I'm always working on my English beers, trying to zone in on the 'perfect' bitter or ESB. I'm discovering, more and more, the enormous impact that yeast selection has on the end-results on this style of beer. Many of the best commercial bitters have VERY similar (and subtle) malt bills. As with light lagers, good bitters really don't have any bold flavours to hide anything behind, and the subtleties of yeast and base malt are really the main players
As of this particular moment, my favourite Bitter and ESB strains are Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale and 1275 Thames Valley.
I found it a little odd that an Irish ale strain performs so well in English beers, but in a head-to-head against 1028, 1968 and 1084, I found that I preferred 1084 with its banana-apple-pear esters and slight tartness. I also find 1275 to be a finicky strain that wants to floc off early, and I really don't like working with it - but it does produce excellent 'woody' character in its beers that I really like.
I've heard excellent things about 1187 Ringwood, and plan on experimenting with that in a few batches next.
What are your thoughts on English yeast strains?
As of this particular moment, my favourite Bitter and ESB strains are Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale and 1275 Thames Valley.
I found it a little odd that an Irish ale strain performs so well in English beers, but in a head-to-head against 1028, 1968 and 1084, I found that I preferred 1084 with its banana-apple-pear esters and slight tartness. I also find 1275 to be a finicky strain that wants to floc off early, and I really don't like working with it - but it does produce excellent 'woody' character in its beers that I really like.
I've heard excellent things about 1187 Ringwood, and plan on experimenting with that in a few batches next.
What are your thoughts on English yeast strains?