White Labs Yeast Vault

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
IslandLizard said:
Apparently I dragged my heels and missed the Bedford British Ale release... It must have jumped up suddenly.

Then again it's also mid summer, not the best time to mail order yeast anyway. No matter how many ice packs they add to a silver bubble envelope, it's gonna get cooked.

I really hope they come up with a better system.
Click to expand...
I was going to say check the direct buy from white labs section that there might be some wlp006 available and you can get it with fast delivery, but I just noticed they revamped that section. I would think they probably over build and should be able to get some direct if you contacted them.
 
Beer-lord said:
I was told recently they are working on a better system. Hopefully you can choose another shipping option as well as pay extra for more ice packs. I'm sure they must be tired of replacing yeast.
Click to expand...
Good availability during cooler/moderate months, late Fall, early Spring, would be ideal. That's when we should order and get yeast shipped for the upcoming season. Shipping yeast now the way it's done is crazy!

Even 10 ice packs are not gonna help much after 1 day in a hot truck or hot distribution center.
 
ba-brewer said:
I was going to say check the direct buy from white labs section that there might be some wlp006 available and you can get it with fast delivery, but I just noticed they revamped that section. I would think they probably over build and should be able to get some direct if you contacted them.
Click to expand...
When a strain went into production you could add your order for some time after that. That feature seems to be gone, indeed.

I guess I can contact them, but the issue is if shipping yeast during these months makes sense at all. It's 90F+ pretty much all along the shipping route, coast to coast for me.

The last vault one I got, the 546 Maranon Canyon, shipped in March, but arrived being pretty dark already. It took 2 step starters for almost 2 weeks to get a decent amount I could build my final pitchable starters from.
 
IslandLizard said:
When a strain went into production you could add your order for some time after that. That feature seems to be gone, indeed.

I guess I can contact them, but the issue is if shipping yeast during these months makes sense at all. It's 90F+ pretty much all along the shipping route, coast to coast for me.

The last vault one I got, the 546 Maranon Canyon, shipped in March, but arrived being pretty dark already. It took 2 step starters for almost 2 weeks to get a decent amount I could build my final pitchable starters from.
Click to expand...

The vault USPS shipping is iffy at best, but if you find things on yeastman there is/was an option for fedex or expedited shipping.

I did get some wlp006 the last time it was orderable. I only used it once but I have some slanted, it does seem like a decent yeast.

How did the 546 Maranon Canyon yeast work for you?
 
IslandLizard said:
Apparently I dragged my heels and missed the Bedford British Ale release... It must have jumped up suddenly.

Then again it's also mid summer, not the best time to mail order yeast anyway. No matter how many ice packs they add to a silver bubble envelope, it's gonna get cooked.

I really hope they come up with a better system.
Click to expand...

Same here. Was thinking about the Bedford before July 1 just because it is used in a recipe or two in Brewing Classic Styles...but oh well...I have used maybe 15 total of the standard White Labs yeasts. I really try to avoid ordering yeast mail order...especially if shipped across the country.

I don't really want a pack of yeast to show up at some random time. I hear about some people that have several yeasts from the vault on order, and they are not that happy to have all of them show up in a one month window.
 
In case there are people still shopping these are the yeast I have tried from the vault
WLP860 Munich Helles Lager Yeast - I seemed to get esters from this one, sort of like the fruitiness but not was what I was expecting
WLP515 Antwerp Ale Yeast - I have had this one come off clean and also some phenols, cleaner than the wyeast schelde ale yeast
WLP835 German X Lager Yeast - Make a good lager, cleaner less earthy and sulfur than some of the other german lager yeasts
WLP030 Thames Valley Ale Yeast - Quite clean, cant seem to get consistent attenuation with this one
WLP815 Belgian Lager Yeast - Clean lager even cleaner than wlp835
WLP037 Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast - Got pretty high attenuation with this also quite phenolic would make a nice clean saison
WLP845 Fast Lager Yeast - seems like a german yeast, not faster to ferment or condition then the average lager yeast for me
WLP076 Old Sonoma Ale Yeast - make a good IPA, ferments starts off strong but then creeps slowly to FG, might be good for natural carbed kegs
 
It doesn't appear that they are going to space this out at all.

