Wyeast London Ale III

[Jbug]

Is any one familiar with this strain? I pitched it on Sunday afternoon into a mild... I got to high krausen by Monday evening and is still as of this morning... The bubbler has def slowed down.., I'm used to checking gravity when krausen falls so I haven't yet... Is this yeast a true top cropper ?would have a layer of yeast floating atop my beer at all times even after fermentation is over? Just wanna know kinda what's goin on in my carboy!

Thanks
Josh

[Wutz]

From Wyeast's website:

"Originating from a traditional London brewery, this yeast has a wonderful malt and hop profile. It is a true top cropping strain with a fruity, very light and softly balanced palate. This strain will finish slightly sweet."

Flocculation: high
Attenuation: 71-75%
Temperature Range: 64-74° F (18-23° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: approximately 10% ABV

I had what appeared to be krausen for about a week. I gave it another week and by the end of that week, the yeast had dropped and the beer was really clear. I'd leave it undisturbed for a while yet (monitor your temps, though) and it'll end up clearing really well. So well that I grabbed a little yeast from the bottom of the carboy when I was racking to the bottling bucket to make sure I had enough yeast to properly carbonate the bottles.

[Jbug]

Cool... Now that I think about it ... I did a some kinda English ale a while back with a white labs platinum strain and it did sort of the same thing... I couldn't see the whole process then bc I was fermenting in buckets... Another weird thing about the London III is it takes it's time fermenting in my experience so far... This Mild had an OG of 1.037 and it's still at about 20 bubbles a min after 5 days and I've had a 1.060 beer finish in 3... Maybe I pitched more yeast on the latter beer but who knows?? The yeast never cease to amaze me!


Josh

[Rhoobarb]

... Another weird thing about the London III is it takes it's time fermenting...

Agreed. I let it go for three weeks before I even think about transferring it.

[thatguy314]

I brewed a beautiful ordinary bitter with this beer. Lots of pear and stone fruit esters. Not the typical strawberry thing that you get with 1968/002, WLP007, etc., so basically I prefer this character better. Also the hops and malt both showcased very nicely. It's a really nice flavored yeast.

Now the technical difficulty: the krausen did take a very long time to drop. Even after terminal gravity was constant for a week I had to toss it in a fridge to get the yeast to drop. It was worth the trouble because I loved the beer I brewed with it.

[Wutz]

Preliminary tasting of the beer I brewed with it (it was only about three-and-a-half-weeks total out of the kettle and only a week carbonating in the bottle) was good and I was pretty excited to try it as it carbonated then conditioned. As luck would have it, I got sick directly after that and still can't taste anything. Judging by the premature tasting, I think it's going to turn out pretty good.

Unless the flavor profile changes/has changed drastically in the weeks since then I'll be using 1318 again.

[Jbug]

Awesome I'm glad I made this my choice for a mild... I'll be looking for the pear and stone fruit.... My recipe consisted of gold LME, simpsons extra drk crystal, simpsons chocolate malt and 3 fuggles additions... Smells great I might add! I'll get a gravity reading and post later tonite... Hopefully I'll be near 1.014


Josh

[Jbug]

Just measured... Sitting at 1.015... Tastes awesome... Nice an malty, earthy goodness