WLP-002

[Crafty_Brewer]

I’ve got a good healthy WLP-002 starter going, this stuff is certainly pretty active, nice and chunky too.

Anyhow, I’m making a strong bitter Saturday morning.

What temp schedule do you all like?

White Labs says 65F-68F. I’m thinking I’ll pitch at 66-67 and hold it there for 3 days or until the yeast settles down and crank it up to 70 to let it ride out the rest of the way. This yeast seems to call for a daily swirl of the fermentor to keep the yeast roused from what I’ve read here.

Sound about right?

I’m shooting for nice and fruity, and try to keep it from stalling out. I’m going to keg it when it’s done.

 

[Yooper]

Yes, that sounds about right. I like to pitch a bit cooler, and let it rise a bit. Remember fermentation creates heat (as it's exothermic) so it might rise too high if you pitch at 67 once it starts fermenting.

I love the cottage cheese look of your starter with this yeast strain! And I've never had to rouse it as it finishes pretty quickly and completely every time I've used it.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

Yes, that sounds about right. I like to pitch a bit cooler, and let it rise a bit. Remember fermentation creates heat (as it's exothermic) so it might rise too high if you pitch at 67 once it starts fermenting.

I love the cottage cheese look of your starter with this yeast strain! And I've never had to rouse it as it finishes pretty quickly and completely every time I've used it.

Thanks! Sounds good then, I’ll pitch cool.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

What temp schedule do you all like?

White Labs says 65F-68F. I’m thinking I’ll pitch at 66-67 and hold it there for 3 days or until the yeast settles down and crank it up to 70 to let it ride out the rest of the way. This yeast seems to call for a daily swirl of the fermentor to keep the yeast roused from what I’ve read here.

You want to avoid the yeast cleaning up after itself, so you want to start coolish, allow a bit of a free rise, but then go down rather than up.

The definitive thread on fermentation profiles with WLP002 and similar is here :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...emps-and-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts.221817/

Also if you're kegging, be careful not to overcarbonate, it wrecks the balance.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

You want to avoid the yeast cleaning up after itself, so you want to start coolish, allow a bit of a free rise, but then go down rather than up.

The definitive thread on fermentation profiles with WLP002 and similar is here :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...emps-and-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts.221817/

Also if you're kegging, be careful not to overcarbonate, it wrecks the balance.

Interesting, I’ll check it out. I do have secondary regulators in the keezer, so I can always shoot for a little lower vols.

 

[corncob]

I will second gradual cooling with English yeast in English styles, unless there's something wrong (like an underpitch) that might result in the yeast giving up early.

I can't back it up with data, but it seems like I get stronger yeast character expression starting at a moderate temp for the yeast, letting it get up a little higher than American homebrew consensus feels good about, then at about the halfway point, start gradual cooling so that the last few gravity points are shed at the moderately cool temperature for the yeast. Hold there. No diacetyl rest or anything. When it tastes the way I want it, I start gradual cooling again down to 52 and give it a week or two to finish clearing.

If I'm going to keg condition, as soon as it stops dropping gravity, it goes into the keg with some sugar for 2-3 weeks.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

You want to avoid the yeast cleaning up after itself, so you want to start coolish, allow a bit of a free rise, but then go down rather than up.

The definitive thread on fermentation profiles with WLP002 and similar is here :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...emps-and-profiles-cybi-other-thoughts.221817/

Also if you're kegging, be careful not to overcarbonate, it wrecks the balance.

I will second gradual cooling with English yeast in English styles, unless there's something wrong (like an underpitch) that might result in the yeast giving up early.

I can't back it up with data, but it seems like I get stronger yeast character expression starting at a moderate temp for the yeast, letting it get up a little higher than American homebrew consensus feels good about, then at about the halfway point, start gradual cooling so that the last few gravity points are shed at the moderately cool temperature for the yeast. Hold there. No diacetyl rest or anything. When it tastes the way I want it, I start gradual cooling again down to 52 and give it a week or two to finish clearing.

