London Dry Yeast

S04 clears nicely. Wish I liked it more

 

I used it in a brown ale last fall.
The yeast stalled at 1.020 on me and would not restart.
I dry pitched a pack of Nottingham and it got it down to 1.012.

I am not sure why it stalled. I have a feeling that it got a chill and flocc'ed out. But I am not sure.

But +1 for dry pitch Nottingham, dry pitching never works, not sure why it did this time.

 

Interesting that it seemed to floc and stall for you but @premierpro couldnt get it to clear.

 

That's a pity

I've still got two packs of this, not sure if I'll use it now. If I do I'll co pitch it with something that flocs well, like notty/bry97

Incidentally Hambleton Bard who make a lot of kit beers have started making their own dried yeasts here, although I do wonder if they are simply repackaged versions of the same usual suspects

 

Dropped clear like Nottingham, 002, or S-04.

 

What finings, if any, did you use? Copper finings, auxiliary finings, beer finings and what calcium levels did you have in the mash/boil etc? Most people on HBT have said it is awful for dropping clear, but that is HBT so not exactly the best for info cheers

 

Its not even close to the Fuller's strain. I've brewed 30-40 batches with 1968/002 and seven or so with lallemand's ESB strain and the beers are night and day different. 1968/002 attenuates moderately to very well (depends on amount of simple sugar for me but has no problem finishing low if treated correctly), flocculates like a brick and produces some plum/dark fruit esque esters if fermented warm and produces very bright tasting beers (terrible descriptor but beers are clean and allow hops or malt to shine depending on what you do with the beer. The ESB dry yeast produces very hazy beers, has a lot of sweet, juicy fruitiness to it, attenuates less than 1968. If you lager it for a month or two, beers clear up, but remain slightly sweet. I've tried different oxygenation times and mash temps on some american wheat beers with this yeast and they've come out pretty similar. A close friend did a single malt, single hop barleywine with it that can only be described as a weird, train wreck, and he's quite a talented and accomplished brewer.

 

Ward, thanks for your detailed report.

Have you used (or considered using) the ESB yeast strain to produce a so called 'NE' style IPA? Given that it is predisposed to create haze, maybe this would be a good choice to produce a Cloudy IPA?

Cheers!

@telejunkie

 

My hoppy wheat beers that I've done with the yeast are very well rounded, with a balanced slight sweetness, fruity hops and fruity esters. I haven't brewed any of those milk shake NE IPAs with it, but it would definitely work for that.

 

Ok, I too have just sampled the dry London ESB against S-04...granted I brewed a Cream Ale with the S-04 and it was very clear out of the fermenter, but subtle aldehydes were present. The ESB yeast was used for a Porter/Tropical stout (with Hatch chiles and some Rauch malt. Very tough comparison as a result, but I was very pleased with the low/moderate attenuation with the dry ESB...it was just what I was looking for in a Tropical Stout with chiles (somewhat sweet).

 

Finally got around to brewing a batch with the Lallemand ESB strain, so even though this is a year + old thread, I thought I would resurrect it. I brewed a brown porter similar to the one I submitted for the randomly average contest (or whatever it was dubbed). Anyhow, the point is, I feel good about the recipe and feel like I should have honed in on the yeast as a key variable of interest.

And this beer is not my favorite. Fermentation was barely started (based on bubbles) at about the 20 hour mark. By the 30 hour mark, it seemed to be done. I confirmed this with a hydomrter check at the 2/3 mark (low simple sugar),

 

Got distracted there... not quite sure where my thoughts were when typing that. Close to sleeping I guess.

Meant to say I feel like I have isolated the impacts of the yeast, since it’s a proven recipe. Low attenuation, about 63%, neutral flavor. I was using it because I think the residual sugar will help make it a good blender with a sour, but I’m not sure it makes a good English style beer. I like the flavor profile I get from Windsor better

 

On a different forum someone posted the gene sequences of Windsor and London ESB, and they sure look pretty much 100% identical to me. Scroll down to post #97 on this link and they are strains #8 and 9 on the far right. Fullers W1968 yeasts gene sequence is #5. It's sequence is not even remotely close.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...ow-to-identify-and-characterize.623221/page-3

 

That is interesting. I didn't do a side by side, but my gut feel is that the performance in terms of conversion is pretty similar to Windsor, but not in terms of ester profile. I have another pack of the ESB that expect to use this weekend in an ordinary bitter. Could be the last time I bother using it, unless I get something different out of it.

 

I should clarify that W1968 is #5 in the sequences picture frame seen below the one with the Windsor and London ESB.

 

So has anybody used this yeast in a tropical IPA?

 

I think if you hopped it liberally with tropical hops (e.g., calypso, citra, mosaic), it would be good. These are so-called cheater hops, right? The yeast is neutral enough that I don't see it's profile as problematic in the presence of these dominant hops. Attenuation is not great with this yeast by many accounts, but in my two batches I saw a pretty wide range, (63-78%) so the jury is still out. It may be less suited to a west coast IPA, where high attenuation can be important, and more suited to a NEIPA, which finish a little sweeter (or at least that is how I perceive them). However, if you are asking whether the yeast biotransforms hops to create something magical, I have no idea.

 

Yeah I was thinking about NEIPAs. Because I've read that the yeast itself produces tropical aroma. But I am hesitating because of its low (65%) attenuation...
Was the 78% you observed harvested and reused? 2nd gen?