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I've been clearing out and refreshing my frozen yeast bank lately and came across a sample of Wyeast 1217-PC "West Coast IPA". There are a few old threads on this forum that I've been perusing, as well as the 'usual cast of characters' approach with internet searches to find more info than the maker and retailers are willing to put down in print. There's not much recent chatter about it online. The name of the yeast and the rumor mill seem to converge on it likely being something close to WLP-090 San Diego Super yeast, Stone Brewing house strain, maybe Green Flash house strain, maybe the illusive 'Chico III' strain (if it really exists) as well as some other theories that stretch credulity a bit.
As far as performance, the manufacturer's hype and data points are nearly identical to White Labs description of 090, and everything else sure points to SoCal. Home brew users have noted that it's a fast fermenter that rips through high gravity worts in a matter of days like PacMan (lookin' at YOU, Ballast Point), so it may be a conspiracy of coincidences but a lot of things point towards South California and a Chico strain. Some users commented on a slight peach ester (not in a favorable way) which could point to too high a fermenting temperature. My sample is from 2016, and the only record I can find of using it was in an IPA recipe I got from the head brewer at Pike Place Brewing in Seattle called "Space Needle IPA". The beer had won an award in a NW Pacific professional brewer competition, and I really liked it, but not so much when I tried to clone it. Nothing in my notes describing either really good or disappointing performance, and nothing about peach esters. It's been quite a while since I've been back to either Pike Place or Seattle, so don't know if either the beer or the brewery still exist.
Anyway. The only reason I asked about 1217-PC was that I've got this old frozen sample and don't know whether to go to the trouble of reviving it or buying fresh. I've got a WLP-090 Pure Pitch in the fridge, so if they're the same yeast I won't bother.
Thumbs UP
or Thumbs DOWN
on this yeast? Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, WLP-090 clone? Worth saving?
As far as performance, the manufacturer's hype and data points are nearly identical to White Labs description of 090, and everything else sure points to SoCal. Home brew users have noted that it's a fast fermenter that rips through high gravity worts in a matter of days like PacMan (lookin' at YOU, Ballast Point), so it may be a conspiracy of coincidences but a lot of things point towards South California and a Chico strain. Some users commented on a slight peach ester (not in a favorable way) which could point to too high a fermenting temperature. My sample is from 2016, and the only record I can find of using it was in an IPA recipe I got from the head brewer at Pike Place Brewing in Seattle called "Space Needle IPA". The beer had won an award in a NW Pacific professional brewer competition, and I really liked it, but not so much when I tried to clone it. Nothing in my notes describing either really good or disappointing performance, and nothing about peach esters. It's been quite a while since I've been back to either Pike Place or Seattle, so don't know if either the beer or the brewery still exist.
Anyway. The only reason I asked about 1217-PC was that I've got this old frozen sample and don't know whether to go to the trouble of reviving it or buying fresh. I've got a WLP-090 Pure Pitch in the fridge, so if they're the same yeast I won't bother.
Thumbs UP
or Thumbs DOWN on this yeast? Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, WLP-090 clone? Worth saving?
