Yeast with character for APA and IPA

[mario_silent]

I finally got my hands on some whitelabs yeast where I live, but I'd like to save some time and $ by not having to purchase every single strain and experiment with my recipes so I come here with the wise brewers of the forum for some advise.

I'm looking for a LIQUID yeast that gives a nice character to an IPA and APA (Maybe a little fruity) that also lets the hops shine. I've been using US05 a lot and recently made a test with the WLP041 Pacific ale on an amber but didn't really have a lot of yeast presence in my opinion. What other strains do you recommend to make those styles shine? (Besides WLP001 that's comparable to 05)

Thanks everyone!

 

[SEndorf]

You already listed it. 001 is my go-to yeast. I don't care for 05.
I've also tried 041 (for malt forward) and 060 (which WL admittedly says doesn't hop accentuate like 001)
Maybe there are others, but 001 shines.

 

[hopbrad]

Conan will give you a great character to compliment the hops. a bunch of different companies now have this strain, altho i dont believe WL or wyeast have it.
wyeast 1318 london ale, from what ive read, is really good too.

 

[Yooper]

Does it have to be White labs? I've found that my two favorite yeast strains for a little character in American beers are from Wyeast- 1272 and 1332.

 

[mario_silent]

You already listed it. 001 is my go-to yeast. I don't care for 05.
I've also tried 041 (for malt forward) and 060 (which WL admittedly says doesn't hop accentuate like 001)
Maybe there are others, but 001 shines.

Thanks, I was staying away from the highly popular 001 because I even watched a video that made a comparison between that and US05 and said they were pretty identical, but I might give it a try and make my own judgement

 

[mario_silent]

Conan will give you a great character to compliment the hops. a bunch of different companies now have this strain, altho i dont believe WL or wyeast have it.
wyeast 1318 london ale, from what ive read, is really good too.

Interesting, any commercial examples from which I can bottle harvest maybe? never heard of that one.
I've also read that 1318 is great but unfortunately I can't get any wyeast yeast around here :/

 

[mario_silent]

Does it have to be White labs? I've found that my two favorite yeast strains for a little character in American beers are from Wyeast- 1272 and 1332.

Too bad I can't get any Wyeast here. I'm from Mexico city, and there's a small brewery in Tijuana that gets the yeast from San Diego and ships here but they only have the Whitelabs catalog.

 

[SEndorf]

Thanks, I was staying away from the highly popular 001 because I even watched a video that made a comparison between that and US05 and said they were pretty identical, but I might give it a try and make my own judgement

I find 05 to be lackluster with an unacceptable lag time.
001 blows an airlock like a 20 dollar whore....
ymmv... worth a test if you can split the batch.

 

[Aristotelian]

Culture dregs from a bottle of Bells Two Hearted.

 

[hopbrad]

Interesting, any commercial examples from which I can bottle harvest maybe? never heard of that one.
I've also read that 1318 is great but unfortunately I can't get any wyeast yeast around here :/

The Alchemist - Heady Topper out of Vermont. Its a hard beer to get though.
Are there any freight forwarders/UPS/FEDEX/DHL to mexico city? you might want to try to ship a vial/packet down, it wont be ideal conditions on the time it will take, but a starter should get it going. in my opinion if you can culture up dregs from a bottle/can, you can culture up cells from a poorly treated yeast pack.

 

[SEndorf]

Too bad I can't get any Wyeast here. I'm from Mexico city, and there's a small brewery in Tijuana that gets the yeast from San Diego and ships here but they only have the Whitelabs catalog.

Frankly, it's human nature to desire what is unavailable to us. Those old enough to remember Coors in the late 70's? It was highly sought after in the Midwest because it was not shipped there at the time.

Between WL and dry yeast varieties, I don't feel there is anything missing in my repertoire for any beer style.

 

[mario_silent]

Frankly, it's human nature to desire what is unavailable to us. Those old enough to remember Coors in the late 70's? It was highly sought after in the Midwest because it was not shipped there at the time.

Between WL and dry yeast varieties, I don't feel there is anything missing in my repertoire for any beer style.

I couldn't agree more; before liquid yeast, I could only desire getting some.
I also agree, just by looking at the catalogue, that WL and dry yeast is plenty to do anything you crave.

 

[NatureOfTheYeast]

The way you're describing is pretty much how I brew. I buy a vial, grow it up, and repitch it for many generations. You have to be really attentive to sanitation, but it definitely pays off. Repitched yeast gets much better after a couple of generations.

007 is a fantastic yeast for hoppy styles. It needs to be fermented at around 64F though, too much warmer and it gets a strong cherry/plum ester.

So far, my hoppy beers using 002 are coming out nicely. Again, that's a yeast you ferment on the cooler side. 64F-66F. Mash low with that one, too, it doesn't like to attenuate much further than 75% unless you push it.

I've heard good things about 029 as an IPA yeast, but I don't have personal experience with it.

Wyeast 1007 (Altbier yeast) made some good hoppy styles for me. I don't know how well it equates, but white labs 036 is their Altbier strain. Ferment low, 58F-60F. A cold crash for at least 3 days is required with this strain, though. It doesn't like to settle.

Does it have to be White labs? I've found that my two favorite yeast strains for a little character in American beers are from Wyeast- 1272 and 1332.

I'm no help on 1332, but the White Labs equivalent to 1272 is 051, and that strain is a real badass too! I've made my best APAs and IPAs with it. I actually felt sad tossing it down the drain after 8 generations. It was like saying goodbye to a really good friend. I was out of recipe ideas and was ready to move on to another yeast.

 

[mario_silent]

The way you're describing is pretty much how I brew. I buy a vial, grow it up, and repitch it for many generations. You have to be really attentive to sanitation, but it definitely pays off. Repitched yeast gets much better after a couple of generations.

007 is a fantastic yeast for hoppy styles. It needs to be fermented at around 64F though, too much warmer and it gets a strong cherry/plum ester.

So far, my hoppy beers using 002 are coming out nicely. Again, that's a yeast you ferment on the cooler side. 64F-66F. Mash low with that one, too, it doesn't like to attenuate much further than 75% unless you push it.

I've heard good things about 029 as an IPA yeast, but I don't have personal experience with it.

Wyeast 1007 (Altbier yeast) made some good hoppy styles for me. I don't know how well it equates, but white labs 036 is their Altbier strain. Ferment low, 58F-60F. A cold crash for at least 3 days is required with this strain, though. It doesn't like to settle.



I'm no help on 1332, but the White Labs equivalent to 1272 is 051, and that strain is a real badass too! I've made my best APAs and IPAs with it. I actually felt sad tossing it down the drain after 8 generations. It was like saying goodbye to a really good friend. I was out of recipe ideas and was ready to move on to another yeast.

Excellent input on those yeasts! sometimes it gets hard to find experiences/yeast flavor profiles around, just the usual "It's great" and all that.

I actually have a pack of WL051, I'll be using it in my IPA this weekend and hope to fall in love with it as much as you did

Thanks a lot for your comments!

 

[filthyastronaut]

It's not American, but Wyeast 3944 came out quite cleaner than expected in three batches I made with it recently. There is just a hint of fruity Belgian character, but I really do mean a hint. And this is from pitching at 68 and letting it free rise. Basically in my experience recently it's much less aggressive than some other Belgian strains but will play well with hops and have more character than some other American strains.

 

[gometz]

I'll vote for WLP007, I've looked every hoppy beer I've made with it.