WLP075 Hansen Ale

[Beer-lord]

I asked them about the option to have yeast shipped another way and to order more ice packs and was told they are going to implement some new things that allow us to choose different services and options.

 

[Nagorg]

Wasnt planning on it but sounds like I should make a starter this weekend to proof the yeast ahead of brew day the following weekend...

 

[whovous]

Mine shipped on the 19th and arrived on the 26th. Temp was just under 90F. Parts of the icepack were at 95F. I chatted with the Labs before arrival and was offered another vial before I ever asked for one. It went out via FedEx two day yesterday and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

My plan is make a relatively small Centennial Blonde first, and use the yeast from that brew for something bigger and hoppier. A half pound pack of Idaho 7 is calling to me from the fridge...

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

I received the yeast on 6/26. Made a 1.5 liter starter. I put that on the stir plate late yesterday afternoon. By this morning, 6/27, the krausen was present and the starter was active.

Clearly shipping yeast in the Summer is not the best idea. But I'm not having any issues. Despite the yeast traveling across the country.

 

[brewswithshoes]

Glad to hear it worked for some. 48 hrs on the stir plate and mine smells nasty and doesn’t look to have done much of anything.

Not sure if I even wanna try again with WL

 

[brewswithshoes]

Ok. So in fairness to white labs I decided to email them about it. 30 minutes after email they are going to be sending out a new one via overnight.

So glad they made it right, and renewed my excitement in getting to try this yeast.

 

[ba-brewer]

I like how the yeast is clumping, perhaps it means a tight yeast cake in the bottle. Fingers crossed, that is why I'm on this yeast, hopefully it will drop a clear beer.

I just used my starter today, it was in the fridge like 3 days and the yeast was nicely compacted. The spoon left tracks in the cake and the yeast peeled off the bottom. Fresh wort got what was left off the bottom pretty easy, it did not really suspend/dissolve just came free of the bottom. Seem like it would stick to the bottle well.

 

[kingmatt]

Wasnt planning on it but sounds like I should make a starter this weekend to proof the yeast ahead of brew day the following weekend...

I definitely would. Most of my yeast was dead and the few that survived were stressed to the max. After 24 hours on a stir plate my starter had only dropped .002 gravity points and smelled and tasted like green apple/cider. Down the drain it went...

 

[smata67]

I pitched yesterday afternoon and I'm getting a very active airlock this morning. I pitched the 75F starter into 80F heavily aerated wort, higher than I wanted, but I was short on ice. Set controller to 68F. I kept half of the 1.5L starter and I must say that it does have a green apple cider odor and taste to it. The starter was on the plate for 24 hours at about 75F. Next time, I will temperature control that to 70F, maybe the higher temperatures are throwing the odor. My vial, by the way, came in looking fine, though I'm sure it saw temperatures in the 80s on its 5 day trip from CA to GA

 

[kingmatt]

I pitched yesterday afternoon and I'm getting a very active airlock this morning. I pitched the 75F starter into 80F heavily aerated wort, higher than I wanted, but I was short on ice. Set controller to 68F. I kept half of the 1.5L starter and I must say that it does have a green apple cider odor and taste to it. The starter was on the plate for 24 hours at about 75F. Next time, I will temperature control that to 70F, maybe the higher temperatures are throwing the odor. My vial, by the way, came in looking fine, though I'm sure it saw temperatures in the 80s on its 5 day trip from CA to GA

Sounds like your guys survived the voyage but may have gotten stressed out along the way. If they are pumping out Acetaldehyde it will be hard to get that cleaned up...

 

[whovous]

Mine shipped on the 19th and arrived on the 26th. Temp was just under 90F. Parts of the icepack were at 95F. I chatted with the Labs before arrival and was offered another vial before I ever asked for one. It went out via FedEx two day yesterday and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

My plan is to make a relatively small Centennial Blonde first, and use the yeast from that brew for something bigger and hoppier. A half pound pack of Idaho 7 is calling to me from the fridge...

The good news is that my replacement yeast spent less than 48 hours in transit and was packaged more sturdily (the insulated envelope was in a box this time)
The bad news is that the yeast temp was still 89F. I am targeting about 5%ABV for this weekend brew and I am wondering if I should just pitch both vials? The batch will be around 4 or 5 gallons.

