30 Jan
2003
30 Jan
'03
8:16 p.m.
I especially
appreciate Midwest's
practice to order the yeasts they don't normally
stock.
This sounds great in theory but doesn't work in
practice. It takes 1 1/2 weeks to get in and most
people aren't willing to wait.
Any brew shop will do the same thing if you ask, not
just Midwest.
--- Rick Oftel <Rick.Oftel(a)toro.com> wrote:
> Jonathan, Very interesting point. Initially, I
> observed some
> similarities to your results and did try a few "side
> by side"
> comparisons. What I found in early cases was the
> Whitelabs seemed to
> take off more rapidly and finish more quickly.
>
> Then I started tracking the time in storage between
> yeast packaging and
> the innoculation of my starter. I discovered the
> stored Whitelab yeast
> culture seem to loose potency faster than smack
> packs. I concluded it
> is not practical to rely on liquid yeast that has
> been in a package for
> more than 2 months. After discarding old yeast and
> purchasing fresh
> clutures, my starters start faster and my beer takes
> off very well and
> seems to finish at appropriate gravity levels.
>
> I have noticed some differences between the
> "similar" cultures and over
> the years have made notes on repeated recipes. OK,
> it is a low tech
> thing to use but results count. An example is the
> Bohemian Pils I
> served last week. The 2206 culture may be wrong for
> the style but I
> have had excellent results with clarification. It
> was a 2 week old
> smack pack stepped up to a liter and then 3. The
> starter was equally
> divided into two carboys of bitter wort.
> Fermentation started in 6
> hours and by the next morning, fermenting
> temperature had reached 52�.
>
>
> I am personally not able to taste the difference
> between the actual
> recommended yeast and my choice but visually, when I
> brew a light
> colored pilsner, the beer looks much nicer if it is
> clear.
>
> For almost all brewing, I have returned to Wyeast
> small smack packs due
> to their functionality and low cost. I especially
appreciate Midwest's
practice to order the yeasts they don't normally
stock.
>
> Add a column to your experiment and include the
> production date or the
> best by date. There may be a little confusion
> between the way those
> guys date their products but remember, it is an
> experiment.
>
> My Nickel
>
> Rick O
>
> >>> "Crist, Jonathan" <cristj(a)bsci.com> 01/29/03
> 09:09AM >>>
>
> has anyone tried side by side recipes, or at least
> repeated the same
> recipe,
> and compared Wyeast to White Labs?
>
> Recently I started brewing recipes with White Labs
> yeast that I've
> repeated
> several times before with Wyeast and I've noticed
> differences in how
> quickly
> (or slowly) they ferment but I don't know if it is
> just my luck, system
> or
> recipes.
>
> 1) starter solutions seem to take longer to step up.
> I like to step
> the
> starter up a few times, pouring off the "beer", to
> gather lots of
> yeast.
> With the same basic sterile wort solution and fresh
> yeast the White
> Labs
> seems to take long to complete the cycle and drop
> out. Some varieties
> (pilsner) don't drop well at all.
>
> 2) the initial fermentation (both starters and real
> recipes) seem to
> start
> faster with White Labs which is a good thing. I
> often see good activity
> in
> less than 6 hours.
>
> 3) fermentations seem to take much longer to
> complete As I repeat
> recipes
> that I have made several times before with Wyeast I
> can see a
> significant
> difference (days) in time to complete fermentation
> with the White
> Labs.
> Aeration, yeast nutrient, recipe, starting gravity,
> temperature - all
> as
> close to the same as I can control.
>
> As I think back to the first few recipes I tried
> with White Labs I do
> remember having to be very patient while waiting for
> the fermentation
> to
> complete, but I didn't have anything with which to
> compare. Somewhat
> like
> watching a kettle boil.
>
> If anyone else has experience with switch between
> yeast brands on a
> recipe,
> or other suggestions I'd appreciate the response.
> The faster start and
> the
> slower finish is what really has be confused.
>
> Since this is working out to be such a great basis
> for an experiment I
> think
> I will try the next step. One of my next brews I
> will try a side by
> side
> comparison. I will make starter solutions from each
> brand and split a
> batch
> to really compare differences (including taste) from
> what should be
> the
> same.
>
> Thanks
> Jonathan
>
>
>
>
>
>
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