These puppies are slow. A year and a half ago I used it in a Dunkel. I under pitched (too lazy)
and it took a week to see activity. Beer turned out great though. Saturday I brewed up a Munich Helles. I started ranching about 10 days prior (pack was 2 yrs old). Got it up to 5500mL for a 15 gallon batch (yea, I know but it should be enough). Friday I put 3600ml of it in my 50-55 DegF garage and decanted that night. Mixed in the remaining flask after temp stabilized and put back onto stir plate. After brewing I cooled the wort to 69F and put in in my fermentation chamber at 50F. After 2 hours I put the yeast in the chamber then pitched 1 hour later. Did not see any activity until this morning. I oxygenated the wort and added yeast nutrient during boil and riled it up several times on Sunday. I’m sure it will be fine. I just never get this kind of lag with any other yeast. Ale or lager. Anyone else have issues with this yeast?
I haven’t had any issues with it. Pitching warm and then cooling the wort will increase the lag time, and that could be all you’re seeing.
Here here, I can’t allow this yeast to be bad mouthed; it’s probably my favorite!
Just teasing - but I do love this yeast. I’ve probably made 15 lagers with it in the past three years, and the only time I faced any challenges with it was once when it arrived frozen solid. It thawed and still made some very good beers.
I routinely smack the pack six hours or so in advance and pitch it direct to 45 degree wort. Yup, I’m a radical, a yeast outlaw, but that’s typically to a 2.5 gallon 1.045 starter extract beer, so there’s not a lot of investment in it. I harvest the yeast from there and use standard pitching rates. I’ve not had a problem with this yeast in any of those cases.
Supposedly, this is the same yeast as WL820. There, I will not argue with you. I’ve had many issues getting that yeast going, with or without starters.
One interesting thing I find with this yeast is that the start of the keg has an amazing full malt flavor, regardless of whether I’m predominantly using pils, vienna, or munich malt. Then after a gallon or two, that big malt flavor diminishes somewhat. I’d love to know what that’s about; perhaps it’s the flavor of the yeast cells themselves. I find that possibility intriguing, considering what yeast typically tastes like.
That might be due carbonation level.
Just speculation thou.
I’m planning on using this yeast this weekend in a split batch comparison to the WY2001. Half will be for a non-brewer buddy of mine that wants to make a batch using exclusively the Mt. Hood hops he grew at home. Should be fun.