour in his beers. For my palate, the levels found in most Shipyard beers is too much and constitutes a flaw. He says that what he uses is not what Wyeast and White Labs sell, so there's that, but he probably tailors his fermentation to get diacetyl. I have used 1187 and without aeration, using open fermentation and regular rousing, I got FG in 3 days and no diacetyl.
If I were you, I'd go for one of the Whitbread strains (S-04, most notably). I know many don't like S-04 for its supposed tartness and funky esters when fermented high, but you'll be able to keep those in check and it does finish dry and neutral. Just ferment low (62-64F) for your IPA and Brown, and a bit higher (66-68F) for your ESB.
Another superb strain for your applications would be wy1275 Thames Valley, but it can be a slow flocculator, altough if your OG are not that high, I bet it would reach FG and clear well within a week if you pitched enough healthy yeast and cold crashed/fined.
