Thanks for the advice Joe. Will definitely consider it when purchasing.
You can definitely brew two of the styles you mention without a need to reyeast. Maybe three, depending on the strength of the porter you mentioned.
You path could be something like this:
Mild → repitch Bitter → repitch Barleywine
| |
bottle bottle
| |
----------------------> culture dregs → porter
If you go with a mixed culture I don’t think I’d recommend this approach. But it would be a way to stretch a single smack pack of 1968 into many different beers.
Really liking that plan Phil, come late summer, I just might take a run at it as you plotted out
The last beer that I brewed with regular Munton’s (all-grain British pale ale) went from 1.050 to 1.009.
For the low/mid gravity ales I would throw WYeast 1469 in to the equation. Great flavour profile for the lower gravity stuff and it doesn’t attenuate too far. It is balanced and lets the malt and hop profile through.
I like both Nottingham and SO4, but they do strip some hop character and are fairly neutral taste wise.
I don’t think that yeast charachter is so important for the barley wine and on the rare occasions I brew high gravity, I would just use a couple of packets of Nottingham.
I very much appreciated the input from everyone but i’m looking for opinions on just the following:
Munton’s Regular, Munton’s Gold
Notty/Windsor
S-04
I have used the liquid strains and love them but am looking for dry options for a while.
Maybe you need to do a couple of split batches and see which you prefer.
A year is a long time to work with a single strain, and also kind of an arbitrary confine with the exception that it’s 1 year long. Being the only truly flavor-versatile and biodynamic component of beer, I’d feel bummed to only get one yeast to work with for the year. The expression of a yeast can - for the most part - be fleshed out over a few brews, in my experience, which would not take me a year to complete. How about, rather than brew the same 4 beers over and over again, all year long, with the same exact yeast, what if you instead brewed the same 4 beers but each time you use one of your dry yeast options? Dry yeast has a storage shelf life of years, and can even be extended by putting it in a freezer. You should not run into a viability problem by owning several of your choices and just storing them in the freezer. I know this strays from your goal a bit, but I’m just kind of thinking out loud here. Good luck (and where’s your blog where you’ll be posting your results :D)
I’m looking to nail down and consistently brew the same recipes. As a brewer, I’m not into variety from a homebrewing standpoint. I’d be much happier brewing the same good beers over and over again.
Variety tends to come from the commercial beers I drink.
Thanks for the suggestion though!
Once life settles down a bit I hope to rework some of the aspects of my blog.
I am very much a dry yeast user except for very specific styles. For the beers I brew, there are plenty of dry yeast to the job, and do the job well for the cost, reliability and ease of use.
That being said I’ll add my .2 cents with what I have used.
Munton’s Regular, Munton’s Gold - I have tried Munton’s Gold based on the suggestions here that it is like you mentioned the closest thing to 1968. After using it, I do not know how I compare the two. I would say they are similar flavor wise. What I did find is it did not clear for crap. Is it claimed to be a flocculant yeast like 1968? I haven’t used the Munton’s Regular based on advice to use the Gold instead. But hell, try them both.
Out of the beers you listed I would try the Gold in a Mild or Bitter. Except I would adjust recipe and or mash temp for more mouthfeel so the beers are not overly thin.
Notty/Windsor -Haven’t tried the combo but just like Munton’s Gold I have heard good things. This combo might be good for the Mild you want to brew.
S-04 - I have used this yeast a lot over the years. Since people either love it or hate it I’m in the camp that I do like it. I have found it quite usable. I like it in an English Bitter. It gets to work, clears fast and gets the job done with decent flavors and esters…but it is temperature sensitive. I like to use it around 66*. I’m sure it can go lower but it gets too clean/nuetral. Go warmer like 68, 70* and I have notice more fruity esters and even more of the sour/tangy note it has. Around 66* I get that nice balance of clean, bready with mild English esters.
I recomend s-04 for a Bitter. That is the style I have used it most. I have also made American Pale Ales, a Blonde Ale with it and I really liked it in an American IPA. It just depends. I’m sure it would also be great in a Barleywine. I have used it in a Porters, Stouts and Brown Ales. It does fine with those but I do not prefer it in darker beers as much as I do a Bitter. Again, depends I guess.
Derek, just another note. Munton’s Gold (2 packs) took my challenge beer, a smoked porter, from 1.071 down right to my projected target of 1.018. These were beersmith projections as well as the extract kit instructions from my LHBS. I have not used many liquid strains, so I really cannot compare it for you, but its what came with the kit and performed as expected. The final tasting notes will come from PeteB after I ship for Spring swap next week.
Good to know Frank. I like the 6 gram packages for my small batches. I’m going to pick up 1 pack each of Notty, Windsor, Munton’s Gold and Regular and S-04 and have a shootout.
I agree with Porterhaus that S04 makes good English bitter with nice yeast character. Be aware that it strips out hop flavour, so if you want a hop-forward style then add some dry hops.
I haven’t tried notty+Windsor but the combination sounds very interesting. According to Danstar, Nottingham was originally isolated from a multi strain English yeast, so using it that way is true to style. On its own it’s no good for yeast-forward English bitter - it’s dry, tart and very neutral, almost like a lager yeast. Fine for crisp golden ales and hop-forward beers though.
I am a Trappist lover at heart but English Ales have been calling my name recently.
Belgian beers are delicious but can be wickedly strong. British beers are better if want something that you can drink by the pint. Either way yeast choice is key to getting character.
I’ve never used Windsor or Munton’s gold, but I’ve used regular Munton’s in ordinary bitter and British pale ale and mild and cider with good results. I use Nottingham in brown ale. And I’ve used S-04 in several different ales with good results.
In a month or so I’m planning on doing a British IPA with the S-04 and/or the Munton’s.
I stopped using it because of the tartness. I find it very off-putting.
Yes the tart/dry thing is odd in some kinds of beer. I think it’s OK in crisp, hybrid style beers halfway between ale and lager, probably good in cider, but US05 is better for pale ales and just tastes more beerlike than Nottingham to me.
I’ve recently tried Mangrove Jack’s Burton in a bitter and it turned out really drinkable. I don’t know what an English bitter should taste like, but I like it.