Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Share your experiences of using brewing yeast.
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phatboytall
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Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:56 pm

I am lucky to have a great brewery on my doorstep, i am even luckier that they are happy to just give me some yeast!

I collected the bag today, it weights 560grms and is about 1/3 wort/beer.
Image

Rather than just pitch this into a fermenter, how should i best make use of it? Starters etc.

I plan to brew two 12 litre batches this weekend, and another next weekend.

Advice, experiance and thoughts greatly appreciated.
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

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flytact
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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by flytact » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:30 pm

My local brewpub here in the US (well, not too local) uses Ringwood. I've yet to use it myself, but will be getting some to use within the next week or so.
Here is what the brewer told me:
Ferment in an open bucket
Give the yeast a good bit of oxygen or aeration when you pitch
Every day, get in there and rouse the yeast by "folding in" the head with the rest of the fermenting wort, don't be afraid to splash
When gravity hits approx. 1.020, 3-4 days, bottom agitate the fermenting wort. There should be a good head that you can slip your stirrer under. Don't break the yeast head.
Crash cool and you should have a hard "cap" over the beer.

Hope this helps and sorry I've got no direct experience.
Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain

mysterio

Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by mysterio » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:41 pm

Hi

With yeast you get from a brewery it's going to be very viable and raring to go. That yeast should be fine stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks without any starters.

I would decant the beer first then use the Mr Malty calculator http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html to find out how much yeast you need for your batch. Enter the variables then click the repitch from slurry tab. Probably you are looking at 100ml for a 5 gallon batch. Just tip it in and as above make sure you give it plenty of aeration. I have never had to rouse the Ringwood yeast but it may depend on your conditions, and in particular how much oxygen it gets at the start

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phatboytall
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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Thu Feb 03, 2011 2:49 pm

Great! Should i transfer to a sterilised bottle so its more secure than in the thin bag?

the wife is going to love some yeast living in the fridge! haha

Flytact, Any thoguhts on how this yeast will suit a US IPA style beer? does your brewpub to big ipas with it? I am considering using it in a Goose Island clone.

Ed
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

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http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by flytact » Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:03 pm

It's an English style brewery so not much in the APA. They do make a big (6.5%) pale and its not bad.
I'd use it for the Goose Island, when I've made a beer similar to their IPA I used an English style yeast WLP005.

good luck
Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain

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phatboytall
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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:58 am

Cheers for the great advice all,

Pitched 100ml (the mr malty calc seems to be a pay only app now, so took your guess) into my 12litre batches yesterday, worked perfectly, big frothy head on both beers this morning.

Done a Ringwood 49er clone so it will be interesting to see how close this is to the real thing! And a Goose Island clone, which has turned out black because for some dumbass reason i put 200g of choclate malt instead of crystal malt in it! Should be interesting!

Flytact, thanks for the great advice, will be rousing and stiring as you describe, sounds spot on with what i've heard about the yeast.
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

Check out my blog where i review bottled beers
http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

mysterio

Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by mysterio » Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:48 am

Nope, still free to use online, there is a paid iphone app too that uses the same formulas. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

But yes 100ml is about right :D

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by flytact » Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:16 pm

I should be picking mine up later this week for a weekend brew. Any chance you could post some experiences and pics?
Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:45 am

Yeah, will try and get a brew day up. I normally post quite a few pics.

Stirred the yeast head in last night, this morning the foam was back and twice the size, seems to be working superbly. I've only used dried yeasts before, this is way better.

Thanks
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

Check out my blog where i review bottled beers
http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Thu Feb 17, 2011 6:31 pm

Used this yeast in 3 brews now, included the latest where it was reptiched onto another brew. I have to say flytacts advice is spot on, i've done exactly that and this yeast has worked really well.

It seems to be idling, but then you give it a good stir and asseration and it comes back to life stronger than ever! was neverous about removing the head incase it never came back, but each time it came back stronger than ever.

You can see some photos of it doing just that in my brew day
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=39632
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

Check out my blog where i review bottled beers
http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by flytact » Thu Feb 17, 2011 6:54 pm

That's great, only don't credit me with the advice. I'm just a middleman.
I've done the same as I suggested on a brown ale and its going nicely.
Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain

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phatboytall
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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:08 pm

Well, thanks anyway! :-)

hope your brew turns out well, i really love the taste some yeast bring to a beer, this brings a lovely biscuity sweetness, similar to fullers in my opinion.
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

Check out my blog where i review bottled beers
http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by Barley Water » Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:45 pm

I used the Ringwood strain you can get from Whitelabs in a clone of Dogfish Head 60. Now for the disclaimer, the Whitelab stuff is not supposed to be exactly the same thing as they use in the breweries. Supposidly, the stuff the brewery uses is actually a multistrain yeast so perhaps they don't taste or behave exactly the same. Anyhow, the beer came out really well and actually, I liked it better than the version I made with WLP001 which is the Chico strain most commonly used to both APA's and AIPA's. By the way, the reason you see a similarity between the Ringwood and Fuller's strains is because both yeasts are notorious for throwing diacetyl, which however is not a problem if handled correctly.
Drinking:Saison (in bottles), Belgian Dubbel (in bottles), Oud Bruin (in bottles), Olde Ale (in bottles),
Abbey Triple (in bottles), Munich Helles, Best Bitter (TT Landlord clone), English IPA
Conditioning: Traditional bock bier, CAP
Fermenting: Munich Dunkel
Next up: Bitter (London Pride like), ESB
So many beers to make, so little time (and cold storage space)

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by phatboytall » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:57 pm

Interesting update on the yeast, i understand the Ringwood yeast is an old yorkshire strain (which i'm guessing they have adapted). A few months ago i was in London where my mate insisted i tried their fantastic new Brewery (Sambrooks) and its best bitter (Wandle). It was fantastic, but my instant reaction to him was that the yeasty middle tasted exactly like Ringwoods beers. He just gave me a telling off about being a beer geek.... Anyway i looked them up online a few days later, the brewery was set up by non other than the ex owner of Ringwood Brewery!!

I've also tasted Flack Manors Double Drop, another best bitter, from a brewery set up by the other ex Ringwood owner. It has the same yeast characteristics.

In my opinion (and after rigerous futher testing :-) )both beers have a yeasty taste that is 90% similar to Ringwood, but not identical, so i'm guessing they are using a similar but not identical strain, much in the way Whitelabs or other breweries may be doing.

As for the Diacetyl, i've heard this before, and that it gives of butterscotch/caramel flavours and smells, which is actually one of the characteristics i enjoy most in these beers. Does that make me a heathen? :-) I've heard diacetyl can be desireable in small quantities.
I am not a Beer expert.....thats exactly the point.

Check out my blog where i review bottled beers
http://www.thebeerbunker.co.uk/ or find me on twitter @thebeerbunker

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Re: Ringwood Brewery Yeast - Advice on using

Post by flytact » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:03 pm

Couple comments: Dogfish has their own strain that they use for their standard lineup of beers. The strain is called "Doggie", I just saw this on the Brewmaster show.
Surprisingly, when I asked the brewer (local, see above) what yeast to use other than his own, he recommended WLP005 NOT Wyeast 1187 Ringwood. Strange.
Johnny Clueless was there
With his simulated wood grain

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