WLP066 London Fog

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Anyone used this yet? It is part of the White Labs Vault series and geared toward NEIPAs. I put my order in today (only 42 to go!) but know this is the 2nd release because the first sold out so quickly.

https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast-vault

I brewed a batch on Saturday and finally got around to using this yeast. Have you brewed with it yet? I'll report back once this batch is ready.
 
I got two vials from this latest shipment. Also looking forward to hearing about others experiences with it! Not much info on the net from the last release. I'm probably brewing a NE IPA with it sometime next weekend and will share my experiences here.

Cheers!
 
i dont think you need to wait for vault. pretty sure this one is now in their core offerings.
 
I ordered one vial from the latest release. Arrived here less than a week ago. Hoping to use it some time in the next week.

This is still a vault strain. It's just very popular and is released every month or two.
 
ah, got it. well its not a vault strain anymore. they're moving it to their "core" offerings with a half dozen other strains. what that means for the OP's order i couldnt say. but according to the blast email we can order it at will now. so i assume brew shops should be able to order it as well.
 
So I brewed this recipe with the WLP066 on Monday...it's happily fermenting away as we speak.

37% Great Western 2-Row
37% Golden Promise
13% White Wheat
13% Carafoam

SG 1.069

1 oz. Centennial at 60
1 oz. Amarillo at 30
1 oz. Meridian at 5
1 oz. Citra at 5
1 oz. Amarillo at 5
1 oz. Meridian at FO
1 oz. Centennial at FO
1 oz. Citra at FO
1 oz. Amarillo at FO

Chilled and ran off .75 gallons into a 1 gallon jug and pitched 2 vials of WLP066 while the main batch (5.5 gallons) chilled to pitching temp in my fermentation fridge. 8 hours later I dumped the .75 gallon starter in the main batch. I saved about 8 ounces to do a forced ferment test. Results are pending. The main fermentation threw up a rocky head that blew into my airlock a little overnight last night, but no leakage. It's dropped a little already, but still pretty high to the neck of the carboy at around 6.0-6.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon PET carboy.

I'm planning on adding an ounce each of Amarillo and Citra in the primary on either day two or three to encourage biotransformation. I'm also hoping to rack to my dry hop keg at around 5 gravity points from terminal (pending results of the forced ferment test) where I'll add another 5 ounces of dry hops. (2 oz. Meridian, 1 oz. Citra, 1 oz. Centennial, 1 oz. Amarillo). I hope to capture most of the natural carbonation before a pressurized transfer to my serving keg.

My water profile started with 100% distilled and treated to: 55 ppm Ca, 7 ppm Mg, 104 ppm Na, 99 ppm SO4, 202 ppm Cl. I added sea salt to the boil to get the sodium. I read in the Tree House thread on here that someone tested one of Hill Farmstead IPA's and it had sodium levels in the 90's. It's supposed to round out beer flavor and is undetectable as salty under 150 ppm...

I'll report back soon as to the flavor and appearance and hopefully post some pic's too. This is the first time in a while brewing a NEIPA without any flaked adjuncts. We'll see how it goes!
 
Malt or something can add some NA along the way. I’ve seen reports of 15-20ppm but @Oldsock ’s article on minerals in certain finishes beers looks like he got an final ppm of 40 without adding any. I’ve been up to 50 in NA in hoppy beers recently but nothing higher yet. Interested to see what you think NA at 100 tastes like. I’ve gone that high in stout’s and porters and been very happy with it but not sure yet on a pale beer.
 
Yeah, I tasted the wort post boil and didn't pick up any saltiness. Tasted pretty smooth, but bitter like unfermented, hopped wort usually does.
 
Yeah I don’t think it’ll taste salty but it might have some other affects that might throw the balance of the finished beer off. Not 100% sure though.
 
pitched 2 vials of WLP066

curious as to your reasoning here. i realize you pulled some off for forced ferment, but even if you managed to take 25% of the yeast, that's still a vial and half, or more, for the batch. OG is on higher end but not crazy DIPA area. were the vials old? you save some for future batch?
 
The manufacture date on the yeast was 11/28/17, so only about 65% viable. According to my calculator I pitched about .81M cells/ml/P but I only gave it an 8 hour start
 
Yeah I don’t think it’ll taste salty but it might have some other affects that might throw the balance of the finished beer off. Not 100% sure though.
Any theories on what might be thrown out of balance? I've never added sodium to an IPA before. The idea was to add more chloride without additional calcium and the sodium, below flavor threshold, should (in theory) round and smooth out the flavor. I'm not an expert on water chemistry though...do you have any experience with elevated sodium levels?
 
I'm sold on the NA potentially contributing fullness to beer. However I'm not sure at what levels it may or may not start to add too much sweetness or potentially clash with Sulfates?? So I think FG, Yeast, bitterness all comes into play. Do those need to be adjusted to compensate?
 
I'm sold on the NA potentially contributing fullness to beer. However I'm not sure at what levels it may or may not start to add too much sweetness or potentially clash with Sulfates?? So I think FG, Yeast, bitterness all comes into play. Do those need to be adjusted to compensate?
I hear ya... I mashed at 149F to hopefully eek out the top range of attenuation for this strain. White Labs lists it at 65-70%. Pretty darn low, so we'll see. It's quite possible it could end up too full and/or sweet, although I added more hot side hop additions than I usually do to hopefully balance that out. Only time will tell, I guess.

I did several things different with this batch than I normally do for NEIPA's namely the salt additions, timing of hop additions and grain bill, so it will be difficult for me to nail down which variable made any difference... It's the mad scientist in me clashing with the more analytical scientist. lol.
 
