We brewed a 10 gallon batch of an American Amber on Tuesday. Decided (I don’t know why) to use london ale (1028), instead of the old stand by, 1056.
Normally, I have great activity the next morning. With this batch, nothing yesterday at all. Of course by this morning everything is going fine, and the bubblers are, well, bubbling.
Is this normal that London Ale yeast takes a bit longer to get going?
1056 is a super-fast starter for me, but I’ve always attributed it to the freshness of the culture. Its probably the best seller at my LHBS, so its normally 2-3 weeks old off the shelf.
I also assumed its youth was the reason I can squeeze 1-2 more batches out of a cake than the other yeasts I use.
I used Wyeast London Ale (1028) in my last Porter and it started fairly quickly, ie., less than 12 hours. It was fresh and I used a good quantity. Came out great.