I signed up for WLP006 from the Vault and it became available at the worst time for shipping, July. A memo should be sent to my psyche. Until a culture is proven, assume that it is going to be a challenge. For the first time in my brewing history, I can honestly say that a culture labeled WLP006 is not for sissies. It is for the experience brewer, It took 48 hours to display significant signs of low krausen. The smell on the other hand was delightful after brewing a series of lagers.
I can see why WLP006 is a vault strain. It is nowhere near as hardy as strains such as BRY-96 or Whitbread Dry. Even its closet relative genetically, S-04, puts it to shame. I am curious to see how it performs on a repitch. It took so long to start that I am waiting to see how the beer comes out to determine if I am going to repitch the culture. I have one other vault culture on order. If Whitelabs is going to chose to propagate Vault cultures in July, then I am done.
Getting back to the original topic, WLP006 stalled at 1.030. I added a package of Verdant IPA to try and salvage the beer. I should have just pitched Verdant at the beginning. I will never use WLP006 or accept a culture that ships during the summer from the White Labs Vault. The ice pack that was shipped with the culture was long past frozen when the culture arrived. I should have made a starter, but I never make a starter with a sub-1.065 3-gallon batch of ale wort. It just is not necessary, not when a culture is less than 3 months old.
It is the dry yeast culture that I had on hand. Hopefully, it will finish the beer. I do not know what it is, but I have reached my liquid yeast culture tolerance threshold. I used to be able to rely on my own yeast bank for cultures, but that is an enormous amount of work for little gain. I am still seeking dried cultures that are acceptable. I sent two packages of the Verdant IPA to BrewBama earlier this year. Hopefully, he has input.
I really liked nectar from cellar sciences, it had a wonderful english ester profile. It is reminiscent of red apples a little orange and the flavor was balanced between the malt and hops in an ordinary bitter. I pitched it when a smack pack of 1469 did not take off
I have been exploring dry yeasts myself trying to find a house strain or just a few different types to keep around. My busy schedule is more suitable for dry yeast when it comes to brew day vs a pack of liquid. Although I will say I like imperial’s Stefon, there was no starter needed in my experience with their packs
that’s such a bummer man. too bad.
i see certain vault cultures that i want so badly, but feel like theres little chance i’ll get it at any reasonable time.
i think many yeast companies need to re-evaluate which cultures they make regularly and which are “special” vault. i would love to get my hands on WLP037 for example.
Does White Labs still do seasonal releases, or are all the special release strains handled through the vault now?
WLP037 is one hell of a unique strain to deal with. It’s flocs are so thick it makes WLP002 look like a lager strain by comparison. Fermentation looks like watching a lava lamp, and the yeast cake is a near-solid slab. The flavor profile is pretty unique, too.
lol wow, i didn’t realize it was that extreme. i just really enjoy samuel smith beers, and i would love to give it a shot.
sam smiths seems to be imploding in the UK due to bizarre policies (no swearing, no cellphones etc in the pubs) and cheapo product choices. apparently theyve reduced the bottle size from 550ml to 350 or something and the price is the same.