Anyone get any results from this yeast? What sort of esters did it throw? Is it similar to any other mainstream yeast?
 
I just checked the gravity on my fast ferment test and it was all the way down to 1.012. That's almost 82% attenuation. White Labs claims 65%-70% with this strain. I didn't pick up any wild yeast contamination when I tasted it, but it did have some light tartness similar to what I get with S-04 and 1968.

It has moderate to high esters with some diacetyl as well, along with the light tartness. It also tasted thinner than I was expecting, but I guess it would with that much attenuation. I aerated the sample well into fermentation so I guess I won't get an accurate sensory evaluation until the main batch is finished.

It's possible the sample got contaminated somewhere along the way. I dry hopped the main batch last night with an ounce each of Citra, Amarillo and Meridian. I'm going to sample it as soon as fermentation dies down. Might be another day or two.
 
Just a few more tidbits of info on my batch:

Mash pH was measured at 5.51. This was a bit higher than I calculated using Bru'n Water, but I was afraid to add any more acid and risk over correcting. The post boil pH was 5.45 since I did add 1 ml of lactic acid to my sparge water. I'll be taking a pH measurement on both the remaining fast ferment and main batch in a couple days.
 
I finally got around to brewing with this yeast 2 weeks ago. Started the fermentation at 65 and steadily increased the temp to 74. Dried out the beer to 1.006. No off favors, of course the High Krausen dry hop may have something to do with that. Can't wait to keg this and see how it mellows out!
 
I finally got around to brewing with this yeast 2 weeks ago. Started the fermentation at 65 and steadily increased the temp to 74. Dried out the beer to 1.006. No off favors, of course the High Krausen dry hop may have something to do with that. Can't wait to keg this and see how it mellows out!
What was your starting gravity?
 
Any weird phenols? White Labs and crazy attenuation makes me worry a little these days.
 
Any weird phenols? White Labs and crazy attenuation makes me worry a little these days.
Nope. It has the ester profile you'd expect with an English strain, but nothing off as of yet.

I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed in the mouthfeel once it's carbed up though. I was hoping for a little more residual sweetness. I started the ferment at 65F and let it ride up to 67. Now its dry hopping in the keg. I'm gonna pressure transfer to a serving keg tomorrow night.
 
After seeing that crazy attenuation, I will have to keep an eye on my beer. Brewed a 1.063 OG NEIPA this past Saturday and already added high krausen hops this morning. Was going to give it 2 more days that start raising the temps, but maybe I will let it ride at 65F to see if the lower temps will keep the gravity from bottoming out.
 
Wow, so yeah, similar crazy attenuation like I had...

I wonder why WL has it reported as 65%-70%?? Those numbers seem WAY off!
No clue. I did push the temp above 70. Maybe that could be reason high attenuation? I haven't had any off flavors yet either
 
I finally got around to brewing up a NEIPA with this yeast on Sunday and just added my first round of dry hops last night. The beer took off like a rocket and smells great so far (though it would with that many hops!). I need to turn this beer over pretty quickly so I will report back soon on how things turn out.
 
Just cold crashed mine for 12 hours or so. Kegging tonight and should have it on tap by Friday.. can't wait to try it
 
Kegged mine today as well. Final gravity was 1.014, so about 78% attenuation. pH was 4.62 after the heavy dry hop. The aroma is spectacular and the flavor seems pretty great too. Soft and supple body. Not too thin at all. I'm going to let it chill for a few days and then give a full review. My early impression is very good though! No off flavors. Esters are there but complement the fruity hops in all the right ways. I think people should expect greater attenuation then White Labs reports (at least at mash temp of 149).
 
Kegged mine today as well. Final gravity was 1.014, so about 78% attenuation. pH was 4.62 after the heavy dry hop. The aroma is spectacular and the flavor seems pretty great too. Soft and supple body. Not too thin at all. I'm going to let it chill for a few days and then give a full review. My early impression is very good though! No off flavors. Esters are there but complement the fruity hops in all the right ways. I think people should expect greater attenuation then White Labs reports (at least at mash temp of 149).


How would you compare it to 1318?
 
Finished at 1.016, so got 73.4% attenuation with the 066. May have gone lower but I crashed it because I want it to be carbed in time for Super Bowl. Looks and smells great.
 
I kegged mine up on Monday and it finished at 1.012 (80% attenuation). I am planning on putting it on tap for this weekend so I will report back on how it tastes.
 
Just wanted to report in: I've been fermenting mine at the cold end of things, 63F per the outside of the carboy. It's been going for 8 days now and still chugging along. Anyone experience a long ferment like this? I'm thinking I probably should ramp it up a bit.
 
Here's a pic of first pour from the keg. Looks great, though of course much murkier than every pour afterwards. Best IPA I have ever made. Juicy, nice soft mouthfeel, just spot on for the style. No esters from the yeast. Would definitely use London Fog again.
 

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Here is a shot of mine (excuse the poor photography skills). I am really happy with how the 066 performed. It took off quickly and finished a lot lower than I expected but the beer still came out creamy with a full mouthfeel. I am also getting some nice fruity esters. I wouldn't hesitate to use this yeast again.
 
How would you compare it to 1318?
1318 throws much more peach and juicy sweetness. 066 definitely seems a bit drier, but the mouthfeel is similarly silky and smooth. The haze factor is pretty strong too. I like it, but next time will mash at a higher temp.
 
Here's my beer made with the 066. Couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!
 

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