Wyeast 1335 British Ale II Poor Attenuation

[rockeye84]

Hey brewers,

Done a couple of batches with 1335 seems to stall out at about 65% attenuation, the specs a say it should reach 73-76%.

1st batch, I tried all the tricks, swirl the fermenter, bump the temp up to the top of its range, ended up chucking in some s-04 at about 1.016 to help finish it off, it got down to 1.009 with the s-04.

Second generation of the same smack pack, 2nd batch, same upped the temp to 24c, swirling the fermenter. Dropped out at 1.015.

Pretty sure I did everything right, big healthy starter, aerated wort.

Got a couple of packs of us05 lying around not sure whether to chuck in extra yeast, or just settle with a malty 3.5% mid.. Tastes ok, bit sweet, only 25ibu, was aiming for a blonde/session ale.

Dud batch of yeast? Shame because I like the flavour profile it gives...

 

[mje1980]

Might be silly, but do you have lots of crystal malt in your beers, and did you mash high?. If you like the flavour profile do a Maris otter smash, mash it at 62c for an hour, and try it again and see how far it comes down??

 

[MartinOC]

Rockeye,

1335 is one of a pair of yeast strains that is used by Adnams brewery in Southwold in Suffolk, which is probably why you like the flavour profile (I grew-up on the stuff). Apparently, of the two strains, one is an absolute beast performer & the other is a poor attenuator (ie. highly flocculent), but gives a great flavour profile. I just found out which is which.

Of the two strains, Wyeast has one (ie. 1335) & Whitelabs has the other (WLP025), but whitelabs don't have it on their "Standard" list of available strains for some reason.

I reckon it might be worthwhile to try to rouse the yeast back into suspension with a sterile spoon (without splashing, of course) & see if it kicks-off again.

 

[tiprya]

I think english ale yeasts like this need more than a swirl, they need a transfer to secondary to kick the yeast into properly attenuating.

 

[rockeye84]

Might be silly, but do you have lots of crystal malt in your beers, and did you mash high?. If you like the flavour profile do a Maris otter smash, mash it at 62c for an hour, and try it again and see how far it comes down??

Mashed at 67c, estimated FG was 1.011, no crystal, 40% S-MO, 35% JW-TA, 15% JW Vienna, 8% JW Wheat, 2% Acid Malt

Has been sitting on 1.015/14 for the past 3 days. Too late for swirling, I kegged up this morn, going to leave the kegs at 20-22c in my fermenting fridge for a 7-10 days, might drop off a g point or two? I do secondary in keg, I need to buy another 60L fermenter.

Got a couple more harvested jars of the same yeast, next batch ill stir it up at about 1.018 just before it tries fo fall asleep, or adjust my mash temp & recipe to suit its attenuation.

 

[mje1980]

Hmm, you'd think it'd come down a bit more.

I've had an idea for a while to try out a small pump on uk ales, the notorious ones that like to slow down. Just a small pump, hose clamp a hose onto the tap, then go to the pump, then run the outlet hose up to the lid of the fermentor. I'd pump every few hours for a few minutes all through fermentation til it was done. Just to see if it made a difference. Wouldn't really be too hard, and if you could get those fussy uk strains to consistently attenuate how you wanted them to you could make some cracking uk ales.

 

[rockeye84]

Yeh could give it a shot. Could use a 12v car wiper pump or something?

Been having a few sips from the keg, it actually tastes really good, even for a mid/3.5% it doesn't taste like one. Bit of a fluke I suppose, the extra maltiness doesn’t seem sweet on the palate & is in perfect balance with the hops, must be the MO coming thru, 1st time I’ve used it.. Like it hey!

Sooo glad I didn't add any crystal, every other beer I’ve done that has finished 1.014ish have had crystal has been slightly sickly sweet, not to my liking.

Might just roll with it next brew and cater of the 65% attenuation with ingredients & mash temp, loving the maltiness :icon_drool2: