WYEAST 1968 (London) – Not a fan!

[typebrad]

I read somewhere that Sweetwater used this yeast exclusively. NO WAY POSSIBLE. With a 2 liter starter for my 5.5 gallon batch it couldn't even finish the job (after 2 weeks). Sweetwater IPA has a (fairly) dry finish – now I'm not talking champagne dry, but fairly dry – but certainly not sweet with a malty mouth feel. I ended up having to re-pitch with a little bit of dry ale yeast.

I'm not sure about anyone else's opinion here, but a grapefruit bomb needs to be dry. No way 1968 is Sweetwater's yeast of choice.

Later (like a dumba**), I read more to find out the yeast finishes sweet. My own fault but I had to rant about my dislike for it. The WYEAST 1056 American Ale strain is still one of my favorites though!

Pale ale brewers—what's your go-to White Labs liquid yeast for American ales you want to finish dry?

 

[Braufessor]

I just brewed a fairly big (1.065) Citra IPA with 1968..... repitched from a British Ordinary Bitter (1.040). After 2 weeks it only managed to get to 1.019 and left me with a pretty sweet beer..... Have found the same on another occasion as well. I added about a cup of actively fermenting 1056 starter to the 1.019 citra beer when I kegged it...... shooting for a few more gravity points and let it carbonate/krauesen in the keg maybe.... worth a shot anyway. Hate to waste 12 ounces of citra.....

Like you, I have read about a number of breweries that use it as "house yeast".......but, I have not had success getting this yeast to finish off my IPA's either. I always use good starters, oxygen, temp. control, etc..... My guess, is that on a commercial scale, breweries are able to control things better and get the yeast to perform better than I can in my basement.

That said - I do like the yeast for smaller ordinary bitters and milds (although 1318 and 1469 are also great). I also think it could be a good yeast if you were trying to brew a low alcohol, session type, APA/IPA .... where you wanted a 1.040 beer that could stand up to high hop bill with a fuller body/malt sweetness.

I probably won't use it again in a bigger IPA. It is hard to beat good old 1056. I liked the special release 1217... thought that performed pretty well. San Diego Super Yeast????? Have not used it, but heard good things. WL007 ..... better attenuating version of 002/1968

 

[Beernik]

I'm not much of a PA or IPA brewer. But I do like London III for stouts and ambers, which is another low attenuator.

I have found to get normal attenuation (~75%) I have to keep the mash at 145F or lower. If Sweetwater is using London ESB and getting dry beer, they are probably mashing at 140F and using sugar.

 

[IslandLizard]

I had 1968 rip through an ESB (1.056 OG) in 3 days at 67°F. FG was down to 1.007! It had barely bubbled and I originally thought it had stalled, but there was a tremendous amount of CO2 in the beer, almost naturally carbonated. I roused it a few times and let it condition like that for another 2 weeks at room temps.

This was a healthy repitch (no starter) of 1968, I had used for a Porter before. The Porter was not attenuated as much as the ESB, so maybe a 2nd generation of 1968 works more aggressively?

I really like the flavor profile of that yeast, except in this case I didn't want it to go down as far as it did. It's a bit too dry for that bitterness (41 IBU).

 

[Oginme]

WY1968 is certainly not the yeast to use if you want a dry finish. I find it works well in browns and milds, where it leaves a bit more body in the beer. I've seen attenuation range from 68% to 73% with WY1968.

 

[duboman]

I'm going to disagree. It's a great yeast but finicky.

Because it is highly flocculant it is important to pitch it cold, allow to rise to low 60's and as it slows you need to raise the temp gradually to get it to finish up. I've used it many times and have never had a problem getting it to finish, usually takes my ales to 1.010 easily and have had some finish as low as 1.007/8 for a nice crisp dry beer. I'll generally mash it at 148oF


Sent from the Commune

 

[ram5ey]

I talked to the brewers that said they use 1968 on all their regular beers. I would say I believe him. I have never thought Sweetwater IPA had a very dry finish. 1968 does take a little more care. I think it needs plenty of 02 at the start and perhaps rousing the yeast every day can help it not floc out too quickly. If you want English character but a drier finish consider the dry English ale east from white labs (I think it's 007...closer to what stone uses...)

