1469

[Inkguy]

I used this yeast for the first time a couple of weeks ago, to make a Landlord-ish best bitter. It fermented 65, down to 62, and finished at 1.007, around 83% attenuation.
Saturday I made a mild, and decided to repitch onto the yeast cake. I siphoned the bitter out and poured in the mild wort. The temp was around 70, and a perfect krausen formed within hours. Yesterday I found that my airlock was full of yeast and such; the foam climbed all up the ides and reminded me of WLP001 or 3068. It did nothing like this on the bitter, which had about 8 points of gravity on the mild. It subsided this afternoon, and when I put the airlock back in, I took a whiff, and it smelled...odd, like mead. I didn't get the 'beer' smell I am used to, but I didn't sniff the bitter.
Is this normal for this strain? Is it just esters I'm not used to smelling?
I usually ferment around 63, though I have fermented US-05 at 74 with no ill effects.

 

[Cider123]

I just posted on 1469 a few minutes ago. It is probably my favorite yeast strain right now. As I stated in the other thread, I use this for all things British; milds, browns, porters, and bitters. It always leaves a nice malty flavor. I have not had it go down to 1.007 before but usually around 1.010-1.012.

Beers can have off flavors and smells while they condition. I made a porter with it a few months ago that finished winey and tangy. After a few weeks in the kegs it came out just fine. 70 is pretty high for fermenting ales and no doubt that you'll get some esters. This yeast likes it cooler, like the weather in old West Yorkshire!

 

[Foosier]

If you pitched your entire 5 gal batch onto the entire old yeast cake you likely over pitched by a large margin. That could lead to some off flavors since the yeast would have consumed the sugars too fast (or at least that is what I believe it will do in that situation.)

Either way you will still have beer. However, the proper pitch rate using slurry from a yeast cake is around a 1/2 cup and I can guarantee your cake was likely way larger than that. Check out Mr Malty in the future for the proper amount. Just choose the slurry option.

 

[Inkguy]

OK thanks for the info.
Winey and tangy - that sounds right. I bottle condition, so I'll definitely give it a few weeks before sampling, as well as a decent time in secondary.
Would a cooler secondary (high 50s) help smooth out the flavor?

I was surprised that the temp was so high. The ambient in my kitchen is about 64 - as it was with the bitter (I had a blanket wrapped around it, and the temp never got over 65), so I expected the wort temp to fall before fermentation started.
I am expecting esters, and I thought the stone fruit esters would complement the dark fruit flavor of the 160L crystal malt.

As to the pitching, I have heard both - yeast cake is fine, yeast cake is too much. Whenever I repitched in the past, I collected some of the primary yeast, stored it in the fridge and washed it several times. I have only done the yeast cake thing once before - a mild to oatmeal stout with WLP007. The beer was done in 3 days and tasted great.
I will definitely go back to the old way, collecting part of the slurry.

 

[Calder]

Whenever I repitched in the past, I collected some of the primary yeast, stored it in the fridge and washed it several times. I have only done the yeast cake thing once before - a mild to oatmeal stout with WLP007. The beer was done in 3 days and tasted great.
I will definitely go back to the old way, collecting part of the slurry.

You don't have to wash it every time. Just take a quarter of the cake and pitch that.