 

[ba-brewer]

I pitched yesterday afternoon and I'm getting a very active airlock this morning. I pitched the 75F starter into 80F heavily aerated wort, higher than I wanted, but I was short on ice. Set controller to 68F. I kept half of the 1.5L starter and I must say that it does have a green apple cider odor and taste to it. The starter was on the plate for 24 hours at about 75F. Next time, I will temperature control that to 70F, maybe the higher temperatures are throwing the odor. My vial, by the way, came in looking fine, though I'm sure it saw temperatures in the 80s on its 5 day trip from CA to GA

Sounds like your guys survived the voyage but may have gotten stressed out along the way. If they are pumping out Acetaldehyde it will be hard to get that cleaned up...

My starters had a green apple like aroma(did not taste), I am thinking it is just a byproduct of the starter environment. I don't have temp control on my starters so I am thinking the temp could rise above the 68 to 70F ambient room temp.

12 hours post pitch my beer is cranking, I don't get any green apple aroma in the chamber just hops. Maybe too early to tell but will find out in a couple days when I do a gravity test.

The good news is that my replacement yeast spent less than 48 hours in transit and was packaged more sturdily (the insulated envelope was in a box this time)
The bad news is that the yeast temp was still 89F. I am targeting about 5%ABV for this weekend brew and I am wondering if I should just pitch both vials? The batch will be around 4 or 5 gallons.

I would do a starter if you are the least bit concerned, especially when other have had DOA vials.

White labs messed up an order once for me and had to send me a vial of yeast. The single vial/pouch came in a box slightly bigger than a 12pack box.

 

[smata67]

Hard to tell if I'm getting it out of the airlock that is bubbling away vigorously, but the starter certainly had a strong green apple smell and taste. It was on the stir plate for 24 hours. I'm going to go ahead and cancel all my vault orders (I only have one), I don't need this drama. I did not get the odor from the original vial.

 

[brewswithshoes]

Talked to white labs today while at HBC. No definitive plan yet for new vault process, but was told they have to shut down the software system that the current vault order system is setup on. Therefore they're accelerating all orders to production as the need to shut the software down.

No set plans for when the vault will come back up but they definitely said it will live on once new system is planned out.

 

[smata67]

The tortoise-like USPS Parcel Select Ground shipping method they use is mostly to blame, took 5 days to get to me, of course the product is going to be compromised. I assumed, out of common sense, that their USPS shipping as stated on their site would be Priority, silly me.

 

[Nagorg]

I wouldnt come to conclusions based on what the starter wort tasted or smelled like; starter wort is nast...

 

[smata67]

It's a black ipa with 1 lb of burnt malts, so I'm not too worried about this particular batch tasting off. Also, I think I may have left a pair of crusty old socks from my last marathon in the bucket. I plan on decanting future batches with this yeast if I choose to continue using it.

 

[whovous]

I put my "good" vial into an Omega Propper Starter and put it on the stir plate for 24 hours. My stir bar was too big at 2", so I had more vortex at low speed and less krausen than I'd like. I noticed very little smell when I began the smarter, but when I pulled the sponge stopper 24 hours later I was freaked by just how much it smelled like a really nice glass of cider.

I am proceeding on the assumption that this is either normal or else it will go away. I brewed BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde last night and it is bubbling merrily with a bit more than a half-inch krausen this morning. The smell may still be present this AM, but it is hard to be sure with CO2 through a blow-off tube.

I haven't given up hope on this one yet.

 

[smata67]

Recap so far: Last wednesday, June 26, I made a 1.5L starter with half the vial and pitched half the starter (750mL) 24 hours later on thursday June 2. Estimated 140B cells. Starter fermented at 75-80F. Strong apple cider odor and taste to the starter. 1.068 OG, 5.5G, heavily aerated, set at 68F. Next morning, airlock bubbling away with moderate vigor and has been through today, monday July 1 (four full days). Still bubbling about 4 times a minute. Krausen appears to never have risen much over 1". Smells good. I'm guessing things are fine so far.

 

[ba-brewer]

My first batch was going strong(constant bubbles) in less than 12 hours(68F), 2.5days post pitch it was slowed to 1 bubble ever 10sec so I took a gravity sample, 1056 to 1014(75% attenuation). I brew in a SSbrewtech bucket so cant see the beer, but sample was clear and there was no yeast on the pipette I use to take samples.

I started swirling the fermentor and bumped the temp to 70F after measuring the graviry to see if I can get a few more points but I am pretty sure it is done. I will give it another day then dry hop.

No cider flavors or aroma from the fermentor.

 

[whovous]

I stuck my head in the freezer/FC and all I can smell now is yeast. No cider smell at all.

What sort of attenuation should we expect from this yeast? Is everyone fermenting in the 70-75F range suggested on the vial?

