top cropping WLP001

[hopshead]

So, I have been top cropping WLP001 for about 6 batches of beer. I brewed every other weekend, and I collected a cup full of top cropped WLP001 and put that in a 2 quart starter that I let ferment for a week, then crash cooled in the fridge for 1 week until brew day. My last brewday, I made a double batch of an extra hoppy pale ale and pitched my top crop in one fermenter and a fresh pitch of WLP001 (2 quart starter) in the other fermenter. I was surprised with the results.

My hydrometer had identical readings with both beers finishing at 1.008 down from 1.053 Og. The fresh pitch of WLP001 tasted drier? and much cleaner than the top cropped batched. I actually preferred the top cropped batch better because there was a slight fruitiness from the yeast fermentation and the beer tasted "smoother." The bitterness was not as sharp as the with the fresh pitch.

Has anyone done similar tests? What were your results? Why do you think the top cropped yeast tasted a little fruitier and seemed to have smoother bitterness?

[positiverpr]

are you pitching the top cropped yeast cold or making a starter with it? i think that you may be losing the most important aspect of the top-cropped yeast if its just fermented out and then pitched cold. i have pitched with it fresh or made a little starter and have been happy although i think i get fewer esters from the top-cropped yeast. i think that your yeast is having to wake up and spend the energy to get going in your fermenter in causing you the extra fruitiness. more or less esters to a degree is really an individual preference thing with a yeast like 001.