Wlp001

I know there's quite a lot of info out there on this strain as it's quite popular. But I thought I'd record my experiences with it.

I chose WLP001 as I want a summer/temp tolerent yeast that I can also pseudo lager with. I'd read WLP001 stays clean even at the top end of it's temp toleraces (25C/26C). Whereas US-05 can give off peachy tasting esters, otherwise I woulld have used that instead
This is the first time I've used White Labs yeast and it came a one of those newer pure pitch sachet thingys. I portioned off two litres of my wort and crash cooled it and added the WLP001 and fermented it out whilst the main body of wort was cooling for a couple of days. It seemed to ferment out a little faster then when I usaually make starter and had finished off gassing/krausen had dropped by the morning of day two. Usually my starters need the full 2 days.

I pitched it and the following morning it was fizzing away. By the evening a large krausen had grown. I was quite surprised by the size of the krausen (about 2") as when I've used US-05 the krausen isn't that big. My habit of cleaning my FV's with soapy water generally tends to retard the size of krausens so It might have been even bigger and possibly needed a blow off tube. So far it seems to be fermenting away vigoursly. More so than US-05. I'm quite pleased with it so far

I used it on my last American Stout and it went nuts for a few days then calmed down. Have you seen that recipe from Greg Hughes, uses this yeast. My temps have been recklessly high recently so fingers crossed hey. Enjoyed all beers made with this so far.

Probably my most used yeast. Really clean, promotes hop flavour and aroma, reliable fermentation normally done in under six days @20 degrees.
I've used it down to 18 and up to 22 with no issues.
Since using CRS and DLS from Brupaks the krausen has doubled! It fills 4 ish litres of headspace in the fv, great for top cropping.
Successive generations seem to be quicker than early ones for some reason.

Great yeast!


I'm not selling it by the way...

Very interesting to see how you get on..

TheRedDarren said:

Since using CRS and DLS from Brupaks the krausen has doubled! It fills 4 ish litres of headspace in the fv, great for top cropping.
Successive generations seem to be quicker than early ones for some reason.

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Whats CRS and DLS Darren?

BeerCat said:

Whats CRS and DLS Darren?

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Water treatments

To quote from brupaks website

Carbonate Reducing Solution (CRS). An acid blend that neutralises carbonates without the need to boil.

Dry Water Treatment Salts . A carefully controlled blend of inorganic salts for precise treatment of brewing liquor.

I don't use DLS I guess thats a combination of gysum or epsom salts or that sort of thing??

BeerCat said:

Whats CRS and DLS Darren?

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Basically CRS strips out the bicarbonates from your water. As, for example, pale beer need a lot lower bicarbonate levels than dark beers. I just use low bicarbonate bottled water for my pale beers

BeerCat said:

I used it on my last American Stout and it went nuts for a few days then calmed down. Have you seen that recipe from Greg Hughes, uses this yeast. My temps have been recklessly high recently so fingers crossed hey. Enjoyed all beers made with this so far.

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I pitched at 20C but I'm free fermenting and the kitchen corner I'm fermenting in is 23C. So I'm guessing the temp in the wort is right up at the top end of the yeasts temp range, if not beyond
Checked things this morning and the large krausen has now dropped already! WLP001 doesnt half seem to ferment out fast. I'll take a gravity reading next wed (9 days since pitching)

Yep mine was down to a slow bubble after 2 days of farting like mad. My temps were on the high side but fingers crossed its gonna be good. 13 days tomorrow so probably gonna bottle it. Looking forward to a taster.

BeerCat said:

Whats CRS and DLS Darren?

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Just as Covrich and MyQul have said above to be honest.
The Carbonate Reducing Solution softens the water, if you're in a hard water area brewing Pale Ales can be a bit of a pain, thing is, it can also strip out salts and minerals that you want for yeast health and correct mash ph, so you dose them back in with the Dry Liquor Salts.
If you're interested in basic water chemistry you can submit a sample to Murphy and Son and they will test your water and tell you what to dose at what level for various styles. Invaluable mate, give it a whirl.

TheRedDarren said:

Just as Covrich and MyQul have said above to be honest.
The Carbonate Reducing Solution softens the water, if you're in a hard water area brewing Pale Ales can be a bit of a pain, thing is, it can also strip out salts and minerals that you want for yeast health and correct mash ph, so you dose them back in with the Dry Liquor Salts.
If you're interested in basic water chemistry you can submit a sample to Murphy and Son and they will test your water and tell you what to dose at what level for various styles. Invaluable mate, give it a whirl.

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How much did that testing cost RD? I can't see any price listed on their.

Notlaw said:

How much did that testing cost RD? I can't see any price listed on their.

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You can buy salifert testing kits for about £8 which give you 100-200 tests per kit. I have the Alkalinity one. Very simple to use for a science idiot like me to use and afaik (from forums/googing) pretty accurate

Notlaw said:

How much did that testing cost RD? I can't see any price listed on their.

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I did it via the brew uk website, it was £26.99 for a full break down of you water plus what to use to adjust it to various styles.

TheRedDarren said:

Just as Covrich and MyQul have said above to be honest.
The Carbonate Reducing Solution softens the water, if you're in a hard water area brewing Pale Ales can be a bit of a pain, thing is, it can also strip out salts and minerals that you want for yeast health and correct mash ph, so you dose them back in with the Dry Liquor Salts.
If you're interested in basic water chemistry you can submit a sample to Murphy and Son and they will test your water and tell you what to dose at what level for various styles. Invaluable mate, give it a whirl.

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I only brew with RO water so still trying to get my head around what additions i really need. 1g of Gypsum per10l seems to be working. Definitely no problems with fermentation.

BeerCat said:

I only brew with RO water so still trying to get my head around what additions i really need. 1g of Gypsum per10l seems to be working. Definitely no problems with fermentation.

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That's interesting... although if you were to add various nutrients you may well see increased fermentation activity.

TheRedDarren said:

That's interesting... although if you were to add various nutrients you may well see increased fermentation activity.

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I have all the stuff but no idea what to actually add. Next brew i do with WLP001 i will take notes on how fast the fermentation goes.

@myqul you planning on doing a pseudo with this around 15 or 16 in your cooler bag?

Covrich said:

@myqul you planning on doing a pseudo with this around 15 or 16 in your cooler bag?

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I'm doing a Vienna pseudo lager with it at the moment but not using my brew bag. The plan is, because WLP001 is supposed to be clean even at it's upper temp tolerances, I can just free ferment with it. Leaving my brewbag free for making beers with other less temp tolerant yeast. Well that's the plan anyway. I'll see how clean the pseudo lager comes out in a couple of weeks time

Just took a gravity reading (6 days after pitching) and it's 1 point off target FG. It tastes pretty clean with no off flavours I can detect at the moment, despite free fermenting at 22C/23C. There's a touch of diacytl but I this should clear up given the full 2 1/2 weeks fermentation time and a rousing of the yeast just to make sure

MyQul said:

Just took a gravity reading (6 days after pitching) and it's 1 point off target FG. It tastes pretty clean with no off flavours I can detect at the moment, despite free fermenting at 22C/23C. There's a touch of diacytl but I this should clear up given the full 2 1/2 weeks fermentation time and a rousing of the yeast just to make sure

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You going to lager this too? really interesting to see what the end result is