Adnams yeast

[vinceg]

Evening all. Does anyone out there have any idea which strain of yeast Adnams use in their various beers? I would love to be able to re-create my favourite Adnams beers and although a relative beginner to home-brewing, I am starting to experiment by altering (and often improving) kit recipes by using different yeasts - I read extensively that the strain of yeast is as much a contributory factor to the final flavour of the beer as any of the other ingredients. Knowing the strain of yeast Adnams uses would be a start. All comments humbly received.

[Wolfy]

There is some suggestion that WLP025 and Wy1335 might be a close match for Adnams.
However, I'm not sure if those are easily available, if it was me I'd send an email to Brewlab and suggest you wish to make a beer that emulates your favorite Adnams brew and ask if they have a yeast that is similar that would be suitable.

[steve_flack]

Neither is actually Adnams' yeast as the real thing has two strains in it which apparently are somewhat of a pain to keep on balance as one tries to dominate the other.

[gnutz2]

Well you can actually buy Adnams yeast from them direct.

The only problem is you need to drink 10 litres of beer to get it.

Its a hard life

http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk/ca ... sks-37-abv

The southwold bitter is an excellent beer, i'm currently trying to recreate the hop finnish in that beer by dry hopping some fuggles in my own bitter.

[oz11]

The only problem is you need to drink 10 litres of beer to get it.

Its a hard life

http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk/ca ... sks-37-abv

..but on the plus side, not only can you get the yeast, but you get two free easy-kegs if you want to reuse them!

[jubby]

Well you can actually buy Adnams yeast from them direct.

The only problem is you need to drink 10 litres of beer to get it.

Its a hard life

http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk/ca ... sks-37-abv

The southwold bitter is an excellent beer, i'm currently trying to recreate the hop finish in that beer by dry hopping some fuggles in my own bitter.

That's impressive! I had given up trying to reproduce Broadside, but I might have another go using this yeast. Anybody know if it's the primary strain??

I have made 10 attempts at Broadside using 1318, 1187, 1335, 1098, WLP023, WLP013, Brewlabs No.9 & No.48 (used a couple of these twice). The best beers were with 1187 and WLP013, but they weren't Broadside. The closest was Brewlabs No.48, but it was a bit too strong. It had a bubble gum flavour that was a bit overpowering but i did ferment at 21C.
As Steve said, the Adnams yeast is a blend. It originated from the Norwich brewery at the end of the 2nd world war and it's difficult to maintain (if you can get it)

2 years back, Adnams said that the yeast for all of their beers was the same. Broadside was fermented high at 22c to give it it's distinctive flavour and the other beers were fermented lower.

Thanks for the info gnutz2.

vinceg, I hope that helps.

[vinceg]

Thanks for your thoughts gents, I like the idea of scraping out the Adnams mini-barrels. I got bought one of these for Christmas and living where I do in sunny Suffolk, there are a number of Adnams "Cellar & Kitchen" stores in nearby towns. How much sludge from the bottom of the barrel would I need, and will it be OK to pitch it straight into my wort? Afraid I have limited time and space for brewing at home, so my intention would be to buy a reasonable quality bitter kit, add the yeast slurry and then do what gnutz has suggested and do some dry hopping with Fuggles.

How does that sound?

[gnutz2]

Well if i was doing this i would drink the beer with friends (none of my friends like beer ) leaving abut half a pint in the bottom, swill this around and pitch it straight into a starter of your choice.

Once its fermented put it in the fridge and see how much yeast you have, pour the excess beer off the top of the yeast before you pitch and remember to taste it to make sure its ok.

As for a kit, i would get a woodfords wherry or brupaks fixby gold two can kit.

Make the kit up to 5 gal, pour 1gal of that into a stock pot and steep 30g of fuggles at 80c for 20mins.

Ferment with the Adnams yeast, when fermentation is over dry hop with 30g of fuggles.

I have no idea what this will taste like but its making my mouth water just thinking about it

O, and if you have some spare yeast can you send me some

[steve_flack]

Incidentally, the recipe for Adnams Bitter is pretty simple - pale malt, caramel colouring, fuggles for bittering, late and dry hop. The secret is the yeast. I've brewed this recipe with WLP002 which whilst a very nice beer isn't Adnams.

Broadside (cask) is similar - pale malt and caramel but is bittered with First Gold - there's no late hops. The bottled beer is a different recipe to the cask (not just a different strength).

BTW, don't bother trying to get the yeast from bottle conditioned Tally Ho - it's Nottingham not the primary strain.

[vinceg]

Brilliant! OK then, last dumb question. Just want to check what you mean by pitching into a "starter"? Is this something sugary to get the yeast interested? Apologies for all the questions, but I've only really done kits before and put different hops or yeast in, this is quite new to me!

[jubby]

Brilliant! OK then, last dumb question. Just want to check what you mean by pitching into a "starter"? Is this something sugary to get the yeast interested? Apologies for all the questions, but I've only really done kits before and put different hops or yeast in, this is quite new to me!

You're right, that's exactly what it is. Click on 'hints & tips' at the top of the page, then 'liquid yeasts'. You don't have to make lots of small starters, you can follow the pitching guide calculator here with one pack or vial. You can use Whitelabs and Wyeast this way, but Brewlabs is a little more work. If you look at these yeast supplier websites they will describe in detail how to make starters.

[jubby]

Emailed Adnams and they said that the yeast in the mini kegs is the primary strain, but it may not cultivate well as it's a blend of two strains.

[v-zero]

I am at this very moment drinking a beer made using Adnams yeast salvaged from a mini-cask. It's fantastic, quite similar to their new Ghost Ship pale bitter. It needed a month or so of rest before it tasted like true Adnams, but once it's there, it's gorgeous.

[gnutz2]

Oh bugger, now I have to buy some mini kegs, drink the beer in them, brew some beer with the yeast and drink that too.

I'm gonna be busy.

[seymour]

Hello brewer friends across the sea!

I am a homebrewer and RateBeerian in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Though I live in a town overflowing with beer, we have nothing like Adnams Broadside which I just discovered (and promptly fell in love with.) I'm a bit of an Anglophile when it comes to beer; I even ordered Wormwood seeds from Chiltern, grew 'em up, and brewed the flowering tops in a delicious Wormwood Dark Mild. I've crafted many assorted English-style brown ales, some pretty tasty ones fermented with Munton's, Nottingham, Windsor, Fuller's, etc, but my yeast profile was never this interesting. I understand Adnams uses a dual strain, but that it can be captured from their minikeg slurry. As far as I know, these are not for sale state-side; which brings me to my huge favor request. It sounds like some of you have successfully cultured from the minikeg and made similar beer, which would seem to indicate both strains survived the process. Would any of you be so incredibly generous as to mail me a very small sample? A few cells should be all I need to step-up. In case it helps, I apologize for the Boston Tea Party and any other offenses my rebel forefathers may have committed against yours... Even during the blockades, George Washington couldn't give up his English Porter...

Seymour, 2207 Blendon Place, Maplewood, Missouri, USA 63143