Over the last 5 days I've been charged for WLP564, WLP006, WLP059 and WLP835. WLP059 is the oldest order I have dating from 9/29/17.

I guess I'm going to have to drink faster!
 
Anyone have experience with either of the two Australian strains, WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast and WLP059 Melbourne Ale Yeast?

edit: just looked and they put those into production, they were not very close yesterday. Would still like to hear about anyone experience in case they come up again.
 
Last edited:
009 is a nice cleanish, fairly well-behaved yeast. Used it once, would use it again. It does show up sometimes as a seasonal.

Melbourne has quite a good reputation from memory, but is one of those that seems to stay buried in the Vault normally.
 
ba-brewer said:
Anyone have experience with either of the two Australian strains, WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast and WLP059 Melbourne Ale Yeast?

edit: just looked and they put those into production, they were not very close yesterday. Would still like to hear about anyone experience in case they come up again.
Click to expand...
You can still pre-order those, search by their (partial) name or WLP number on the Yeast Bank.
 
ba-brewer said:
It says in production in my browser and no option to order.

In the past I believe I was able to add an order when it said production but cant seem to be able now.
Click to expand...
Yup, they must have just removed the pre-order link, it still worked earlier this morning.

If you want them now, I'd contact them, and see what your options are. Maybe they'll bring them out as a general release... They said they were changing their Vault/ordering process in July, which is only a week ahead.

But... the temps and time en route really are not in our favor right now for shipping yeast.
When I pick up yeast from my LHBS I always have a small cooler with me or at least an insulated mug with some ice.
 
Northern_Brewer said:
009 is a nice cleanish, fairly well-behaved yeast. Used it once, would use it again. It does show up sometimes as a seasonal.

Melbourne has quite a good reputation from memory, but is one of those that seems to stay buried in the Vault normally.
Click to expand...

I can see WLP009 and WLP025 are not too far from each other on the yeast family tree, wlp025 does not seen that clean.

I was looking for information wlp009 and wlp059 and found this post
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/favorite-recipe-websites-blogs.666043/#post-8596066

There is comment about old spice and cabbage which seems like something wlp025 might produce. I have wlp025 on order from the vault so will be curious how it turns out.
 
IslandLizard said:
Yup, they must have just removed the pre-order link, it still worked earlier this morning.

If you want them now, I'd contact them, and see what your options are. Maybe they'll bring them out as a general release... They said they were changing their Vault/ordering process in July, which is only a week ahead.

But... the temps and time en route really are not in our favor right now for shipping yeast.
When I pick up yeast from my LHBS I always have a small cooler with me or at least an insulated mug with some ice.
Click to expand...

I did contact them and they said to get to back in touch with them around 7/8 to see if there is anything left after the orders are filled.​
 
ba-brewer said:
I can see WLP009 and WLP025 are not too far from each other on the yeast family tree, wlp025 does not seen that clean.
Click to expand...

You are really close to your mother on your family tree, but hopefully you are fairly different! So proximity doesn't always mean close similarity, particularly for single/few gene characteristics like phenol production or floccing, whereas they can be quite similar for multigene characteristics (like general esteriness or human height).

And actually the family tree in that area is not that close - there's few strains sampled, which means they are "close" as you go sideways around the circle but what matters is the "height" of the lines, and you'll see that there's quite "mountain" between 025 and 009, on that measure they're further apart than eg Nottingham/039 and the Whitbreads.
 
Northern_Brewer said:
You are really close to your mother on your family tree, but hopefully you are fairly different! So proximity doesn't always mean close similarity, particularly for single/few gene characteristics like phenol production or floccing, whereas they can be quite similar for multigene characteristics (like general esteriness or human height).

And actually the family tree in that area is not that close - there's few strains sampled, which means they are "close" as you go sideways around the circle but what matters is the "height" of the lines, and you'll see that there's quite "mountain" between 025 and 009, on that measure they're further apart than eg Nottingham/039 and the Whitbreads.
Click to expand...

Thanks for information. I did not know there was significance in the length of the lines, was just thinking it was cosmetic thing.
 
Received two yeasts (006 and 070) in the mail today. Both were 78F on the ice pack - not sure what the yeast actual F was.
 
So I got one of my five orders today. I was so excited for this big July vault release to start adding unique strains to my frozen yeast bank and I've been utterly let down. The inside of the package felt like an oven. It took a week for it to arrive to Idaho from California. I'm hoping to get at least some kind of life from this with some starters but their shipping practices are atrocious.
20190629_170650.jpeg
 
Parcel Select Post is a ridiculous shipping method for a perishable item like this. Priority is not much more and guarantees 2-3 days. I complained to WL about this, suggest others do same. Not sure I'm going to be doing this again, I pretty much spend a day on brew day and I don't need questionable yeast.
 
Last edited:
@yourlastchance89 I got my Bedford yeast today too; interesting your yeast was rubber banded to the ice pack-- mine was not. It probably helped keep your yeast a little cooler I suspect for a longer period of time.

My yeast clocked in at 75F when I got mine today--- but who knows what temps it got to en route.

I am grateful though it got to me today as opposed to the USPS estimate-- USPS said I would not receive it until Tuesday! So I am glad it didn't sit in a boiling warehouse all weekend.

I agree with others-- the shipping method, only one ice-pack, etc. needs a lot of work on White Labs part...

BUT I also think to a certain extent everyone shouldn't fret-- yeasts are pretty amazing organisms and they will almost certainly be great once a starter is built. Some might not want to build a starter, but really, that is best practice any how for 5g or larger batches.

All I am saying-- White Labs can improve, but we are getting our hands on hard to source strains that will almost certainly produce great bears for us.

One data point-- I am still using (just used again yesterday) some WY1469 I have been using since 2015. That in and of itself isn't that remarkable. However, before I ever used it the first time, my fridge malfunctioned while on vacation and the yeast completely froze-- and was frozen for in excess of a week. I thawed, built a starter and the rest is as they say, more than four years later, history!

:mug:
 
cyberbackpacker said:
@yourlastchance89 I got my Bedford yeast today too; interesting your yeast was rubber banded to the ice pack-- mine was not. It probably helped keep your yeast a little cooler I suspect for a longer period of time.

My yeast clocked in at 75F when I got mine today--- but who knows what temps it got to en route.

I am grateful though it got to me today as opposed to the USPS estimate-- USPS said I would not receive it until Tuesday! So I am glad it didn't sit in a boiling warehouse all weekend.

I agree with others-- the shipping method, only one ice-pack, etc. needs a lot of work on White Labs part...

BUT I also think to a certain extent everyone shouldn't fret-- yeasts are pretty amazing organisms and they will almost certainly be great once a starter is built. Some might not want to build a starter, but really, that is best practice any how for 5g or larger batches.

All I am saying-- White Labs can improve, but we are getting our hands on hard to source strains that will almost certainly produce great bears for us.

One data point-- I am still using (just used again yesterday) some WY1469 I have been using since 2015. That in and of itself isn't that remarkable. However, before I ever used it the first time, my fridge malfunctioned while on vacation and the yeast completely froze-- and was frozen for in excess of a week. I thawed, built a starter and the rest is as they say, more than four years later, history!

:mug:
Click to expand...
Mine was not rubber banded. My ice pack that came with it felt mash temp hot and felt like it probably did more harm than good. I immediately grabbed an ice pack I had in the fridge and rubber banded it on before placing it in the fridge.
 
ba-brewer said:
How did the 546 Maranon Canyon yeast work for you?
Click to expand...
After building decent size starters it worked great. It's a very unique yeast, unlike anything else.

I'm at the end of the keg, brewed 5/31, the beer has become really good now. Still a tad hazy. I'm brewing another batch or 2 soon, polishing the recipe somewhat.
 
Doubt rubber-banding makes a difference. My first shipment took a week, the second took two days. Neither had a rubber band, but in each case my laser thermometer found higher temps on the surface of the ice pack than the yeast vial.
 
