Yeast for ESB

[jmo88]

Well, I don't have a LHBS that carries wyeast of white labs within 50 miles of me. So it is at least $12 to get yeast shipped to me. I figure I might as well just pay the same and get beer and yeast!

All the sources for many of the English yeast strains offered by white and wyeast I can think of, filter their beer. English ales, by style, should be really clear and the filtering helps with that. So i think you're SOL on that one. If you know the profile you're after, I'd just spring for the $12. You can use these strains over and over without buying another pack or vial. Check out this link, it shows the wyeast and white lab #'s an the commercial beers they came from. http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm

 

[permo]

I did some research and if I decide to order yeast I am leaning towards WLP002, I am a big yeast washer and harvester so it would really be a good investment. I know you can harvest yeast from redhook, I wonder if their ESB yeast is any good?

 

[johnpreuss]

I did some research and if I decide to order yeast I am leaning towards WLP002, I am a big yeast washer and harvester so it would really be a good investment. I know you can harvest yeast from redhook, I wonder if their ESB yeast is any good?

I'm pretty sure you'll end up with an american strain. I love redhook but I am quite confident that they make an "American" ESB.

 

[StAnthonyB]

I did some research and if I decide to order yeast I am leaning towards WLP002, I am a big yeast washer and harvester so it would really be a good investment. I know you can harvest yeast from redhook, I wonder if their ESB yeast is any good?

To answer your original question: I found that the pint bottles of Charles Wells has yeast on the bottom. In fact a whole slue of pint bottles in the imported selection has sediment.

I'll hold the bottle up to the light and turn it upside down and look for cloudy movement. As far as Sam Smiths... those have sediment I can tell you that. I can also tell you that the WLP037 yeast seems to me to be the exact same yeast. The rumour is that it is in fact the same, but emperical evidence helps out.


With the White Labs vials it is easy to propagate your yeast in order to saves some money. 200ml jars (or about 8 oz) work well for making mini-starters. I usually use the jam jars I get from the Trappist priests around here. As a bonus of buying a jar its hands down the best product of its type around.

After sanitizing them thoroughly. I'll fill each jar with some boiled extra-light extract at about 1.040SG and steam them. And, let them cool to room temp or their own before adding a little bit of the vial of yeast to each jar. I let those ferment out and toss them in the fridge. After they have settled out, I pour off like 80% of the beer, swirl the remnants in the jar and pitch it. The 200ml jar is just about dead nuts on for a typical gravity 5-gallon batch of beer. Or, so I was told by a commercial brewer.

I am maintaining four English yeasts at the moment and will be expanding into Belgian ale yeast territory soon. My only caution for this system that I have recieve is if propagating bacterial strains for fermentation it is best to use an entirely different set of jars and even a different fridge.

 

[permo]

To answer your original question: I found that the pint bottles of Charles Wells has yeast on the bottom. In fact a whole slue of pint bottles in the imported selection has sediment.

I'll hold the bottle up to the light and turn it upside down and look for cloudy movement. As far as Sam Smiths... those have sediment I can tell you that. I can also tell you that the WLP037 yeast seems to me to be the exact same yeast. The rumour is that it is in fact the same, but emperical evidence helps out.


With the White Labs vials it is easy to propagate your yeast in order to saves some money. 200ml jars (or about 8 oz) work well for making mini-starters. I usually use the jam jars I get from the Trappist priests around here. As a bonus of buying a jar its hands down the best product of its type around.

After sanitizing them thoroughly. I'll fill each jar with some boiled extra-light extract at about 1.040SG and steam them. And, let them cool to room temp or their own before adding a little bit of the vial of yeast to each jar. I let those ferment out and toss them in the fridge. After they have settled out, I pour off like 80% of the beer, swirl the remnants in the jar and pitch it. The 200ml jar is just about dead nuts on for a typical gravity 5-gallon batch of beer. Or, so I was told by a commercial brewer.

I am maintaining four English yeasts at the moment and will be expanding into Belgian ale yeast territory soon. My only caution for this system that I have recieve is if propagating bacterial strains for fermentation it is best to use an entirely different set of jars and even a different fridge.

I also maintain numerous washed yeast strains in house, WLP029 Kolsch from white labs, nottingham ale yeast from danstar, US-05 from Safeale, rogue pacman harvested from a bottle, and chimay harvested from a bottle.

I am really starting to think I might just throw US-05 or Pacman in it and call it APA........i bet it would be tasty.

Part of me wants to throw WLP029 kolsh in it, ferment it cool and lager it for a while......americanized aletoberfest.....

BTW...an 8 oz starter seems mighty small... I just pitched a 128 oz (1 gallon) starter into a 1.068 IPA....mr malty said a 4 litre starter was in order..

 

[johnnyc]

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/ has $6.99 flat shipping for all orders in the lower 48. Better than $12...

 

[permo]

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/ has $6.99 flat shipping for all orders in the lower 48. Better than $12...

when I went to school $5.99 (cost of yeast) + $6.99( shipping) was not less then twelve dollars.

 

[elkdog]

Let me buck the trend here and recommend WLP005, which someone else mentioned. The WLP002 is also the Fuller's strain, and the 005 is a bit more attenuative. I like my ESB's malty but a little dry- I love the Fuller's ESB, but find it to be a bit rich for an everyday quaffer, which is what I want from an ESB. Again, just my preference, but I made a batch with the 005, and it's got great English character and nice maltiness coming through, and enough sweetness to balance things out without making the beer qualify as sweet. I was in England a couple of months ago, and brewed this beer to try and capture some of what I loved about the beers there. Nailed it.

I'd use the WLP002/Wyeast1968 (they're the same thing) if you want a sweeter, slightly maltier ESB like Fuller's and the WLP005/Wyeast1187 (also the same, according to this chart) for a slightly drier, less malty but still malt-leaning beer.

Liquid will add expense to your brew, but for English beers, I don't think there's an adequate dry substitute, and I've tried them all. Just to name a few: S-04 is too attenuative and occasionally throws off-flavors when I use it. Windsor is a pain to use, and seems prone to stuck fermentations. Nottingham is my go-to for clean American styles, and has more English character if you ferment warmer, but will ferment everything out, leaving you with a drier beer than you want for an ESB. Again, just my opinions..

 

[johnnyc]

when I went to school $5.99 (cost of yeast) + $6.99( shipping) was not less then twelve dollars.

Sorry I misunderstood, thought you were pricing shipping at $12. Whoops.