Safale US-05 fermentation characteristics

[Muttley]

I've used Safale US-05 on a couple of occasions recently and both times, when the primary fermentation is starting to slow down, the head of the fermentation has expanded and hit the lid on my fermentation bin (this is with a 25L batch in a 33L bin.) This also happened when I used another top fermenting yeast, Wyeast 1469. Does anyone know if this is typical of all top fermenting yeasts or is is specfic to just a few? Also the characteristics of US-05 seem virtually identical to Wyeast 1469 - are they related or even the same?

[Whorst]

It's a true top cropping yeast and what you describe is exactly how it behaves. I do remember 1469 behaving very similarly. I doubt they're related, but 05's origins are from England. Some people think because it's called California Ale Yeast, or US-05 that it's roots are purely American. There was an East Coast brewery at one time named Ballentine that brought this yeast to fame. Sierra Nevada got it from them when they started. Are you enjoying the flavor profile of 05?

[Muttley]

Thanks for that, Whorst. It's interesting to learn about the origins of these yeasts.

Only one of the beers that I've brewed with US-05 is ready for drinking at present (the other is fermenting at the moment) but I'm very pleased with the flavour profile. I used it to make an APA using Northern Brewer and Amarillo hops and it came out very clean tasting - none of that slight astringency that I've noticed with SO4 - so I prefer it to SO4 taste-wise although I find this "final fling" head expansion a bit of a nuisance, especially when it expands through the airlock and all over the place! Perhaps I should either do a smaller brew length or get a bigger fermentation bin!

[Whorst]

I ferment in what's called a "Better Bottle", which is just a glamorized plastic carboy. I use a blow off tube and it spits all that funk into a collection vessel. It doesn't floculate worth a &*^%$, but gelatin finings will drop it bright. It's a very interesting yeast with a nice flavor profile if you like malt and hops.

[yashicamat]

I ferment in what's called a "Better Bottle", which is just a glamorized plastic carboy. I use a blow off tube and it spits all that funk into a collection vessel. It doesn't floculate worth a &*^%$, but gelatin finings will drop it bright. It's a very interesting yeast with a nice flavor profile if you like malt and hops.

I used to use a better bottle for that very reason and it worked a treat, but after a while I got fed up of siphoning everything so I just use a 30 litre bucket with a tap now.

I find that US-05 will, with some kieselsol, drop bright in 10 days. The beer I tasted earlier (not quite mature enough yet) is only 9 days post fermentation and is clear as a bell.

As for the fermentation characteristics - I love it! I think it's far more interesting that the mounds of bath foam that aggressive bottom fermenters such as S-04 produce.

[Muttley]

Thanks for the information. I don't normally use finings although I have to agree that in my (limited) experience US-05 does take some time to clear - I may well try some finings with my latest brew.

Do you have any pictures or diagrams of the better bottle/blow off tube set up, please?

[adm]

I love US-05 for it's clean flavour profile.

As mentioned above, it can take a while to clear. I've got a beer on the go now that was completely cloudy last week, but has dropped clear as a bell over the last few days. It's in a corny keg at 10C and is 25 days old now from pitching date. So it does clear nicely by itself in the end, but not as quickly as S04.

[DarloDave]

I've just ordered a few packs from BB as once my hops get here from Craftbrewer I have some hopmonsters to get on the go and it seems us-05 is the best for these. Cant wait!

[delboy]

Its a good yeast if you want hoppy beers, as others have said it can be a bit of a pain to get it to sediment in a keg, but it usually behaves itself much better in the bottle.