White Labs Irish Ale Yeast too cold?

^^^ This.

Plus you'll probably get a less estery/fruity beer. I take it that you pitched at 55F?

What kind of beer did you make?

 

I'm sure they'll do the work just fine. I wouldn't expect much yeast personality in your beer though.

 

When I ferment at the higher end (66F rising to 68F) for this strain I've gotten slight banana flavors everytime. I've heard that this character goes away when this strain fermented at lower temps (64Fish) from other homebrewers.

 

My diacetyl detectors just went off.

"This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness and slight dry crispness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale."

I would have some concern that a slight hint of diacetyl at normal temperature might be more pronounced, i.e., the yeast might struggle to clean it up.

 

Indeed. I think that it would behoove him greatly to increase his temperature as fermentation slows.

 

I've found that unwanted esters form with this yeast as it gets warmer. I always keep it around 60-62F and let it warm to ~65F when finishing.