Wyeast 1968 London Esb

[lastdrinks]

I've upgraded my kits'n'bits and i put down a Wyeast 1968 London ESB. Banged the pack, let if puff up and chucked it in the fermentor with 1 can of goo, 1.2 Light DME and 500g of mixed cara. Also boiled 20g of Goldings for 25min and another 25g for 5 mins.

All was going well, fermentation started banging away 24 hours later. Then stopped about 5 days later at 1.020. it looks like the temp dropped to about 18c in the fermentor fridge. So i've loaded hot water bottles and am raising to about 22c, also gave it a good shake.

Does this sound like decent plan? Expecting a FG of 1.014 or 15. If it doesnt take off by Wednesday i am planning about breaking a rule i haven't yet and sticking a sterilised stirrer in fermentor and giving a stir.

Bloody tasty little liquid yeasties, beer from the hydro definately had more character than the nottingham and safale 05 i have previously used.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

The 1968 is notorious for packing up its bat and ball and heading for the bottom at just about 1.020. Especially if you dare to let the temperature drop.

You have done what it is that most people will recommend, warm up the fermentor and give it a swirl. You will need to keep it at 21-22 and probably have to swirl it a couple of times a day, but those few point will most likely drop off.

I treat it the same way I used to treat safale S04 which behaved in the same way - I watch the fermentation, and as soon as the Krausen starts to back off (maybe day three?)I start to give the fermentor a swirl every day and put up the temperature by a degree each day till I get to 22. Where I keep it, swirling 1 or two times a day, till its done.

Nice yeast, but a little fussy.

 

[Goofinder]

Give it a good swirl a few times, as it drops out pretty quickly. Also, you should only expect 67-71% attenuation according to Wyeast. I think I got slightly higher than that on my last brew, but it was mashed fairly low to get the fermentability.

Agree about the taste on this one... even just starters of this taste beautiful!

 

[Dave86]

I've been giving this yeast a go lately and have managed 76% and 73.8% on the two brews that are finished. As mentioned, I think this bad boy needs to be kept a point or or two warmer than usual, at least toward the end

 

[rosswill]

I've got a Fullers ESB clone going at the moment with 1968, it has exactly the same issue. It went to sleep at 1022. I gave it a swirl and turned the heat up to 22 degrees. It limped back to life for two day, and fell asleep again. Now doing it daily until the weekend. Hope the end result justifies the extra effort.

 

[mickoz]

Hi Rosswill,

Are you able to post your recipe for the Fullers ESB clone?

Thanks

Mick

 

[lastdrinks]

I agree rosswill, its taking some of the fun out of it.

Mental note: Must make starter must make starter

 

[pbrosnan]

My last effort with this yeast was in the range 1052 -1016. The FG was read as optimistically as possible. I find most of the English yeasts to be low attenuators and very difficult to get to a low FG. I just did a brew using 1335 and couldn't get that below 1018 from 1052. I'll try the old raising the temp to 22 next time as most of mine spend their time below 20.

 

[ballzac]

I just used 1968 in an old speckled hen clone from Orfy @ HBT, but with high OG for an extra kick. I may be lucky that I don't have temperature control, because I had no choice but to ferment it at around 20-22 C. OG was 1.064, FG was 1.010. It's the first liquid yeast I've used, so I can't really comment apart from to say it's tasting quite lovely and is in secondary at the moment. Actually tastes more like an abbey ale than a pale ale or ESB due to the high alcohol content, and I will probably give it a decent level of carbonation. Anyway, I've washed the yeast and will definitely use it again.

 

[lastdrinks]

Well the reading today was down to 1.016 and still tasting good. :icon_cheers:

Will see how far it goes.

 

[Weizguy]

Keep wakin' em up until they finish the job.

The issue occurs since the yeast of often active in some type of Yorkshire squares or whatever type of Burton Union-ish setup.
The Krausen (barm) can be massive, and the ferment can be violent (I am led to believe).

A good culture and daily rousing can see the job done in 4 days or so. Sounds like some Belgian yeasts. Probably both of Brit origin, as a lot of Belgian brewers trained in England in the 50's.

Just sampled about half a pint (handled mug) of London Pride cloney with WLP002 (same beast as W1968, or at least of the same origin) out of the fermentor at room temp. Mmmm, cask ale in my own home. Fruity and malty.

 

[reviled]

Ive got two commercial bottles with about 100mls of beer and the 1968 yeast sitting in them, anyone got any good tips for getting this yeast recultured? I was thinking of just throwing the dregs from both bottles in, but reading this, seems like the yeast may not like it??

 

[gibbocore]

i've just woken up and taken a sample of my (stuck 1968) and it has fermented from 1058 to 1020 overnight, and it seems that in its violence has bubbled itself over 25 degrees. Its sure as sh!t aint 25 degrees in my garage. I had pitched about 400ml of the yeast on tuesday night and had no action till midday yesterday. I had no intention of using temp control as the problem was keeping it above 16 degrees. Damned if you do and damned if you dont.