 

[smata67]

Same experience, green apple cider smell and taste in starter and first day of fermentation, but the odor at least, is gone by Day 4. Fermenting at 68F.

 

[smata67]

I stuck my head in the freezer/FC and all I can smell now is yeast. No cider smell at all.

What sort of attenuation should we expect from this yeast? Is everyone fermenting in the 70-75F range suggested on the vial?

Those look like generic instructions, I'd go by the 66-70F on the Hansen Ale page.

 

[Beer-lord]

I stuck my head in the freezer/FC and all I can smell now is yeast. No cider smell at all.

What sort of attenuation should we expect from this yeast? Is everyone fermenting in the 70-75F range suggested on the vial?

My past experience fermenting in the mid 60's, was an attenuation near 80%. It kicks off pretty fast too, at least in my experience.

 

[Nagorg]

Starter made today instead of last weekend. Haven't noticed any krausen yet but it is on a stir-plate and about 12 hours in. No off odors or anything strange with the yeast when I opened the vial and pitched it in the starter wort. So far, nothing really making me think anything is wrong. Time will tell but I have a feeling all is well with my vials of WLP075.

 

[lowtones84]

I hesitate to jump in here as I didn't order the Hansen, and I am a bit of a White Labs loyalist, so take this with a grain of salt.

Clearly their method on this wasn't well thought out or executed given the time of year. That is fair, and it sounds like they're doing the best to do all of you right.

Starter worts even with healthy yeast often smell off. I know you all have made starters in the past, so I won't go too much into that. But I don't believe a yeast mutation would make a yeast produce off flavors for eternity, they tend to adapt to conditions.

So if your yeast ended up in your mailbox at 90F, it shouldn't put off those characteristics at less than that. And perhaps the starter is "stressed" but from what I understand, yeast adapt very quickly. I feel like if you make a healthy starter in proper conditions, and then perhaps build from that, that you will likely have a yeast capable of producing at least close to what is advertised.

We're dealing with living things, and White Labs could have done better for sure. Who else has their range and customer service, though? Maybe someone does and I don't know about it, but I have never been displeased with a White Labs product.

 

[kingmatt]

I hesitate to jump in here as I didn't order the Hansen, and I am a bit of a White Labs loyalist, so take this with a grain of salt.

Clearly their method on this wasn't well thought out or executed given the time of year. That is fair, and it sounds like they're doing the best to do all of you right.

Starter worts even with healthy yeast often smell off. I know you all have made starters in the past, so I won't go too much into that. But I don't believe a yeast mutation would make a yeast produce off flavors for eternity, they tend to adapt to conditions.

So if your yeast ended up in your mailbox at 90F, it shouldn't put off those characteristics at less than that. And perhaps the starter is "stressed" but from what I understand, yeast adapt very quickly. I feel like if you make a healthy starter in proper conditions, and then perhaps build from that, that you will likely have a yeast capable of producing at least close to what is advertised.

We're dealing with living things, and White Labs could have done better for sure. Who else has their range and customer service, though? Maybe someone does and I don't know about it, but I have never been displeased with a White Labs product.

I will definitely give it up for WL customer service, as they responded to my email within hours and scheduled a new vial to be FedEx overnighted to me, no questions asked.

That said, my wife told me the new vial was just as warm as the last one coming out of the box and I have yet to test its viability. If this one is a also a dud I will just chalk it up as a lesson learned.

You may be right about the yeast performing differently in the 5gal wort vs in the starter, however, my schedule allows only 15-20 brew days a year, so I would rather not take the chance that one of those brews is ruined by questionable yeast. Others may be more willing to roll the dice.

 

[mcl]

Brewed 10 gal of IPA on Wed. Split between Hansen and Imperial Juice. Starter for both 24 hours in advance. Starter was normal. Fermentation activity 4 hours after pitch and it is going strong. No issues here.

 

[Nagorg]

my schedule allows only 15-20 brew days a year,

That must be nice.. I can only brew about 8 times a year. I dont brew less than 10G at a time though.

 

[smata67]

Okay, might have a problem here. Day 8 (June 27-July 5) into fermentation, which appeared to go fine, things are looking finished, but FG is too high at 1.026 from 1.068. I got fairly significant airlock activity at 12 hours and it continued up to Day 5. Fermentation to that point was at 68F, but I had to move the bucket out of the chamber due to main refrigerator failure, so it has been sitting for 3 days at 75F. Krausen rise to 2" is evident and there are even traces of it on the lid. It looks done at this point and does taste a bit on the sweet side. I was shooting for 7% and its at 5.5%. Going to stir things up and see what happens.