WLP005 English ale yeast-will it ruin my brew?

[iandiggs]

Hello All,
i was thinking of doing:


3500g Maris Otter
500g Crystal malt
200g wheat malt
500g black malt

2 x 100g Fuggles
(50g boil
50 @ 10
50 @ Flame out
50 steep
(i like it hoppy and fuggles isn't high alpha hop)

BUT.....i only have:
Whitelab English ale yeast WLP005
Would this mess up the brew do you think?
thanks for your advice!

[Dennis King]

Quite the opposite great yeast for what your brewing. Brewed with it myself today. The only thing I would say is that looks a lot of black malt IMO.

[jimp2003]

Quite the opposite great yeast for what your brewing. Brewed with it myself today. The only thing I would say is that looks a lot of black malt IMO.

+1 to that. The yeast will be fine. I too would cut back on the black but it depends what you are trying to create.

Thats interesting to see that amount of fuggles being used. Have you done that before? The reason I ask is that I have 1kg of delta hops to get through and they are a fuggle/cascade cross so I am tempted to do give it a go...

[iandiggs]

Jimp, no, i've never tried that before...but i thought i should add a lot as it is a low-alpha hop and a lot would be needed to offset the sweetness of the malt.
mmmm, cascade is lovely bit i'm not sure of how the cross with fuggles would work out-and whether you should use large amounts, especially in the bittering if the delta hops retain that dynamic of cascade....i'm not really experienced enough to know to be honest

[Rookie]

Hello All,
i was thinking of doing:


3500g Maris Otter
500g Crystal malt
200g wheat malt
500g black malt

2 x 100g Fuggles
(50g boil
50 @ 10
50 @ Flame out
50 steep
(i like it hoppy and fuggles isn't high alpha hop)

BUT.....i only have:
Whitelab English ale yeast WLP005
Would this mess up the brew do you think?
thanks for your advice!

How big a batch are you doing? That does look like a lot of fuggles, what's the AA% ? My personal preference is something higher AA% to bitter. I have an ordinary bitter coming up that I plan to bitter with 10.7% phoenix then flavor and aroma with 5% WGV and/or some home grown goldings.

[coatesg]

The yeast will be fine - check your hopping rates though (there's a lot of late hops there) and think carefully about the black malt at 500g - do you want it that roasty? (you'll have a lot of roast astringency, possibly verging on ashen since there's little alcohol to balance).

If you are using WLP005, make an appropriate size starter, and aerate the wort very well (and if you can, re-aerate after about 6 hours - eg by shaking).

[Beer O'Clock]

Gotta agree with Graeme. That amount of black is going to take over. I would increase the crystal by 50-60% and reduce the black to around 100g. You will still get plenty of colour but the strong roasty flavour/astringency will be reduced.

I too would check your hopping rates. That's a lot of Fuggles. I am a lover of hop-bombs but this is tempered with different varieties at different stages. You are running the risk of getting a fairly grassy tasting ale there. But if you like that sort of thing then ignore our warnings