If I'm going to keg condition, as soon as it stops dropping gravity, it goes into the keg with some sugar for 2-3 weeks.

Alright, so brew day went good yesterday. I pitched at 63F at about 1:00 pm, held at 65F until high krausen this morning at about 9:00 am and bumped the temp controller to 68F.

If I try out the gradual cooling referenced in this thread and the big English thread linked, when should I take a gravity sample? Should I let the krausen fall and then check it, or punch through with my thief once a day to see if I can catch it at 50% of the way to the estimated FG before dropping to 64F?

Either way I plan on a good cold crash at 32-33F it’s at FG and the sample tastes good.

Plan B is to just let it ride at 68 until FG/diacetyl test come back cleanish and crash it; that should get it off the yeast pretty quick to keep it from cleaning up too much.

After reading through that big English thread, it’s pretty cool to add another beer style to the “quick turnaround” list.

 

[corncob]

I would top crop on about the second day after a good yeast cap forms, then start dropping the temp, personally. A degree two or three times a day, then let it ride at about 64 for a couple days. There's really no reason to take a sample if everything looks normal, until you are looking for it to taste done. 7-10 days or something. But the idea is to let everyone fermentation rip and produce some esters, higher alcohols, etc, then have the cleanup take place at a cooler temperature so it's slower. You can then decide when to drop the temp further based on taste. When people want less yeast derived flavors, or are concerned about a complete fermentation, the advice is usually to ferment cool then warm up a bit for robust processing of all the intermediate fermentation products possible.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

I would top crop on about the second day after a good yeast cap forms, then start dropping the temp, personally. A degree two or three times a day, then let it ride at about 64 for a couple days. There's really no reason to take a sample if everything looks normal, until you are looking for it to taste done. 7-10 days or something. But the idea is to let everyone fermentation rip and produce some esters, higher alcohols, etc, then have the cleanup take place at a cooler temperature so it's slower. You can then decide when to drop the temp further based on taste. When people want less yeast derived flavors, or are concerned about a complete fermentation, the advice is usually to ferment cool then warm up a bit for robust processing of all the intermediate fermentation products possible.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[BeerAndTele]

Nice - I also brewed a Strong Bitter this weekend, also with WLP002. I also made a starter late last week.

I also pitched cool (64F-ish) and spent the next couple of days in the 66F range (fermenter external temp; I figured it was a degree or 2 warmer inside). The 002 is tearing through it quickly.

I can't say I've ever cooled things down to let the yeast clean up after itself, and I'm not sure my palate will be able to tell the difference, but I'll give it a go this time and see how I feel about it (or if I can even discern a difference).

Let us know how yours turns out!
Cheers!

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

Nice - I also brewed a Strong Bitter this weekend, also with WLP002. I also made a starter late last week.

I also pitched cool (64F-ish) and spent the next couple of days in the 66F range (fermenter external temp; I figured it was a degree or 2 warmer inside). The 002 is tearing through it quickly.

I can't say I've ever cooled things down to let the yeast clean up after itself, and I'm not sure my palate will be able to tell the difference, but I'll give it a go this time and see how I feel about it (or if I can even discern a difference).

Let us know how yours turns out!
Cheers!

Will do. I noticed yesterday the bubbling slowed significantly and the krausen started to shrink, so I bumped the controller from 68 to 67 in the morning, and down to 66 that evening. I’ll bump it down to 65 this evening and hold it there until the yeast completely falls back in. I plan on taking a sample somewhere around day 10-14 to see if it’s done before a cold crash.

 

[Indian_villager]

Will do. I noticed yesterday the bubbling slowed significantly and the krausen started to shrink, so I bumped the controller from 68 to 67 in the morning, and down to 66 that evening. I’ll bump it down to 65 this evening and hold it there until the yeast completely falls back in. I plan on taking a sample somewhere around day 10-14 to see if it’s done before a cold crash.

Be careful WLP002 can sometimes get too sleepy even if there is available sugar left, and then you get a second round of fermentation when you move the wort to bottles or kegs.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

Be careful WLP002 can sometimes get too sleepy even if there is available sugar left, and then you get a second round of fermentation when you move the wort to bottles or kegs.

That’s what had me nervous to try the cool-warm-cool approach. I will be taking a gravity reading before crashing to see where it’s at. I’m rolling the dice and trusting HBT on this one.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

Nice - I also brewed a Strong Bitter this weekend, also with WLP002. I also made a starter late last week.

I also pitched cool (64F-ish) and spent the next couple of days in the 66F range (fermenter external temp; I figured it was a degree or 2 warmer inside). The 002 is tearing through it quickly.

I can't say I've ever cooled things down to let the yeast clean up after itself, and I'm not sure my palate will be able to tell the difference, but I'll give it a go this time and see how I feel about it (or if I can even discern a difference).

Let us know how yours turns out!
Cheers!

Alright so today the beer was at 1.012 which is about 78% attenuation (appears done), and passed a forced diacetyl test. This is day 7 in primary. It has a wonderfully fruity nose & taste. My wife described it like a wine, berries and stone fruit. No butter, no green apple. I’m starting a cold crash now and will see if it’s done crashing to keg it tomorrow. I’d normally give a cold crash 2-3 days, but with my work schedule I’d rather get it in the keg tomorrow rather than wait for next Saturday. Seems like the cool-warm-cool worked out pretty good.

 

[BeerAndTele]

Alright so today the beer was at 1.012 which is about 78% attenuation (appears done), and passed a forced diacetyl test. This is day 7 in primary. It has a wonderfully fruity nose & taste. My wife described it like a wine, berries and stone fruit. No butter, no green apple. I’m starting a cold crash now and will see if it’s done crashing to keg it tomorrow. I’d normally give a cold crash 2-3 days, but with my work schedule I’d rather get it in the keg tomorrow rather than wait for next Saturday. Seems like the cool-warm-cool worked out pretty good.

Oh nice. Sounds really good. I think I’m a day or 2 behind you; I took mine down to around 65F as well and it has cleared up nicely but I haven’t sampled it yet.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to tasting my finished product and hearing how yours finishes out. Cheers.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

I got the strong bitter in the keg today. I will say WLP-002 has been absolutely wonderful to work with so far, it flocs super tight to the bottom of the fermentor, plus the cold crash and propping the fermentor up a little I was able to get an absurd amount of clear beer out of the fermentor with the fermonster floating dip tube setup before hitting trub.

 

[corncob]

The highly flocculant English strains really are great in every way. Top cropping is another notch. Top cropped yeast is like an unfair advantage to the home best.

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

The highly flocculant English strains really are great in every way. Top cropping is another notch. Top cropped yeast is like an unfair advantage to the home best.

Being able to top crop them IS pretty cool. I didn’t need to this time since I already harvested a pint jar from the overbuilt starter.

I also am in the habit of harvesting a 1/4 cup of yeast slurry from the bottom of the fermentor and making a 1 gallon cider from most batches to see what impact different yeasts have. The English yeasts are probably my favorite for ciders.

 

[refect]

I use wlp002 pretty often. Love this yeast. I don't like to harvest them from over built starters because they clump up and floc so quick that it's hard to get an even amount poured out of the starter.

I've noticed some dark fruit/pear/plum like characteristics from them when fermented in the higher temp range. I like to ferment my 002 at 62 F for the first 3 days. Then set the temp to 66 F on day 3 and let it free rise and finish at that temp. I've never had issues with them starting or finishing while doing this method and they finish nice and clean. There have also been times where I have fermented a bit warmer in order to get those esters to come out more for the style I was making.

 

[Miraculix]

Thanks for all the good informative replies regarding temperature schedule. I learned something today!

I just wanted to say that imo imperial yeast pub is the "better" 002. More expressive and less prone to producing fusels.