WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast

[bmick]

Well mine is off to a slow start. I pitched a 1 liter starter on a stir plate at high krausen into 5 gal or 1.055 wort, and no activity yet after 12 hours. I'm fermenting at 64.

Huh, I was looking into using this, what was your grain bill?

 

[bckyrdkid420]

From what a couple local brewers have told me, this yeast "Really" needs to be around 65 for the whole fermentation. Here in San Diego we cheat a lot and have the beer in our houses. This puts the fermentation temp right around 70-72.

I am 3 batches in with this (different homebrewers) and they are all saying it is a very long fermentation at that higher temp. About 7 to 10 days of active fermentation. On one RIS the beer had a OG of 1.080 and finished at 1.024 after 12 days.

For the other 2 batches they were right at 86 for the ambient temp of the chamber. They also were active for 7 days straight. He did a split batch with dry yeast 05. He sent me a picture of the finished wort and the Super is clearer than the 05. They also finished at the same F.G.

Currently I have a Janet's Brown and a Classic Porter in the fermentation chamber at 61 with a wort temp of 64 (as of this morning/day 3) I am still in a very active fermentation.

Mine as of now is the only one that is within range per White Labs. But I have a feeling that this will ferment longer than the 3 days posted by WL's.

Does any one else have any input?

Lewy, I think you meant 68 ambient (not 86)... Anyhow, yeah both US-05 and WLP090 were active for about a 6-7 days... US-05 started about 4 hours earlier (no starter) then 090 but the 090 ended up much clearer! 05 on left 090 on right (Sorry about the sideways pic and size!)

 

[scottland]

Huh, I was looking into using this, what was your grain bill?

9.25lbs 2-row
.75lbs Crystal 40

 

[lewybrewing]

Lewy, I think you meant 68 ambient (not 86)... Anyhow, yeah both US-05 and WLP090 were active for about a 6-7 days... US-05 started about 4 hours earlier (no starter) then 090 but the 090 ended up much clearer! 05 on left 090 on right (Sorry about the sideways pic and size!)

Yes, 68. I'll go back and edit that.

 

[scottland]

Well it strong after about 16 hours. I guess this yeast just has a little lag

 

[scottland]

Fermented out in about 5 days at 64* Attenuated about the same as US-05. We'll see how it tastes.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Can't wait to get some of this. I'm going to build up a 2 gallon starter and can a bunch of jars of the stuff. I have a strong feeling it's going to knock the 05 and 001 out of my fridge for good...

 

[jtejedor]

Well experiences so far with this strain. I started fermentation at 60 alongside a barley wine fermenting with pacman. I did this since I heard pacman is not such a beast at 60 degrees. The super yeast started pretty quick 4-6 hours. It fermented really slow though and this was only a 1.068 beer using a 2 liter starter. I assume this was because of the slightly lower temperature. After a week it was only down to 1.026. I got both batches up to 68 to finish off. After a day the super yeast batch got down to 1.012. That said I don't think its pacman as some people are saying. The yeast did give high attenuation but left some maltiness. Its closer to wlp001 then pacman IMO.

 

[scottland]

I'm drinking the pale ale I made with it now. It turned out nice and clean. I'd use it over WLP001 if I used liquid, but I tend to use US-05 due to convenience most of the time.

 

[boostsr20]

Started at 68 within 6 hours on a 1.059 pale. We will see how it attenuates but so far its been rocking hard for 3 days.

 

[AdamWiz]

I made a 1 liter starter with the super yeast and pitched it in a batch of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde a few days ago. Been fermenting at 66 degrees. It started within about 5 hours and fermented extremely vigorously for the first two days. Today it has slowed down considerably, I think I'll take a gravity reading tomorrow (OG was 1.040-1.042). After I rack this batch I plan on brewing something stronger and pitching onto the yeast cake.

 

[Mike_A]

Tried this on a low gravity pale/wheat recipe yesterday. Started at 1.041 and it's down to 1.014 after 24 hours. Used starter ratio of 1L/5g on a stir plate with pure O2 in the starter and in the fermenters. Fermenters are sitting in a warm spot now, around 72F. Fermentation kicked off in 6 hours and was in full swing by 12 hours.

Using this yeast to experiment how fast I can get from grain to glass, target is 4 days. I'll report back next weekend.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Used starter ratio of 1L/5g on a stir plate with pure O2 in the starter and in the fermenters.

What was your actual starter/batch size?

Using this yeast to experiment how fast I can get from grain to glass, target is 4 days.

Do you mean grain to keg in 4 days, or are you taking into account some kind of vigorous speed carbing?

 

[bh10]

IDK if its been said, but Im hearing this strain is Wyeast Pacman Strain AKA Rogue's strain.

 

[bigbeergeek]

IDK if its been said, but Im hearing this strain is Wyeast Pacman Strain AKA Rogue's strain.

It's been said and well refuted a in side-by-side fermentation experiment.

 

[bh10]

It's been said and well refuted a in side-by-side fermentation experiment.

