What is your favourite yeast for a bitter?

Cant go wrong with London Ale III. Just brewed a west coast using Lallemand BRY 97, so will see how that works out

cushyno said:

If you like your bitter with a little fruitiness you could try Mangrove Jack's M36 Liberty Bell.

It doesn't flocculate as well as S-04 but it gives more flavour. I've used it 4 times now for: an ESB, 2x Brown Ale(ish), and and lastly in a fruity, hoppy Yorkshire bitter. MJ don't recommend reusing their yeast but pitching straight onto the yeast cake worked well for me.

The fruitiness mellows nicely after about 6-8 weeks.

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Try it in a golden ale, it'll give you a Hobgoblin Gold clone that is literally spot on.

As to a bitter yeast, I have yet to make a decent bitter. Only tried the once (using Liberty Bell), and it was meh. Graham Wheeler's recipe for Banks's though, so it didn't have the best chance to start with... I currently have a starter on with Imperial A09 Pub (supposed to be Fuller's strain), some of which I plan on using in a London Pride clone (some of, as I have 2.65 litres of starter, made up with a whole pouch of Imperial yeast, trust me when I say it's an overbuild... lol). I'll let you know how I get on, as London Pride is one of the few bitters I actually like...

Thanks for the tip entertheflagon. Will give it a try

the baron said:

I'me with Wilko/Gervin ale yeast it packs down well and always ferments well with a good taste

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I’ve just read this post strangely shortly after opening a bottle of my St Peters Ruby Red Ale which I pitched with the Wilko Gervin yeast instead of the 6g kit yeast. The first thing I noticed was that I could pour almost all of the bottle conditioned beer into my glass without the sediment even moving. It all stuck to the bottom of the bottle. It was the first time I’d used this yeast but all the other kits I’ve done, some with specialist MJ yeasts, have to be stopped about an inch from the end.

Markk said:

I’ve just read this post strangely shortly after opening a bottle of my St Peters Ruby Red Ale which I pitched with the Wilko Gervin yeast instead of the 6g kit yeast. The first thing I noticed was that I could pour almost all of the bottle conditioned beer into my glass without the sediment even moving. It all stuck to the bottom of the bottle. It was the first time I’d used this yeast but all the other kits I’ve done, some with specialist MJ yeasts, have to be stopped about an inch from the end.

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I'd love it if i could get the yeast to "stick" a little more in the bottle and get more of that last bit of beer out.

Also re-reading this thread I'll have to make a note to try WY West Yorkshire and/or London Ale III. I've made bitters with 1275 and 1028 - good in each case but lacking something, a little too clean. I think I'd benefit from a little more yeast character next time.

matt76 said:

I'd love it if i could get the yeast to "stick" a little more in the bottle and get more of that last bit of beer out.

Also re-reading this thread I'll have to make a note to try WY West Yorkshire and/or London Ale III. I've made bitters with 1275 and 1028 - good in each case but lacking something, a little too clean. I think I'd benefit from a little more yeast character next time.

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Re the sediment, I feel your pain. I feel so strongly about it that I'm working up a list of go-to yeasts that flocculate well and stick like s**t to a blanket (whilst having other favourable qualities). Assuming that you chill ('cold-crash') before bottling to drop as much yeast and crud as possible out of suspension?

Fortunately 1318 is on my list as a yeast that both flocculates well and produces great beer.

US-05 is my go-to yeast, use it for everything including stouts

Braindead said:

Cant go wrong with London Ale III. Just brewed a west coast using Lallemand BRY 97, so will see how that works out

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What kind of lag time did you have?
I pitched some into a pale ale 22 hours ago and nothing yet.