I've got two DIPA's on keg at the moment, exactly the same except one was fermented with a brewery strain which I consider very close (but not the same as) WY1332 or WLP007 and the other with Lallemand London ESB for comparison. I mention this because the ESB looks a lot like Windsor on paper.
The brewery strain is not like nottingham, slightly worse attenuation and slightly more esters, though typically still attenuates in the mid 80's. I managed to get from 70 down to 9 and it took 5 days to do so at 18C with a rouse at day 3 for the final few points. I would have avoided this if I'd fermented a little warmer, but then it wouldn't have been as clean and it shared a chamber with the ESB. The ESB is one of the most aggressive yeasts I've used going from 70 to 16 in under 40 hours at the same temperature with no change on rousing. Previous fermentations with it at 21C had it all over the ceiling. The beer fermented with brewery yeast smelt slightly yeasty and clean on transfer where as the ESB smelt very strongly of sulphur which I've had before and was hoping to reduce with a lower fermentation temperature though it cleans up with a little time. The brewery yeast had dropped exceptionally bright upon cold crashing which is a normal characteristic, the ESB looked like milk.
The brewery yeast is usually fermented at 21-23C for 3 days. It can be slow to finish, especially as fermentation slows and temperature falls a bit which suits us fine because the beer is destined for cask and requires a couple of points for cask conditioning. It drops out very readily unless you can keep it warm so if you need it dry and don't want to wait it out a co2 rouse towards the end of fermentation usually gets you over the finish line. If you pitch on the lean side it throws a very nice peach ester at 19C and above which is nice in more subtle beer. Fermenting under pressure or with higher pitch rates reduces this character. It doesn't need fining because it drops so well.
The flavour profile is very dry and minerally. It doesn't really get in the way of much, but I find it brings out hard bittering. The DIPA is bright, dry, crisp and tastes very traditional. The aroma is impressive, but not heady and less than I would expect. The bittering is green and sharp exasperated by a tartness and has continued to be throughout the period I would like to be drinking the beer fresh though it has diminished. I am quite disappointed as it tastes hoppy, but muddled.
The DIPA fermented with ESB is very sweet, but not particularly cloying as it balances with the bitterness. It dropped bright, but took almost 10 days to do so. Yeast like this is destined to be fined in cask as it poured like milk for the first week which is fine for a keg you don't move, but it threw yeast in the glass on drinking which is not particularly good. Sulphur notes dropped off quickly within a week. Aroma explodes out of the glass, smells and tastes like tropical sweets with separation between the biggest flavours. I much prefer this beer, but would struggle to drink much of it because of the sweetness.
The brewery yeast is well suited for the rapid production of moderate strength traditional ales. It has some nice traits, producing a crisp, dry and very sessionable brew, dropping bright in good time without fining, good attenuation with a nice predictable finish which catches nobody by surprise. Ridiculously easy to top crop with a krausen that never falls. As the beers get bigger however the flavours compete rather than shine and it just gets a bit sharp.
The ESB is almost comically sweet. In a smaller beer this would be desirable. In future beers I would emphasise fermentability in the mash tun and grist composition. For bigger beers I would recommend getting a significant portion of the extract from simple sugar to avoid the residual maltotriose. In fact this is how I would proceed rather than mixing the strains to be honest. That said the beer is delicious and does not disappoint, but very difficult to session which is maybe the intent with a big DIPA full of hops. The flocculation is terrible and unless you can live with it, requires fining.
Both beers were treated with a beta glucosidase enzyme which was the real trial to be honest. In case you were interested.
86% extra pale malt
7% flaked oats
7% light munich
Mashed 65.5C for 60m. SG 70. Acidify liquor to give <30ppm alkalinity. 200ppm sulphate and chloride added to mash to reach pH 5.3.
10% magnum boil 60m
30% vic secret whirlpool 30m
30% mosaic whirlpool 30m
20% citra whirlpool 30m
5% el dorado whirlpool 30m
5% galaxy whirlpool 30m
Calculated IBU's 70 though whirlpool contribution is up for debate. I calculate as a 5m boil. Dry hop was total 16g/L vic secret, mosaic, citra, el dorado and galaxy in 8:8:4:1:1 proportions for 3 days at 16C followed cold crashing 2 days and kegging. I'll take a picture if I get a pour later.
