Ringwood Ale 1187

[neal.p]

Hi all,
Made two 1.5L starters with 155g light DME for West Yorkshire 1469 (left) Ringwood Ale 1187 (right). Jan and Dec dates. Exactly the same other than yeast.

It's been 17 hours (at 23c ish) and I've never seen a starter stay so dark as the 1187. Very strong butterscotch aroma and a lesser butterscotch flavour - might sell to Siebel for their taint kit. No krausen. From what I've read, diacetyl is a characteristic of this yeast but wow, can it be too strong to pitch?

I was planning to brew tomorrow but trying to work out if I need to fit in a LHBS visit for a backup yeast. Could always step the 1469 I guess.

 

[Judanero]

Looks like some condensation in the flask so it'd be safe to say there's activity, can't say I've ever noticed 1187 to be darker in a starter...
What size batch are you pitching into? I love 1187 so would have no problems pitching into well oxygenated wort and fermenting at 20c.

 

[neal.p]

Yer, it's a bit beyond my experience. I'm pitching it into 10L. I'll pump some O2 through a stone and give it a long rest. It's still on the plate, maybe there'll be a krausen ring overnight.

 

[Mr B]

Could just be comparison colour, in that the darker one doesn’t have as much yeast in it yet?

You probably know if this is the answer by now...

 

[Judanero]

Yer, it's a bit beyond my experience. I'm pitching it into 10L. I'll pump some O2 through a stone and give it a long rest. It's still on the plate, maybe there'll be a krausen ring overnight.

10L should be no problems, and then the yeast cake from this 10L batch would be perfect for a RIS...