Share your Pacman Experiences.

[seyahmit]

My last four beers have been fermented with Pacman. Overall I have been very happy with the performance of the yeast. One thing that I have found in working with this yeast is that it really dries the beer out. It seems to leave very little malt character behind and the hops are really pronounced. My first three beers finished in the 1.011-1.013 range.

My Dead Guy Ale clone is in the secondary right now. I took a gravity reading when racking and it was 1.016. I attribute this higher FG to one of two things. I purposely mashed at a higher temperature to make a less fermentable wort. The mash temp ranged anywhere from 156-158 depending on where I stuck the probe in the cooler. Factor number two could be the yeast. This was the first time I saved and re-pitched yeast from a previous batch. I bottled and capped the yeast and put it in the fridge. The yeast was in the bottles for about 4 weeks. I didn’t vent the bottles and when I popped the caps, they were pretty fizzy. To make sure the yeast was still good, I made a quart starter before I started brewing and it was churning within 2 hours and when pitched into the carboy later in the day, I had airlock activity within 30-45 minutes. I’m not sure if being in a highly carbonated environment hurt the yeast any.

I’m leaning towards the higher mash temp being the reason for the higher finishing gravity. I also need to hold my judgment until I can actually taste the beer to see how it turned out.

The next time I use Pacman, I think I will cut the IBUs back a little to see if I can get a better malt/hop balance.

 

[olllllo]

wocawocawocawocawocawocawocawocawocawoca.
I'm going to have to pick some up.
wocawocawocawocawocawoca
bloobbloob
bloob
bloob

 

[azmtnbiker]

I just purchased some from Northern brewer which is/had a sale on wyeast yeast because they ordered too much. I am interested in this yeast because I really like Rogue brutal bitter. I have heard it is good for IPA's and dry stouts and you can ferment down to 60.
I think if you want more malt flavor mash around 152-153 and add some munich or even try some honey malt to compete with the hops.

 

[Evan!]

The lower ferment temps are really cool. My basement is currently around 58f, so when I made my winter ale recently using Pacman, it was perfect---Maier (Rogue's brewmaster) says he ferments at about 60f...I like that. Produces cleaner beers with less esters, in my experience. Though...I'm not sure that I'll be able to tell, given that I added 2 cups of bourbon, a vanilla bean and some oak cubes to it in secondary.

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

I've done one Dead Guy clone with PM and it tastes great, very like the origional. It is taking a while to carb up though. I just did a Chocolate Stout with it this last weekend so it's still early to tell on that one.

 

[Willsellout]

I bought five packs of the Pacman, not sure what I'm going to use it for yet though.


Dan

 

[seyahmit]

When I transferred my Dead Guy Ale to secondary, I bottled 4 beers. I tasted two of them tonight and wow, what a good beer. I will need to pick up a sixer of DGA to compare, but I am pleased with what came out of the primary.

One thing I am happy about is there is more malt flavor to this beer. It almost reminds me of an Oktoberfest.

Willsellout, you can use Pacman for just about anything that calls for White Labs 001 or Wyeast 1056. Pacman is a very clean yeast that attenuates very well. One thing to watch out for, like I mentioned before, is that it can dry out your beer to a point where the malt character can be diminished. I think I may have solved that problem by mashing at a higher temperature. I will need to brew a few more batches with this yeast to prove my theory.

 

[Tony]

I bought five packs of the Pacman, not sure what I'm going to use it for yet though.


Dan

I just receive 6 packs of Pacman this morning, and have immediate plans for 2 packs. Nothing for the others so far, but Im working on it. Thats the thing, its versatile enough to use in so many different recipes. So I will have fun with the others soon enough.

Another yeast that I liked, and I thought was versatile as well, was the WLP010 10th Anniversary yeast from White Labs.

 

[Blender]

I used my pack of Pacman Saturday and the carboy is just churning like I have never seen it before. I did make a starter and the yeast is rising and falling from bottom to top like like it is being pumped. I had a nice wort at 1.065 ,good O2 and it is fermenting at 62 degrees. I was going to do a California Common next but I am rethinking that choice and might go with a Lagunita's type clone so I can reuse the yeast cake right away.

 

[Cheesefood]

For some reason, I have an overwhelming desire to dryhop my Dead Guy Clone and make it something different. Anyone have any feelings on this? Lorena, I'm looking for your thoughts specifically. What do you think of a couple oz of cascade dryhopped on it in the secondary?

 

[Yooper]

Well, I don't think you'd be cloning Dead Guy. (You changed it the recipe a bit, too, right?)

I think the Perle and Saaz in my recipe are spot on for Dead Guy. However, I LOVE cascade hops, and with the recipe you've used I think it would be really a great beer. I guess it depends on what you're hoping for- a Dead Guy clone or your own invention. Either would be great beers, IMHO. The Dead Guy is pretty malty (reminescent of Octoberfest as seyahmit said) and it's good that way. But it definitely has enough sweetness/maltiness to stand up to some dryhopping if you're hoping for more aroma.

Didn't help much, did I?

Lorena

 

[seyahmit]

If you want to stay true to a Dead Guy Clone, I would say no on the Cascades. I think they are too citrusy (is that a word?) for this beer. If you want to dry hop with anything, use some more Saaz to keep the flavor close to where it is supposed to be. You may find that the hops come through really well as it has been my experience with Pacman and a dry hop isn't necessary.

Then again it is you beer and you have to drink it. If those Cascades are wanting to take a swim, then toss them in.

 

[Cheesefood]

Didn't help much, did I?

Lorena

A lot, actually. While I really like Dead Guy, I'm starting to question whether or not I want to be able to make a beer taste like a commercial beer, or be able to make my own variation. It's already a variation, so it wouldn't hurt to make it a complete variation. I want to give it a nice hoppy aroma, then deliver a malty flavor.

 

[Pirate Ale]

This is what I did:
Type: Partial Mash
Date: 12/25/2006
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Jon
Boil Size: 5.72 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.50 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 39.8 %
3.30 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 37.5 %
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (30.0 SRM) Grain 8.5 %
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.7 %
1.00 oz Magnum [13.60%] (30 min) Hops 33.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [6.60%] (60 min) Hops 10.7 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [6.40%] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Glacier [5.60%] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Glacier [5.60%] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Pacman (Wyeast Labs #Special) [Starter 700 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG

It finished at 1.011 FG and seem to me that it is a little dry, but I like the hoppyness. It is in secondary so we will see what its like after kegging.