I have 070 on the stir plate. 1st prop will be 2.5l and the 2nd prop will be 4.5l. It arrived at 78F and was immediately put in the yeast kegerator. Today a little over an hour of going into the 2.5l it was obviously propagating.
 
My picks from the vault clearing;
WLP022 Essex Ale Yeast
WLP025 Southwold Ale Yeast
WLP026 Premium Bitter Ale Yeast
WLP033 Klassic Ale Yeast
WLP038 Manchester Ale Yeast
WLP039 East Midlands Ale Yeast
 
Nice selection... I ordered all of the above too, save for WLP039 since it is ~Nottingham.

Should be some fun strains to brew with!
 
It looks like Adventures in Homebrewing is partnering with WL and offering 3 of their vault strains each month. Their customer service is great so they would probably give out the schedule of what's going to be available, as least as far as they know. I've never ordered liquid yeast from them so not sure how robust their packing is with one ice pack. I wish they had the option Morebeer does of upgrading to 2 ice packs and a better insulated sleeve for a few bucks more. I've had good success with that even in summer.
 
@VirginiaHops1, Do you have a link to Adventures in Homebrewing is partnering with WL, it sort of looks like they are just offering the seasonal release.

It would be good if they got different vendor to sponsor a few vault strains each and make them available year around.
 
ba-brewer said:
@VirginiaHops1, Do you have a link to Adventures in Homebrewing is partnering with WL, it sort of looks like they are just offering the seasonal release.

It would be good if they got different vendor to sponsor a few vault strains each and make them available year around.
Click to expand...

I got an email from them that stated the below and I saw on their site a few were available to buy, so I assumed AIH worked something out to sell some of their limited vault stuff but if they are just offering stuff that WL is already making available on a seasonal basis then sorry for the false alarm. I didn't cross reference it to what WL had available.

"Every three months, White Labs will make three different specialty strains available through Adventures in Homebrewing. Here is what is available now!"
 
Finished nursing my WLP006 back up yesterday. Streaked it across a malt agar plate and then added some to a glycerin distilled water solution to freeze in the yeast bank. I still have yet to receive the four other strains I've ordered though.
IMG_20190630_185025_601.jpeg
IMG_20190705_135906_182.jpeg
 
Those jagoffs sent both of my 009 (they doubled my order?) out on weds. Sat in usps facility all day on the 4th. Up to bay area by 5th, in my mailbox today the 6th. Not friggin happy as i wont be home until tomorrow. Hope it survives. Or doesn’t get stolen. Likely already stolen.

What kind of assholery makes them ship batches during a holiday week when everyone is on vacation? Total idiocy.

Guess they are gonna have to ship me two more.
 
SanPancho said:
Those jagoffs sent both of my 009 (they doubled my order?) out on weds. Sat in usps facility all day on the 4th. Up to bay area by 5th, in my mailbox today the 6th. Not friggin happy as i wont be home until tomorrow. Hope it survives. Or doesn’t get stolen. Likely already stolen.

What kind of assholery makes them ship batches during a holiday week when everyone is on vacation? Total idiocy.

Guess they are gonna have to ship me two more.
Click to expand...
Yeah it is a shame they don't give consumers the options for more expedited shipping. I definitely wouldn't directly pitch any vials shipped in this summer heat directly, but I think most should be just fine if revitalized with a starter
 

Similar threads

SanPancho
Andechs lager yeast/ LagerX / MIP620 - now coming from Bootleg biology Beta release Spring 2023
Replies
1
Views
849
eliastheodosis
eliastheodosis
Brooothru
White Labs Has My Christmas Cheer 👍
Replies
7
Views
657
Brooothru
Brooothru
camonick
Question about new White Labs “Next Generation” yeast packets.
2
Replies
48
Views
4K
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
Brooothru
Is Imperial L26 "Pilgrimage" blended yeast an Andechs strain?
Replies
31
Views
4K
Brooothru
Brooothru
O
Do I have an infection? Lager Yeast Fermented Warm
Replies
17
Views
2K
rtstrider
rtstrider

Latest posts

Back
Top