 

[rosswill]

Mickoz, here you go.
This is the Fullers ESB recipe from Tess & Mark Szamatulski's book, Clone Brews.
Its for a 5gal/19L batch. OG 1054-57, FG 1011-14. SRM 13, IBU 44, ABV 5.5%.
340g British crystal malt, 57g British amber malt, 57g aromatic malt. 4.1kg British 2-row pale malt, 230g flaked maize. Mash at 65.5 degrees for 90 minutes. Add 25g Target hops for 60 mins, 14g of Challenger and 14g Northdown and irish moss for 15 mins. 28g East Kent Goldings for 1 min. Let cool for 15 mins before draining. Pitch Wyeast Special London Ale 1968 and ferment at 20-22 degrees. Add 14g of EKG into secondary.
I scaled the recipe up to 23L, used available malts, and made allowances for my efficiency. I used 5kg of Marris Otter, 350g Bairds medium crystal, 100g Caraaroma and 250g flaked maize. I got an OG of 1056. All Ive got to do now is keep the 1968 yeast awake to get a decent final gravity. The daily swirling seems to be working. The gravity samples taken to date taste fantastic.

 

[Benniee]

I feel a bit foolish asking this, but here goes...

You guys mention "swirling" the fermenter - what is you method? Do you spin the fermenter for a little while, or give it a good swing? How long do you "swirl for? Does it get all the yeast back in suspension or a smaller amount?

I'm just thinking that if there is any CO2 in the mix, that's coming out for sure - and then aren't you going to knock some of karusen ring back into the beer.

Obviously these things aren't a problem because so many of you have had success doing it. I'm just asking from the point of view of never having "swirled".

Benniee

 

[rosswill]

Benniee
I do not know the science, I swirled instintively for about 5-10 seconds. It seems to have been effective. I was not aware at the time it was a trait of this yeast. My aim was to get the settled yeasties back into the wort without introducing air into the wort. So its a swirl, not a splash. Getting crusties back into the wort is probably not desirable, but if it is in a sterile enviornment, it does not seem to make much difference.

 

[mickoz]

Mickoz, here you go.
This is the Fullers ESB recipe from Tess & Mark Szamatulski's book, Clone Brews.
Its for a 5gal/19L batch. OG 1054-57, FG 1011-14. SRM 13, IBU 44, ABV 5.5%.
340g British crystal malt, 57g British amber malt, 57g aromatic malt. 4.1kg British 2-row pale malt, 230g flaked maize. Mash at 65.5 degrees for 90 minutes. Add 25g Target hops for 60 mins, 14g of Challenger and 14g Northdown and irish moss for 15 mins. 28g East Kent Goldings for 1 min. Let cool for 15 mins before draining. Pitch Wyeast Special London Ale 1968 and ferment at 20-22 degrees. Add 14g of EKG into secondary.
I scaled the recipe up to 23L, used available malts, and made allowances for my efficiency. I used 5kg of Marris Otter, 350g Bairds medium crystal, 100g Caraaroma and 250g flaked maize. I got an OG of 1056. All Ive got to do now is keep the 1968 yeast awake to get a decent final gravity. The daily swirling seems to be working. The gravity samples taken to date taste fantastic.

Cheers Rosswill

 

[mickoz]

Hi Guys,

I've just put an English Bitter down to ferment using the Wyeast 1968. I have to say that it is the strangest yeast I have used to date. Even in the starter on the stirplate the yeast clumps together and tries to fall out of suspension. The stirring keeps the little blobs moving but I wonder if there is any left in suspension at all, it seems the little buggers like to hug each other when they run out of food Looks like white oil in the flask but certainly smells and tastes great.

Mick

 

[dr K]

as others have found 1968 is a very flocculent yeast that really does need a bit of rousing.
when i use it its out to the brewhouse at not much past dawn every day for a jolly old rousing at which time I shout out "Hands off Cocks on Socks", always good for a giggle.
It is fine top cropper as well for those who want to get into proper harvesting !
anyway, try the 1026 Cask Ale , it is fantastic. I made a crap ordinary from it, too bitter, unbalanced, thin to the point that it was only the diacetyl that held it up and with a a low level of acetaldehyde. I am pouring it "off the floor" at the moment, 12C in the glass but it is as bright as any filtered beer I have had, it is less than two weeks in the keg, in fact it was very clear a week ago with only a few days in the keg when I took some up North on my way to the BandT

K

 

[lastdrinks]

Thought i'd give an update for anyone like me sticking the big toe into these liquid yeasts. So early results from the bottle are good, malty, fruity and pretty clear beers. I did three brews with ESB 1968, the frist one was a real pain and seemed to need more attenuation, the other 2 that were fermented with 1 cup of trub of yeast from the previous brew, all attenuated down well. I have two kegs left aging as i think it needs it with all the hops.

Would i use it again?.... probably but the next ESB/ english pale i do i will test a few of the other yeasts out first. i think london ale 1098.