same wort different yeasts?

[FireantBrewing]

I brewed an IPA, 10 gallons, and have 5 gallons in each of two 6.5 gallon carboys. In one I pitched WPL0001 California Ale, the other I pitched WLP0005 British Ale. The color of the beer in the British Ale carboy is much darker than the other, also all of the yeast is on the bottom, nothing on the top. From the bottom I can see the yeast rise in chunks like it's shot from the bottom and then it settles back to the bottom. These are both ale yeasts so I'm curious as to the color difference between the two yeasts and the "bottom fermenting" from the WLP0005.

I'm thinking that the difference in color may be yeast in suspension in the California Ale carboy?

p.s. the reason for the different yeasts is that we're trying to develop a recipe for my nieces wedding in May and want to see the difference in the yeasts. I have heard that some English yeasts do well in an IPA.

Thanks for any insight!!

 

[philosofool]

Your hypothesis sounds about right: yeast haze in the fermenter can cause light to bounce off right away, while less haze lets it in and then it never leaves. The latter, of course, looks darker. Unless you've done something weird, they will be the same color once it's over.

 

[Barley_Bob]

At this stage, your color difference is probably due to your percent attenuated and flocculation rates. But I hear people say all the time that yeast has a big impact on color. I haven't done split batches, so I don't have an experience to share. I tried to find a concise example where someone has proved the point, and I didn't turn it up in 30minutes of distracted research. So, I don't know. I suppose you'll find out, and all I can really add is that some people seem to think yeast makes a big difference in color.

My personal guess is that the attenuation rate at least would make a difference. A more dense beer (higher FG) could easily look different in the glass as less light passes through. There are other ways it could work too, but they're a little less easy to imagine. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[adamdillabo]

My 005 didnt ferment from the bottom. I got a nice krausen on it. I would think the 001 will be hoppier where the 005 will be more malt forward. Please post results. I would love to try this if I could do larger batches.

 

[FireantBrewing]

The OG of this beer was 1.068, I checked them both when I transferred them to secondaries, The California Ale came out at 1.008, the British ale at 1.011... This was after 7 days in the primary, they are both now being dry hopped.

The British Ale carboy did have krausan, but at the end of seven days all of the yeast was at the bottom and very active. The California Ale carboy at the end of seven days still had a good amount of creamy looking yeast on the top. Both exceeded the estimates for OG and FG that BeerSmith estimated.

I think they'll both be good!

 

[FireantBrewing]

Update: Just kegged this, the British Ale batch stayed at the same 1.011 FG (ABV 7.48%), the California Ale Ended up being 1.004 FG (ABV 8.4%), so we got a little more fermentation in the secondary from the California.

Taste wise they are like totally different beers, The California batch is very clean and hoppy, not much malt at all, the British batch is still hoppy but much more malty.

I will definitely brew this beer again but use WLP001 for all of it, although the WLP005 produced a very drinkable beer, I prefer a cleaner crisper IPA without the malt notes.

 

[BrewSavage]

Great thread, I'm eager to try something similar.

But I did laugh out loud at this bit:

I have heard that some English yeasts do well in an IPA.

 

[FireantBrewing]

Thanks for the constructive input BrewSavage. Glad you got a chuckle out of that, but I had read that and thought I'd give it a try. Isn't that how we learn?

 

[BrewSavage]

Thanks for the constructive input BrewSavage. Glad you got a chuckle out of that, but I had read that and thought I'd give it a try. Isn't that how we learn?

IPA was invented in Britain. I assumed you were making a joke.

 

[brew_ny]

IPA was invented in Britain. I assumed you were making a joke.

like India Pale Ale

what's the story they made a extra hoppy, stronger beer so it could make the sea journey to their empire in India?

S_M

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

You really want to get adventurous do a split batch with your normal yeast and a Brett. I recommend Amalgamation from The Yeast Bay. Try it, you'll like it.

 

[Barley_Bob]

How did the color turn out? The same?