My only issue with Ringwood is that most commercial breweries using it end up putting out massive butterbombs. I have no doubt that in the hands of a knowledgeable homebrewer it can produce good beer.
That’s interesting – thanks! I’m sure the brewpub I was talking about is using the same stuff Shipyard is using.
Maybe some time I’ll give 1187 a shot because now I’m curious about it.
I just picked up a Shipyard Export for the purpose of tasting some diacetyl/butter, and comparing yeast characteristics against my special bitter brewed with 1187. I’ll post back anything meaningful.
Shipyard pushes their beer out fast because they only care about selling that pie spice beer. I wouldn’t take their house flavor as evidence of anything other than carelessness.
Traditionally, ringwood yeast is roused and aerated daily in open fermenters using something that almost looks like a shower head. This produces fast (and high) attenuation, a unique character, and very mild diacetyl.
I believe that the rousing/yeast aeration spray head is called a fishtail (that’s what Michael Lewis called it in “Brewing”). It is a component of the Yorkshire square system.
One can see the device being used to rouse and aerate the yeast at the Blacksheep Brewery in this video:
If the video linked above does not make one question the “Don’t rack your beer to a secondary because it will oxidize it” dogma that is spouted by well-meaning home brewers who are merely parroting what they obtained from a brewing misinformation center like HBT, nothing will.
True-blue Ringwood can be thing of beauty or a cruel mistress. It is a multi-strain Yorkshire culture that was originally used at Webster’s Brewery in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. The culture was also used at the Hull Brewery, which is where Peter Austin obtained it. Wyeast 1187 and White Labs WLP005 are single-strain cultures.
I like the Whitbread dry WY1099.
I like the Whitbread dry as well (though isn’t it WY1098?).
I think it is the same strain as S-04 and similar to the one used by Stone.
Yep. Good strain.
I will admit to being an outlier here:
Give WLP 004 a try on an English Bitter. I really like it, even though it is an Irish Ale yeast by moniker.
Yep, my bad, I often get my Whitbreads crossed.
Back in the early nineties, the literally DRY Whitbread brewing yeast was my go-to. Wonder if it’s still made?
Same here ! IIRC they had a bigger packet than the others at the time. Used a lot of it.
The official name for Whitbread dry is Whitbread “B.” The strain is also known as Wyeast 1098, White Labs WLP007, and Fermentis S-04. Whitbread “B” is the most popular ale strain in the world.
I know that a lot of people do not like S-04, but it’s about the only dry ale yeast offering that I actually use in my own brewery on anything approaching a regular basis. Ferment S-04 cool, and it behaves like an American strain. Ferment S-04 in the mid-sixties, and it emphasizes the “bread and biscuits” flavors found in British malt that are masked when using an American strain. Ferment it around 70F internal, and S-04 develops that signature Whitbread “B” fruitiness and tartness.
With that said, if I were limited to three British cultures, they would be real Ringwood (have pint or two of cask-conditioned ale on hand pump at Pratt Street Ale House at NHC 2016, and you will see where Narvin and I are coming from with this strain), Young’s (Wyeast 1768 English Special Bitter and White Labs WLP033 Klassic Ale), and Whitbread “B.” I know that a lot of people like the Fuller’s strain (Wyeast 1968 and White Labs WLP002); however, it is not a very British strain in my book. It’s just too boring.
Some time ago I split a batch of bitter between S-04 and Munton’s. I liked the S-04 better at first, but found myself really liking the Munton’s half as I got to the last few bottles.
I’ve been following these threads about the different strains of yeast and the dry counterparts and their heritage. Can anyone fill in some info on the Muntons strain? I went so far as to email them about the ‘heritage’ of their yeast but they never got back to me. Thanks!
I’m a big fan of 1028 for my British style beers.
WLP007 is also a nice clean English strain that I quite like for English IPA. Probably not the go to for milds, ESB etc but I like that I can do a decent English or American with it and it was my go to for years. Now West Yorkshire is my choice for lower alc brews, 007 for higher.
If we are going to switch gears and talk about dry English yeasts, my favorite is Munton’s Gold (not the regular Munton’s). Closest dry yeast to Fuller’s that I have ever used.
I used ringwood on my last pale ale. Wish I wouldn’t have. No buttery issue. I just don’t like it.
Munton’s, while not my favorite, is an underappreciated yeast. Last year I made a really good coconut cider with it.
While we are on the subject of dry yeast, I can thank the dominance of the old Edme dry strain in the home brewing trade back in the early nineties for forcing me to start culturing my own yeast on the fourth batch. I cannot believe that Fermentis decided to resurrect that strain as S-33. However, then again, their offering is more than likely at least a couple of orders of magnitude purer than the old Edme offering. A brewer never knew what he/she was going to get with the old Edme yeast.