I picked up a handful of Windsor yeast packs from Danstar. Never used it before and the LHBS’ price was half that of the S-05 they were out of. My web search reveals that it finishes high.
The stuff takes off voraciously. But then the krausen drops early leaving it a high finisher as for-told. On my second go with it the krausen rose and dropped within 30 hours of re-pitching.
Carbed- the 10 day old PA tastes great. ;D There’s some medium bodied fruitiness there but no harsh solventy or estery flavors. I was really worried about it being too sweet but it’s all good! We’ll see about this Brown ale after a few days…
I consider a beer to have finished “high” when FG is above 1.016 up into the 20’s when it had the potential to finish much lower. Both of these batches show a final gravity of 1.020. Mainly it’s a comparison to other dry ale yeasts such as S-04 and US-05 which in my experience consistently finish about 1.010- 1.012. However, at this point I’m entirely pleased with the results.
FWIW, I’ve found that Windsor gives a fruitier finish - more like S-04. Nottingham is more like S-05. They aren’t the same strain, but the finish product is close. I’m not a big Danstar user, but I’ve used 'em in a pinch.