Cool, got a link to the experiment, Id like to read up.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Cool, got a link to the experiment, Id like to read up.

Here it is.

Well experiences so far with this strain. I started fermentation at 60 alongside a barley wine fermenting with pacman. I did this since I heard pacman is not such a beast at 60 degrees. The super yeast started pretty quick 4-6 hours. It fermented really slow though and this was only a 1.068 beer using a 2 liter starter. I assume this was because of the slightly lower temperature. After a week it was only down to 1.026. I got both batches up to 68 to finish off. After a day the super yeast batch got down to 1.012. That said I don't think its pacman as some people are saying. The yeast did give high attenuation but left some maltiness. Its closer to wlp001 then pacman IMO.

 

[bigbeergeek]

Here it is.

On second read, this doesn't seem like a "good" experiment at all. I've never knew the Pacman yeast was reputed to ferment out in 3 days though...

 

[G2Brew]

I just tried San Diego Super with an all-grain American amber ale. I pitched it at 9PM Sunday night. It was bubbling like mad when I got home Monday evening, and today, Tuesday morning, the apparent fermentation has slowed considerably. I'll pull a sample for testing tonight. It started at 64 OG (a little big for an amber ale) and I'm hoping for attenuation down to about 10. The yeast bottle recommends pitching and fermenting at 70-75F. I put it in at 72. Since then I've heard that the higher temp can slow it down, and/or inhibit full attenuation. Any thoughts on this? Is there any benefit to cooling it down over a few days to 66?

 

[superslomo]

Seems like a pretty darn narrow temp range... is that accurate?

 

[bmick]

Well the website recommends 65-68, which is even narrower but apparently...not what the vial says?

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/new_strain.html

 

[superslomo]

Even come winter, I don't think I could keep any part of my house within a 3 degree temperature range that was that low, let alone in summer... just my personal, humble opinion.

 

[terrapinj]

specs are way different than pacman:

wlp090
Optimal Fermentation Temperature: 65-68F
Attenuation: 76-83% +
Flocculation: Medium-High
Alcohol Tolerance: High

wyeast 1764 Pacman
Alc. Tolerance 12% ABV
Flocculation med-high
Attenuation 72-78%
Temp. Range 60-72°F (15-22°C)

 

[AdamWiz]

I bottled my blonde ale that I fermented with the super yeast 6 days ago, and I was thinking: If it ferements so quickly, I bet it carbonates in the bottles quickly also. So I cracked open a bottle, and at 6 days it is pretty much fully carbonated already. I've never had a bottle-conditioned beer that was drinkable so quickly. I really like this stuff! We'll see how the wheatwine I brewed and pitched onto the cake turns out, fermentation on it has slowed way down and I'll be transferring it to secondary tomorrow.

 

[AdamWiz]

Even come winter, I don't think I could keep any part of my house within a 3 degree temperature range that was that low, let alone in summer... just my personal, humble opinion.

The nice thing is that since it ferments out so quickly, you don't need to maintain the temperature for very long. I just put my fermenter in a tub of cold water and throw a little ice in there a couple times a day when it starts to get too warm. Over the course of a normal fermentation, this would be a pain but since it's only a few days it is not too bad.

 

[G2Brew]

I just tested my amber ale -- after 54 hours it went from 64 to 30. Interesting. I'm not seeing as much activity (bubbling) at this point, though. Still, dropping 34 points 2 1/2 days after pitching is pretty impressive. I was in a rush (I know, never rush your brewing) and pitched the bottle straight, no starter. It will be interesting to see how my next batch goes with a good starter.

 

[superslomo]

What happens if this gets too cold? Does it cause a problem if you dip below 65, or get stuck with the fermentation or similar?

 

[scottland]

What happens if this gets too cold? Does it cause a problem if you dip below 65, or get stuck with the fermentation or similar?

I fermented at about 64 with it, turned out just fine. Attenuated exactly the same as US-05 did for me.

 

[AdamWiz]

What happens if this gets too cold? Does it cause a problem if you dip below 65, or get stuck with the fermentation or similar?

Mine turned out fine with my temp. held from 61-64 ( but that's the reading on my stick-on fermometer, I usually assume it's a few degrees higher inside the fermenter ). Took my blonde ale from 1.042 to 1.010 in 3 days.

 

[jtejedor]

On second read, this doesn't seem like a "good" experiment at all. I've never knew the Pacman yeast was reputed to ferment out in 3 days though...

Yeah I didn't really mean for my post to be taken as an experiment. It wasn't a split batch and I didn't use them to compare them I just like pacman in barley wines. Fermenting pacman at 60 was a good tip as it still left plenty of body in the barley wine. This yeast seems be a little temperature dependent as it was kind of slow fermenting at 60, raising it to 68 made it finish out quick though. I still think they are different strains but of course I could be wrong. It seems to floc out better then wlp001 but pacman flocs out a littler better/faster for me. Overall I might choose the super yeast over wlp001 in the future but who knows if they will keep making it.