Big Yeast Experiment

Our club, the Long Beach Homebrewers, conducted a yeast experiment. We brewed an all grain batch of mild pale ale on a 1 barrel system. The recipe is this:

For 30 gallons: The Big Yeast Experiment Pale Ale

• 41 lbs Klages (American 2 Row Lager malt)
• 14 oz Cascade Whole hops, 60 minutes in a grain bag
• Starting Gravity = 1.042 at 60 deg F

The recipe was simple in order to accentuate the yeast flavor contribution. No finishing hops were used. The beer was then divided into 12-1 gallon cider jugs, 1-6.5 gallon plastic bucket, and 1-15 gallon fermentor. Most of the yeasts were dry but a few second generation yeasts and 1 Wyeast packet were used. Only 1 packet of yeast was used for all dry yeasts and the Scottish Ale yeast. All yeasts were fermented at room temperature (60-75 deg F). Only 1 lager yeast was used and it developed a strong diacetyl flavor. The experiment was a lot of work and took 10 hours to make the beer and 5 hours to bottle but it helped us to appreciate the flavor contribution of yeasts. We would like to do this experiment again using Wyeast Ale Yeasts and then get into lager yeasts but for now, here are the results of the first in a series of tests of commercial yeasts:

1 Red Star Bread Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.009, ok taste
9 May - Tasted not bad
21 May - Not available

2 Glenbrew Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - most active
17 April - still working
18 April - cloudy, still working
25 April - Gravity 1.004, cidery taste
9 May - cidery and estery taste
21 May - Very carbonated, very clean taste, nice

3 Windsor Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.014, ok taste
9 May - Very clean and good taste
21 May - Soft tasting, watery compared with Glenbrew, smooth and clean but uneventful

4 Doric Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - No activity
16 April PM - No activity
17 April - No activity, add another pack of yeast
18 April - active and cloudy
25 April - Gravity 1.015, very smoky taste
9 May - Smoky taste
21 May - Bread like aroma, kind of clean tasting but not pleasant to smell, dry taste

5 Munton & Fison Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - Started
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.012, clean taste
9 May - Fruity and sweet tasting
21 May - Big carbonation, loud pop upon opening, slight chill haze, citrusy taste, dry, not too much hop aroma, hop bitterness lingers, bitterness comes through

6 Wyeast Scottish Ale Yeast, liquid, no starter, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - Big lump at top of beer
16 April PM - Big lump at top of beer
17 April - Active
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.008, slightly smoky taste
9 May - Light sweet taste, mildly smoky
21 May - Big, big carbonation, real loud pop upon opening, foamy, clear, nice taste, back side of tongue sweetness, great beer, very little sediment, settles quickly upon moving bottle around

7 London Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.016, ok taste
9 May - Slight sweetness, mild smoky aroma
21 May - A little off tasting, taste hop bitterness more, dry sweet taste

8 Nottingham Ale Yeast ( batch #108719510302 ), dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - No activity
16 April PM - No activity
17 April - Started finally
18 April - Still active
25 April - Gravity 1.015, light smoky taste
9 May - Odd taste not characteristic of Nottingham
21 May - Funky, skunky aroma, clear, slight banana taste, a little overcarbonated, tastes good

9 Coopers Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - Blew air lock out, very active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.012, very good taste
9 May - Very clean like lager, adds no yeast flavor
21 May - Bad initial aroma but dissipates quickly, clean taste, sweetish finish, citrusy flavor, clear

10 Wyeast Bohemian Lager Yeast, second generation, slurry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - most active
17 April - active
18 April - clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.011, sulfur aroma
9 May - Very good taste, malty, clean
21 May - Very carbonated, loud pop upon opening bottle, slight chill haze, stale aroma, very strong diacetyl taste, clean otherwise

11 Telfords Ale Yeast, dry, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - active
16 April PM - active
17 April - done
18 April - clear, yeast is compacted
25 April - Gravity 1.015, good taste
9 May - Tasted Good
21 May - Lots of carbonation, nice head, slight chill haze, great mouth feel, no flavor contribution from yeast, good taste

12 Telfords Ale Yeast, second generation, slurry, 15 gallon fermentor

2 Hours - Started, very active
16 April AM - Almost finished
16 April PM - settling
17 April - Clearing
18 April - Clearing
25 April - Gravity 1.015, good taste
9 May - Tasted great
21 May - Not available

13 Edme Ale Yeast, dry, 6.5 gallon fermentor

2 Hours - No notes taken
16 April AM - No notes taken
16 April PM - No notes taken
17 April - No notes taken
18 April - No notes taken
25 April - No notes taken
9 May - Tasted Good
21 May - Ok head retention, big bubbles, clean taste, slightly funky aroma

14 Control Batch, 1 gallon glass jug

2 Hours - No activity
16 April AM - No activity
16 April PM - No activity
17 April - No activity
18 April - No activity
25 April - No activity
9 May - No activity
21 May - No activity

Yeast                                                    FG
- ----------------                                      ------
1  Red Star Bread Ale Yeast                             1.009
2  Glenbrew Ale Yeast                                   1.004
3  Windsor Ale Yeast                                    1.014
4  Doric Ale Yeast                                      1.015
5  Munton & Fison Ale Yeast                             1.012
6  Wyeast Scottish Ale Yeast                            1.008
7  London Ale Yeast                                     1.016
8  Nottingham Ale Yeast                                 1.015
9  Coopers Ale Yeast                                    1.012
10 Wyeast Bohemian Lager Yeast, second generation       1.011
11 Telfords Ale Yeast                                   1.015
12 Telfords Ale Yeast, second generation                1.015
13 Edme Ale Yeast                                       Unknown

Because of problems found in the Doric and Nottingham yeasts, we called the supplier. Our supplier checked his yeasts and came up with similar results from the Doric and Nottingham strains. Apparently, these yeasts were old. We pulled these 2 yeasts from the shelves and got fresh ones.