What yeast for Old Peculier

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Halycon
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What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by Halycon » Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:44 pm

Greetings from NZ
Im planning on doing Wheelers recipe from his 2001 book as from what i read its a more authentic recipe than a lot of others,hopefully keep my northern farming buddy happy but am wondering what yeast to use.
Wyeast irish or london ale seem to come up fairly frequently but i see some go for a belgium strain to enhance the fruitiness,thoughts greatly appreciated.
Ithink everything else sorted apart from how long to boil the added sugar for,im going to use brown sugar and thinking of boiling for last 15 mins but others say for the whole 90 mins,anybody have experience of this
Being here i mostly do hop forward pale ales or lagers so this is a bit different
Thanks people

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Dennis King
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by Dennis King » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:08 pm

I used Whitelabs WLP002 with good results.

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charliemartin
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by charliemartin » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:35 pm

For yeast it depends if you want dry yeast or liquid yeast. WLP002 is a good one as Dennis says, but I prefer WLP028. It lets the hops and malt shine. If going dry maybe S04 or one of the Mangrove Jack yeasts such as M15 Empire Ale. Definitely would not go for Belgian. That will introduce flavours you do not find in Old Peculier.
With regard to the sugar addition, I usually run off a few litres of the wort at the start of the boil into a large pan, add the sugar, dissolve and boil for 10 minutes or so, then pour it back into the main boil. Stops it sticking to your element and easier to stir on the hob. Just watch for boil overs on the hob.
Good luck with your first attempt.

Cheers,
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HTH1975
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by HTH1975 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:50 pm

I’d go with something like Wyeast Yorkshire or there is a Whitelabs ‘Yorkshire Square’ yeast - either of those will get you close.

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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by HTH1975 » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:53 pm

Regarding sugar addition, I’d add it towards the end of the boil. You’ll get better hop utilisation with the lower gravity wort too. Certainly my experience with sugars is to add near the end.

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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by PeeBee » Wed Oct 17, 2018 1:19 am

I did the Wheeler recipe earlier in the year. I'd been playing with OP clone recipes for quite a while (early 1980s - is that quite a while?) but always taken in by the suggestion it contains treacle/molasses. I only began too doubt this this year when realising the raw sugars encouraged a "flabby", overly "smooth" result, and Wheeler's recipe doesn't even mention such sugars. The idea of using treacle was doing the circuits way back in the 80s, when it was thought to be used as a "primer" (so tiny quantities even if it was true). I'm pretty sure now the idea was nonsense.

I'd always used whatever dried yeast was available, which more recently would have been S-04. I also recently came across the idea of using Belgium style yeasts. Can't say I found much support for using such yeast, but someone did mention those yeasts (strong Belgium ales) had been cultured from the strong Scottish bottled beers that were popular in the Belgium region at the time: Yorkshire is not so far from Scotland, and having used an "Edinburgh" yeast in something else can imagine it would work well (note "Scottish" yeasts tend to be mixed strain and particular strains can't be attributed to any particular "Scottish" ale, because the Scots were pretty free at sharing their yeasts between breweries - or so I gleaned). (EDIT: "Edinburgh" yeast = WYeast #1728).

This time around I plumped for WYeast West Yorkshire yeast (WYeast #1469), but it wasn't a great success. I found that yeast had quite a strong flavour in its own right that was not at all like OP. I'd certainly use this "Yorkshire" yeast again, but not in my attempts to clone OP.

Another interesting idea I came across recently was that OP, along with Fuller's 1845, were good examples of what the "lost" "Burton Ale" style was like (the beer style that's still remembered in the saying, that originates from wartime British pilots, "gone for a Burton"). Note: "Burton" in name only, nothing to do with the UK town, famous for brewing, of "Burton-on-Trent"; a lot of Burton Ale was brewed in London. The idea is probably credible given that OP often gets slapped in the "Old Ale" style where it sits very uncomfortably.
Last edited by PeeBee on Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by Kev888 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:39 am

IIRC Theakston have in the past said that the flavours are due to fermentation conditions, rather than citing an unusual yeast source (though that may not mean a lot, as they're unlikely to give all their secrets away). My own suspicion would be a British style yeast of moderate attenuation that produces some fruitiness in whatever fermenting conditions Theakston employ, but either way the end result probably shares some characteristics with what Belgian yeast do easily/normally.

WLP500 (trappest ale yeast) is quite popular around the net, but I've not tried it myself and keep meaning to. I've generally gone for British style yeast that don't over-attenuate, and fermented at the upper end of the suggested temperature range - the WLP002 and WLP028 mentioned earlier have both given nice results. I've not achieved a very close clone though (aside from anything else, I suspect there is more to the dark grains), but they have made very nice beer; for that objective I doubt you could go wrong with any of these.
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by BarnsleyBrewer » Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:37 pm

Bung some Nottingham in...........
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by MTW » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:48 pm

I know people used to say you could ask Brewlab for a VERY appropriate strain on a slant (which you'd have to grow up). I suspect what they say about conditions and other aspects would easily outweigh that though, given a reasonably suitable alternative.
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by Eric » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:42 pm

MTW wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:48 pm
I know people used to say you could ask Brewlab for a VERY appropriate strain on a slant (which you'd have to grow up). I suspect what they say about conditions and other aspects would easily outweigh that though, given a reasonably suitable alternative.
https://www.brewlab.co.uk/services/home-brew-yeast
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by Normski » Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:07 pm

Im with BB.
Bung some Nottingham in....

I made a batch a few months ago.
GW recipe with a spoonful of treacle and Notty.
Worked well.
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by IPA » Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:51 am

Brewlab have the Theastone yeast dating from the early 1980's. I know because I gave it to them. Ask Alison fot the Theakstone Fountains Abbey yeast that Ian in France gave them.
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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by PeeBee » Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:09 am

BarnsleyBrewer wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:37 pm
Bung some Nottingham in...........
I started using "Nottingham" yeast as a replacement for anything I do that asks for US-05 ("DIYDog" recipes). Which about covers my feelings towards "Nottingham" yeast (yawn). I had hoped it would clear a bit better than US-05, but no, it doesn't.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by IPA » Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:30 pm

PeeBee wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:09 am
BarnsleyBrewer wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:37 pm
Bung some Nottingham in...........
I started using "Nottingham" yeast as a replacement for anything I do that asks for US-05 ("DIYDog" recipes). Which about covers my feelings towards "Nottingham" yeast (yawn). I had hoped it would clear a bit better than US-05, but no, it doesn't.
If you are using DIYDog recipes why bother about the beer clearing =D> =D>
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

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Re: What yeast for Old Peculier

Post by PeeBee » Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:51 pm

IPA wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:30 pm
PeeBee wrote:
Thu Oct 18, 2018 10:09 am
BarnsleyBrewer wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:37 pm
Bung some Nottingham in...........
I started using "Nottingham" yeast as a replacement for anything I do that asks for US-05 ("DIYDog" recipes). Which about covers my feelings towards "Nottingham" yeast (yawn). I had hoped it would clear a bit better than US-05, but no, it doesn't.
If you are using DIYDog recipes why bother about the beer clearing =D> =D>
True? I'm beginning to accept some of their recipes will stay murky. And I might have subjected "Nottingham" to one of the murky formulation. But US-05 is selected because it's neutral (boring) in flavour and action, and pretty murky anyway. "Neutral" is a description of "Nottingham" yeast too.
Cask-conditioned style ale out of a keg/Cornie (the "treatise"): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwzEv5 ... rDKRMjcO1g
Water report demystified (the "Defuddler"; removes the nonsense!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

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