WLP002/WY1968 is a really outstanding yeast strain and is probably overlooked by some brewers due to the diacetyl warning and the absurdly low attenuation listed on the yeast companies’ websites. IME, the diacetyl production isn’t all that severe (better than most lager strains, anyway), and if you follow the homebrewers’ British Ale rule of thumb by giving it an extra few days at ambient after it looks finished, the diacetyl will be pretty much cleaned up. Cold crashing too quickly will give you yeast that poops out on you with almost any beer. In the case of 002/1968, that does mean diacetyl. I have never had detectable diacetyl from 002/1968, and I ferment them cool (63-65º F), but I do ramp it up as krausen begins to shrink. That said, if you are trying to get diactyl production (why?), then the thing to do is to use ringwood (005/1187) and cold crash as soon as the yeast drops.
I am also going to plug a couple other yeast strains. I like 1318 a lot because it is basically 002 with less fruit (therefore great for American-style ales as well as bitters and porters and whatnot). And S-04 is also a great and underrated yeast strain. I think people who don’t like S-04 ferment too warm with it. I find it produces excellent beers anywhere from 60º F to 68º F, but it gets a little breadier at the cooler end (58º-62º F) and can be a little too ester-forward warmer than about 66º-68º F. My usual fermentation plan with that one is to pitch at 62º and keep the fermentation chamber set to 58º to get fermentation in the 64º-66º F “sweet spot.” I know most homebrewers in my clubs tend to ferment most of their beers 4º-6º warmer than I do, and many still just use the ambient temperature of their closets (not a lot of basements here in Oakland). That may cause much of the discomfort some people have with S-04.
I make a lot of british ales… they are nicely balanced and I can’t find too many here in the states that haven’t been shipped over from England.
I’ve tried most of the Wyeast yeasts (London Ale 3, Thames Valley Ale, Irish Ale, London ESB, London Ale, etc.). I’ve made Jamil’s “Best Bitter” recipe at least 6 times now, with a bunch of different yeasts. So far, my personal favorite by far is the WYeast private collection Thames Valley Ale II (1882).
This is a GREAT yeast that I really love. Last time I used it was for a brewin series with my homebrew club. We made a Best Bitter, Northern Brown, and Brown porter about a month apart and repitched the 1882 between each batch. All three of the beers were fantastic, but the Best Bitter was supurb. THe next time it comes around in the WYeast private collection I suggest you check it out.
Personally, I’m thinking of starting a personal yeast slant of this one. Once a year is not nearly enough.
I plan to use S-04 for my next beer but am concerned about diacetyl. I have only used this yeast once and definitely had some diacetyl issues.
Ambient temp in the room where I will be fermenting is right above 60F but I don’t have the ability to ramp up the temp toward the end of fermention. Will this be an issue?
Out of curiousity what would be the effect of pitching at too high but dropping the temp over time? I know this is bad practice. I don’t as much control over my beers as I would like right now due to a different location and brewing partner…long story…
Let’s say that the yeast was pitched at 70F and over two weeks the temp dropped to 62F. Is this a prime scenario for diacetyl? I am so used to using US05 that I am worried my practices will mess up the beer.
You just described my fermentation practice for the first 2 years I brewed. It’s unpredictable how much that temperature swing will mess up your beer. My recommendation would be to just get it cooler before you pitch. If you can’t chill the beer further, transfer it into your fermenter, then wait overnight. In the morning, the temperature will have dropped considerably and that is the time to aerate and pitch your yeast.
As for diacetyl with S-04 - I have never had that problem, but I always give my English-yeast beers plenty of extra time to clean up. I recommend you give the beer 2-3 weeks in primary, regardless of whether it appears “done” after 6 days. Basically, just give it a week longer than you would if you were using US-05. If you can’t ramp it up to 70º F, at least you can give the yeast a longer amount of time to clean up after itself. In my experience, the extra week or two has caused zero problems, but “rush jobs” have caused me a lot of frustration.
Thanks. First time I’ve used this yeast for this recipe. I’ve always used the Irish Ale (1084?) yeast in the past. I’ll need to dig out some old bottles for a comparison. For educational purposes only.