I was looking through the generic recipes in Stephen Snyder’s The Brewmaster’s Bible (copyright 1997). For India Pale Ales he recommended Wyeast’s 2565 or 1007. Wyeast lists these as Kölsch and German Ale respectively.
I’ve been using Safale 05, American Ale. Am I using the wrong yeast?
Safale 05 is a good yeast for an IPA, but if you’re curious, try using the other ones you listed. Experiment with it. You could also try Wyeast 1028 London Ale, 1318 London Ale III, or 1968 ESB. Homebrewing is about doing it your way, and if you’re happy with your results, don’t worry about what some book tells you that you should be using.
For an American IPA, I like Wyeast 1272.
Thanks for the advice. I agree. After all, at the end of the brewing day, we get beer. :) And, I have made some outstanding IPAs with 05. Yet, I would like to start with something close to the IPA BJCP standard profile before blazing my own trail; rather like jazz and knowing the song note for note before riffing.
If you brew American IPA, what yeast do you use?
I’m going to try that next time.
This is my latest batch:
I like WLP007 for most of my ales, expecially my IPAs. Reportedly it is very similar to the strain Stone uses. You get all of the goodness of Chico: high attenuation, with all of the goodness of english strains: fruity esters and flocculation.
I’ve had a lot of success with WLP007 too. If you ferment in the low to mid 60’s, you can minimize the esters, unless of course, you’re looking for them.
No, you’re reading the wrong book IMO.
WY1450, WY1272, WY1056, US-05 for me.
Man, I’m going to have a lot of IPA to drink. Come on over! ;D
I gotta try 1450. After all, it’s not your favorite for nothing.
I LOVE US-05. In an IPA, I want the the hops to shine. Personally, I don’t want to have to be concerned with what my yeast left behind. I just want hop flavor, and a touch of malt. US-05 is oerfect for this.
Can anyone report on how the 1007 (German Ale) yeast is in an IPA? This is an intriguing strain to me, because it’s tolerant of fermentation temperatures down to 55F. I’ve always wondered what a cold-fermented IPA would taste like, and whether or not it would retain more of it’s hop flavor during the fermentation process. However, the 1007 kicks up a lot of acetaldehyde which can hang around in the beer for a while, so I would hate to have to secondary an IPA for any longer than necessary.
LOL.
There is a wide variety of strains suitable for IPA and even then, it’s a matter of personal preference anyway. I say try 'em all and see which one suits you. Split batches could speed up the assessment process.
My current favorite is ECY Old Newark, but over the last 2 decades I’ve made IPA with the various iterations of the “Chico” yeast as well as Whitbread, the Guinness strain, WY1968, a few German strains, and of course (mostly) my “god-knows-what-it-is” house strain.
Point is, they all worked, they all made great IPA, and I found in the end that the differences are really not even all that extreme (at least in my IPA).
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned there is no wrong choice if you like the end result.
I prefer the Wyeast 1056 and Safale US-05
Has anyone used WLP001?
Yes. It is very similar to 1056.
I like Denny’s choices and in addition to that I would add WLP001 and WY1764. I recently made an IPA using Pacman yeast that is fabulous. 
I’m glad to hear you sing its praises. I like the simplicity of using a dry yeast. And the results, to my taste, are great.
