Wyeast German Ale Yeast

[RegBadgery]

Hello all,

This is my first time with Wyeast German ale yeast. It goes like a rocket. I stepped up the sachet a couple of times prior to pitching, have had the wort around 14-16 degrees and there's quite a substantial yeast head on top - big as blazes. Pretty tasty so far as well.

It's good to have a new yeast on the go - I've a California Lager in the fridge - anyone have views about this or the German yeast?

cheers
reg

 

[Stratis]

Hello all,

This is my first time with Wyeast German ale yeast. It goes like a rocket. I stepped up the sachet a couple of times prior to pitching, have had the wort around 14-16 degrees and there's quite a substantial yeast head on top - big as blazes. Pretty tasty so far as well.

It's good to have a new yeast on the go - I've a California Lager in the fridge - anyone have views about this or the German yeast?

cheers
reg

Never used it myself, but it's supposed to ferment even cleaner than 1056 (California), and makes good "pseudo-lagers".

 

[Gout]

I have used the Calfornia Lager and wasn't overy suprised by it, i have some still in the fridge but dont know if i will ever get back to it as i have, danish and munich lager yeasts, London and American Ales, my wheat and well that covers it for now.

Mind you i used this yeast on a coopers kit so maybe i havnt given it a chance, i will one day try it on a steam beer

Ben

marry x-mas (11.57pm)

 

[Barry]

Good Day
The WLP San Fran, which is suppose to be the same as the Wyeast Calf. Common is my favourite lager yeast which makes great lagers, everything from Bohemian pilsners to dopplebocks. It is probably too "malty" for Aussie lagers etc but it is a very easy to use and forgiving yeast IMHO.
Merry Christmas, Barry.

 

[yankee brewer]

Hey guys, California Common beer, AKA "Steam Beer" has its origins in the California gold rush days, when lots of folks from the east coast were heading out to California to strike it rich. This was at a time when lagers had really become big in the USA-- on the modernized east coast. Things like refidgeration were at quite a premium on the west coast. Certainly not something to be "wasted" on fermenting beer. Hell they were most concerned with keeping food from rotting and maybe squeezing in a cask of beer. Therefore, some pragmatic west coast brewers decided some sort of compromize was in order. So they began brewing beers with lager yeasts, but fermenting at ale temperatures. This was the birth of "steam beer". Many theories exist as to the origin of the name and up until Fritz Maytag of the Anchor Brewing Company came along and ingeniously pattented the name "steam beer", it was all steam beer. A forgotten style lost in a dusty corner of yesteryear. Fritz resurrected the style, pattented the name and built a booming brewery with this as his flagship. Can you imagine Guinness pattenting the name "stout"??? Everyone else would have to call their beer something else like "Irish Black Ale" or some such drivel. Likewise, USA brewers who brew steam beer must call it "California Common Beer". In any case, a California Lager, California Common, or Steam Beer (all the exact same thing) is actually fermented at room temperature if you want it to turn out like it is supposed to taste. Of course, If you want to use this yeast at lager temps go right ahead, after all, it is a lager yeast. Its just that doing so won't produce a true Cal Lager.

 

[Gout]

whats a steam / common ment to taste like? with a standard larger in relation

 

[yankee brewer]

Well, like any flavor, its hard to describe. Cali common has a friutier profile than a typical lager, but is cleaner than an ale. Fairly good dose of hops, about the color of a brown ale but with a bit more roasted malt. Heavy on the carbonation-- that's where one theory about the origins of the name comes from. When you open one or tap a cask the pssst! sound is supposed to resemble steam escaping. I don't much buy into that theory but it makes interesting fodder during a session.