BrewLabs Specialty (English) Yeast
Graham Wheeler's new 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale' has a section about Yeast Slopes (Slants) and the author goes so far to suggest "In my veiw these are far superior to most liquid yeasts becasue the yeast is grown under conditions that imitate true brewery conditions". And continues "My experience of yeast slopes is that they do behave as try-to-type brewery yeast when cultured up, and I would always use them in preference to other liquid types" and "The best known yeast slops are the Brewlab slopes that are produced by the University of Sunderland and are sold by good home-brewing shops." On the JBK UK home brewing he also suggested that he doubts the validity of the origins of many yeast strains that home brewers seem to take for granted.
Not wanting to belive everything published in a book, the UK-based home brew 'JBK' forums has this thread about Brewlab yeast slopes. I'd not seen this yeast for sale in Australia, so I contacted Brewlab to check about price, postage and getting them sent to Australia. Alison was very helpful, but said they'd never sent their yeast to Australia before, so if I was happy to help she'd arrange for one to be sent.
One good thing about Brewlabs is they are happy to match a yeast to requirements (in terms of yeast characteristics, wort, minerals etc) that you give them. I asked for a unique top cropping, true 'English Character' type yeast suitable for an English Pale Ale or Bitter, and was sent a slant of their Thames Valley 2 (1508) yeast strain.
Now that I've recultured the yeast and made a starter, I have to say that I've been very happy with the yeast so far, even the starter has a wonderful 'fruity' aroma.
I know that there are many people here more passionate about their English Ale than I am, so if you are interested in Brewlab yeast, you can contact Alison ([email protected]).
In the last email she sent me (on 2010-08-03) she said "The cost of an individual slope shipped would be 5 English pound for 1 and 7.50 for 2 slopes in same parcel, maybe we should send the slopes in duplicate in case of damage in transit."
(At current exchange rates this price compares very well to locally available liquid yeasts).
Here are the Brewlab info yeast sheets, Alison also said they are looking to extend their range with "approx 10 more yeasts from different regions".
View attachment updated1_Front_pageYeast_for_Home_Brewing1.DOC
View attachment UPDATED_Back_pageYeast_for_HOMEl_Brewing1.doc
View attachment UPDATED_print_Yeast_cultures_instruct._for_use1.doc
The info sheets do not mention specific temperature, tolerance or attenuation numbers, so when I asked about that was told the following:
Temperature should be between 15-23degreeC, ideal is 18-22.
The yeasts expected attenuation varies with worts used but should ferment down to 1007-8 but normally chilled above that.
Alcohol tollerance 6-7%
Graham Wheeler's new 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale' has a section about Yeast Slopes (Slants) and the author goes so far to suggest "In my veiw these are far superior to most liquid yeasts becasue the yeast is grown under conditions that imitate true brewery conditions". And continues "My experience of yeast slopes is that they do behave as try-to-type brewery yeast when cultured up, and I would always use them in preference to other liquid types" and "The best known yeast slops are the Brewlab slopes that are produced by the University of Sunderland and are sold by good home-brewing shops." On the JBK UK home brewing he also suggested that he doubts the validity of the origins of many yeast strains that home brewers seem to take for granted.
Not wanting to belive everything published in a book, the UK-based home brew 'JBK' forums has this thread about Brewlab yeast slopes. I'd not seen this yeast for sale in Australia, so I contacted Brewlab to check about price, postage and getting them sent to Australia. Alison was very helpful, but said they'd never sent their yeast to Australia before, so if I was happy to help she'd arrange for one to be sent.
One good thing about Brewlabs is they are happy to match a yeast to requirements (in terms of yeast characteristics, wort, minerals etc) that you give them. I asked for a unique top cropping, true 'English Character' type yeast suitable for an English Pale Ale or Bitter, and was sent a slant of their Thames Valley 2 (1508) yeast strain.
Now that I've recultured the yeast and made a starter, I have to say that I've been very happy with the yeast so far, even the starter has a wonderful 'fruity' aroma.
I know that there are many people here more passionate about their English Ale than I am, so if you are interested in Brewlab yeast, you can contact Alison ([email protected]).
In the last email she sent me (on 2010-08-03) she said "The cost of an individual slope shipped would be 5 English pound for 1 and 7.50 for 2 slopes in same parcel, maybe we should send the slopes in duplicate in case of damage in transit."
(At current exchange rates this price compares very well to locally available liquid yeasts).
Here are the Brewlab info yeast sheets, Alison also said they are looking to extend their range with "approx 10 more yeasts from different regions".
View attachment updated1_Front_pageYeast_for_Home_Brewing1.DOC
View attachment UPDATED_Back_pageYeast_for_HOMEl_Brewing1.doc
View attachment UPDATED_print_Yeast_cultures_instruct._for_use1.doc
The info sheets do not mention specific temperature, tolerance or attenuation numbers, so when I asked about that was told the following:
Temperature should be between 15-23degreeC, ideal is 18-22.
The yeasts expected attenuation varies with worts used but should ferment down to 1007-8 but normally chilled above that.
Alcohol tollerance 6-7%
