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Nottingham is an English ale yeast and I would say the best suited for an ESB, of your options. Better suited than US05 too. But you may prefer US05, there are no rules. I've tried US05 in English pales and it's not quite right to me, too clean. Nottingham is very clean for an English yeast...

Speed is probably very useful, so you want more yeast rather than less. I'd rather more yeast in my bottles than oxidised beer.

I think any yeast scavenges oxygen, no? Doesn't need to be Philly Sour. Can be the primary yeast in suspension. What do you mean by patience with the retained yeast?

That's great info, and it sits well with what I know already. Thank you. 👍🏻

So you use about 10% of the yeast created by a 2 litre starter to make fresh starters each time you brew, yes?

We experience the same thing in reverse! 😉

I could be wrong but it seems like American brewers tend to ferment English yeasts cool, as clean yeast profiles seem to be what the majority want? Whereas in the UK we look for a bit of yeast character to meld with the malts, and some relatively restrained English hops. Does that sound like...

What is KHPO4?

Ah. This I did not know. It leans me towards using them, but then I see the price. Occasional treat and lots of yeast farming, I guess! Thanks.

Sounds good, I'd be interested to hear how the Brett beer works out. Down the line! It should be good.

I guess a key factor is the choice available to us. Here in the UK we get White Labs and Wyeast, and one or two online places do Imperial. But they've flown the Atlantic and need a starter every time. Which is good practice anyway. I culture up some yeasts from local brewery beers, and from...

Do people still buy WL yeast at these prices and, if so, why? I do brews that cost less in total than the price of a WL pack. I realise that people have different resources and different priorities, but there are cheaper, better options, no?

I use brett the way that Orval uses it. Pitch it after primary fermentation with a regular sacch yeast. Also, my understanding is that in historic English brewing brett kicked in when the beer was put into wooden casks after fermentation had finished. It's possible that Brett lurked in...

For me, the most important aspect of brewing is fermentation and I try to focus on pitching yeast that is as healthy and vibrant as possible. No yeast you buy is fresh, but you can easily sort that out with a starter. If you go to the trouble of brewing beer, it's a minor addition. Dry yeast is...

Escarpment Labs did test brews on stored harvested yeasts (lager and kolsch) and found that performance really dropped off after 3 weeks, for both yeasts. My approach is to pitch slurry up to a week, make a vitality starter for 1 to 4 weeks, and make a proper starter beyond 4 weeks...

https://boakandbailey.com/2007/05/half-and-half/ https://boakandbailey.com/2015/01/proporval/

I don't find black malt harsh. I buy English black malt in England. Kernel is one of the best craft brewers in England and uses more than 5% black malt in some of its excellent dark beers, alongside significant amounts of American hops. I don't know if this is down to different malts or...

I use natural gas (in the UK) as I do stove top and on brew day two days ago I used a total of £1.74 in gas (I have a smart meter and app), which includes cooking and shower. So must have been around a pound for the brewing gas, about $1.25. $1.50 tops.

Being an Englishman who was weaned on Boddington's cask bitter in the late 70s and early 80s, i brew regular ordinary pale bitters and it's clear to me that the brewers of Boddington's perfected the art of low cost/high demand, very moreish beer. Dry, light, bitter, thirst quenching, ultimate...

30L is a lot of beer for one smack pack i think even at that OG. And we don't know what state the yeast is in when it reaches us. I suspect that with a starter the beer would have fermented more successfully. An extra job but a very worthwhile one in my opinion. Maximise your chances of a...