GW London Pride

[Deebee]

Hi all.
Iplan to do the LP recipe from GW book soon.

my understanding is that the fullers strain yeast is Wyeast 1968.

Last time i used this there was a really heavy diactyl taste though. i know the yeast dose kick some of this off but has anyone done the LP recipe using it and how did it turn out.

thanks

[seymour]

I've heard that recipe is very close to the original, but I haven't brewed it myself. If I recall, most brewers have said the main differences stem from the fermentation regime.

Yes, you can capture the Fullers yeast from bottle-conditioned beers, White Labs WLP002, Wyeast 1968, a couple BSI strains, and probably BrewLabs, too, but I don't know exactly what they call it.

There has been a lot of interesting discussion about diacetyl, even within the context of Fullers, such as this recent thread:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53239

[Barley Water]

That is probably one of my favorite recipes. I have brewed it many times and only screwed around with it a little. Furthermore, I have won several ribbons in contests making that beer so I don't think you will be disappointed. The only thing I did was add some bisquet malt, I think about 4- 6 ounces for a 5 gallon batch if I remember right. Once I made that one modification, it kicks butt every time I brew it. As it turns out, I have it on tap right now and will certainly be sampling some of the fruits of my labors once I get off work.

Yes, the Fuller's yeast will throw off diacetyl as will many of the other English strains. In this particular case you actually want just a tad in your beer, that's part of what makes it so sublime. If however, you pull the beer off the yeast cake too soon (and you will be tempted because that yeast is extremely floculent and the beer will quickly clear) you will end up with a "buttered popcorn" beer. Let the beer sit on the yeast at fermentation temperatures for a week, it may be clear in 3 days but let it sit a week. By the way, I finally got a good London Porter type beer using the same yeast, I just love Fuller's products. One other thing about that strain, it does not attenuate particularly well. In many cases though, that is an advantage because you can make a smaller beer drink big if you know what I mean. Go for it and happy quaffing.

[seymour]

...you can make a smaller beer drink big if you know what I mean...

I love that. I can imagine exactly what you mean.

[Deebee]

So which is better. The wyeast or white labs?

Thanks for the input guys

[seymour]

No difference, in my opinion. By design they ought to be identical, so I'd say the choice comes down to cost, availability, and freshness. Many people successfully reculture bottle-conditioned Fullers, too, which would put you even closer to the source.

[Wolfy]

Wy1968 is one of the most highly flocculant yeasts around, it tends to clump and settle very easily (will even clump while on a stir plate).
If you've had diactyl issues with it in the past, it might be worth ensuring it is well oxygenated (even give it another dose after 24 hours) then if it starts to settle before you're happy with the progress it's made (eg not quite at FG or if it's thrown lots of diactyl) don't be afraid to rouse it and/or let it warm up a little, to encourage the yeast to finish their work.