I’ve only used 1450 once before and it was good but it was weird as far as it’s activity.
First time I used LHBS yeast and made a small starter. This time I used washed yeast and I made a 2000 ml starter for a 1.069 beer. Usually my yeast starters are beasts, go crazy and are easy to see activity for 3-4 days.
But both times, the 1450 starts anemic, and isn’t that volatile and visible activity is only 2 days. Now it’s too early for me to care enough to check gravity but is this what I should be seeing?
i have a thread over in extract brewing about this yeast. i’m fermenting a beer i brewed a week ago today and i just checked it upstairs and i’m still getting much much much activity. to the point i’m almost shocked. i didn’t take an OG, but according to beersmith, i should have been at 1.054, so nothing high gravity.
here is the thread with some add’l information…
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=14261.0
i just took this video this morning…
I brewed an APA in early December with 1450 (dated sometime in October). It fermented around 60 degrees and took about 10 days to finish. It had gravities of 1.058 and 1.012. I really like how it brought more of the malt flavor out. I reused the yeast in a brown porter on December 29. It started at 1.050 and was sitting at 1.022 last night, there is still some activity so I’m hoping it’s going to finish below 1.015. I moved the fermenter into a warmer room and sloshed it around a bit in hoping to keep it going.
It was always a beast for me. Maybe temperature of the fermentor, or the first pack was slightly mishandled along the way (too warm or cold) and then in the wash cycle, it was diluted down to having fewer cells available?
Otherwise, I don’t know what to say.
I have made 7 batches over the last year or so with 1450 at 65 & 68 F. For ME, 1450 provides a very good
mouth feel; but was always slow in fermenting and very slow dropping out. IMO, it’s a lazy yeast.
i brewed on 1/1/13 and i’m still getting a bubble in the airlock every eight seconds.
Checked mine again this morning and I’m only getting airlock activity every 25 seconds or so. I’ll check gravity when I dry hop next week.
It’s strange that I’ve posted this question on 3 beer forums and the answers are the same…about half say that it acts pretty much normal as the other yeasts and the other half stating it’s a slow mover. Matters not to me as long as I have good beer. I’m patient and pretty much have my brewing down with excellent results and I don’t expect this one to be any different in the end.
I brewed a red on Oct. 21st using this yeast. It was my first brew so I had no idea what to expect. In comparison to my subsequent brews it visually was quite anemic. High Krausen was maybe 1.5". However it was done fairly quickly (brewed Sunday afternoon, no bubbler activity by Tue eve). I left it in the primary for a week before I kegged. OG:1.053, FG:1.007 (!)
I did a 1 liter starter.
Steve
the different experiences with this yeast are very interesting.
How many times do we have to say it? Airlock activity is not a good indicator of yeast activity. Check your gravity before you worry about what the yeast is doing.
i actually hadn’t heard that, so thanks.
what about other than airlock activity, like this…
Sorry, I just assume everyone reads everything 
Sure, in the video you can see the yeast is doing something. Airlock activity is just gas coming out of solution, maybe because the yeast is generating more, maybe because of temperature changes, maybe because it hasn’t reached equilibrium yet. One bubble every 25s could be any of those things, mine will bubble that fast or faster long after the beer has reached terminal gravity. Even every 8s doesn’t tell you much. That’s not to say you should ignore the airlock in these cases, but if it slows down then the yeast is done or nearly done. Check gravity, wait a couple of days, check it again. That will tell you what is going on.
thanks tom!