 

[Braufessor]

I bet the lower mash temp would help...... I have not done that.

I do allow temperature rise throughout fermentation though - starting at 58-60 and rising eventually to 68-70. I have not roused the yeast over the course of fermentation though... Both of those would likely help the yeast finish up.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

1968 is a fine yeast. But I highly recommend rousing the yeast after 3 days. I've never had it fail to finish the job. It also likes to re-start after a transfer to secondary.

MC

 

[j1n]

Yeah i used it on the ZD clone and my FG was 1.018 and thats the expected FG for the recipe. I thought it was way too sweet. i wish i had used another yeast and got it drier.

i used pure o2 to aerate, i fermented @ 66F, and i pitched a 2L starter. The Wyeast site says attenuation is 67-71% and i got 71% attenuation. oh and my mash temp was 151 and mash ph was 5.4 (room temp)

Im prob gonna use WLP090 of all my IPAs since that yeast is awesome. i got 84% attenuation with that yeast last time i used it.

 

[typebrad]

Well, after hearing everyone's input, I did some things right and some things wrong. Maybe rousing was the answer. I didn't do that. Not a fan of sweet, so it puts it way down on my list.

Flocculation is an understatement. That stuff was like string cheese in the starter.

By the way, this beer started big. 1.076. I thought I would multiply with my large starter, but I don't have a stir plate.

You can't win 'em all.

On to the next!


/Will always still be figuring it out/

 

[typebrad]

For the record, it brought my 1.076 to 1.024 before "stalling."


/Will always still be figuring it out/

 

[Hujo]

I'm not much of a PA or IPA brewer. But I do like London III for stouts and ambers, which is another low attenuator.

I have found to get normal attenuation (~75%) I have to keep the mash at 145F or lower. If Sweetwater is using London ESB and getting dry beer, they are probably mashing at 140F and using sugar.

I've used London Ale III (1318) on a Heady Topper clone with an OG of 1.070. The FG turned out to be 1.010, just as the 1187 and the US-05 that i also used. I mashed at 150.. I haven't calculated the attenuation, but it should be more than 75, right?

Anyways, the 1318 is IMO a great yeast for IPAs and APAs!


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[Falcon3]

REcently mashed a 1.044 beer at 150, pitched WY1968 and it brought it down to 1.011, which is 75% attenuation. It realy depends on mash temp and if you use extract, you're probably not going to finish very low.

I think an important thing to do with this yeast is also temp ramping. I started out at 63, and brought it up to 72 over the course of 3 days. This will help keep it from stalling. I love this yeast- it tastes amazing.

 

[ram5ey]

Yeah I had a thermometer issue once and accidentally mashed at 146. The 1968 took it from 1.090 to 1.011 at 62F. It will do some crazy stuff if you give it the conditions. I only use it occasionally.

 

[tagz]

I've used it quite a bit and have had no problem bringing things down to 1.010. I love how it makes a bright beer in short order.

 

[duboman]

I've used it quite a bit and have had no problem bringing things down to 1.010. I love how it makes a bright beer in short order.

+1


Sent from the Commune

 

[Riot]

I've used it quite a bit and have had no problem bringing things down to 1.010. I love how it makes a bright beer in short order.

There are a bunch of English strains that make great, clear bear super quickly. It seems that most of them need low mash tells, sugar additions an or rousing to get them to attenuate what many consider properly. I think its just the price you pay for using super flocculant strains.

 

[ram5ey]

Just racked my APA my bright keg. 1.056 to 1.013. Not a bad run for this strain. Sample tasted great. I did give it a dose of pure oxygen and roused every two days.

 

[MindenMan]

For the last couple of years, I have used 1968 as my house yeast and produced many different styles of ales. I agree rousing the yeast always helps in fermentation "speed". If I want a higher F.G., I mash lower, and if I want lower F.G. I mash higher. It is sort of a crap shoot the first couple times, using the same yeast and the same grain bill, and only changing the mash temperature, will produce two very different beers.