AG #9 Wye Valley HPA Clone

jeg3 · Nov 25, 2015

Got this on the go this morning:

Maris Otter 3.7kg
Wheat Malt 430g

22g Magnum 90mins
12g Goldings 10mins
1tsp Irish Moss 10mins

Wye Valley yeast cultured from a bottle of Butty Bach.

14l mash at 66Ã¢âÆ
18l sparge at 77Ã¢âÆ

Pre boil volume 28l, gravity 1.039 giving an efficiency of 83%. This is way above what I was expecting and was probably a result of me controlling mash temp better, stirring the mash halfway through and also recirculating a couple of litres of the runoff until the runoff gravity was 1.005.

Beersmith ABV estimate was 3.8% with 72% BHE and Wyeast 1968 yeast profile. Now looks like 4.4%, which is all good.

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Alcoholx · Nov 25, 2015

looking good.... :thumb:

jeg3 · Nov 25, 2015

Finished for the day.

OG 1.042, which is pretty close to the estimate. 21 litres into the FV and yeast pitched at 22Ã¢âÆ.

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jeg3 · Nov 27, 2015

A good Krausen has developed today. I've never seen one this thick before, it's like a souffle

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GHW · Nov 28, 2015

jeg3 said:
A good Krausen has developed today. I've never seen one this thick before, it's like a souffle

It's a glorious sight. My wyeast 1318 krausen was like that, never really went away. Are you going to top crop crop?

MyQul · Nov 28, 2015

Garethhuwwilliams said:
It's a glorious sight. My wyeast 1318 krausen was like that, never really went away. Are you going to top crop crop?

He has a little:

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=537602#post537602

jeg3 · Nov 28, 2015

This happened in the space of 15 minutes, just adding 200ml of wort. It's a litre jar

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MyQul · Nov 28, 2015

Flippin 'eck :shock:

I was aware that top cropped yeast is the healthiest you can get but that's crazy. May be you should have used a 5L water bottle :lol:

jeg3 · Nov 28, 2015

And tonight:

jeg3 · Nov 28, 2015

Is this salvageable if I get rid of the stuff on the top and clean up the lid and the outside of the jar?

Or should I just start again? I think I know the answer, but I've also missed the best of the yeast head

jeg3 · Nov 29, 2015

Garethhuwwilliams said:
It's a glorious sight. My wyeast 1318 krausen was like that, never really went away. Are you going to top crop crop?

It shows no sign of abating either. Usually my low gravity brews get close to FG in 4-5 days and the yeast drops. In this case it just stays on top. I'll give it til tomorrow and take a gravity reading.

Any advice for racking off the primary? Usually I rack to secondary after 4-6 days...but by that time all the yeast, trub etc has dropped

Sandimas · Nov 29, 2015

Interested in how this turns out - where did you get your recipe?

Asking because I barrelled my HPA clone yesterday :) I used slightly less wheat malt than you (9%) and Target as the bittering hop rather than Magnum. I went round the brewery earlier this year and definately saw Target and Celeia hops, think Willamette too.

I've also recovered their yeast from a bottle but that was from their Imperial Stout and used it in my last Stout brew. Must get a Butty Bach and get the yeast out of that.

jeg3 · Nov 29, 2015

I used a recipe off here (can't remember who) with target and celeia but substituted magnum and Goldings as that's what I had in the freezer.

As for the yeast, well I'm amazed by it but it shows how much I have to learn!

jeg3 · Nov 29, 2015

Sample taken. Gravity is down to 1.008, taste is awesome, whether it's like HPA well only time will tell and I'll have to sample some real HPA as well to compare.

The krausen is still there, so I'm thinking since I've already cropped the yeast I'll leave it on the primary yeast cake rather than disturbing it.

Attentuation appears to be around 80% so the Wye Valley yeast seems to be a high attentuating variety. I'd say flocculation is medium to high (of the yeast that isn't in the krausen...!)

Sandimas · Nov 30, 2015

My Coopers Stout using Wye Valley yeast went down to 1008 too, it's a good one :)

Did you make a starter? I did, and was amazed I got enough from one bottle. I've recycled it again too but as it came from a Stout I'm a bit loathe to use it on lighter beers.

jeg3 · Nov 30, 2015

I cultured it over 5 step ups so I went from almost nothing to about 100ml over two and a half weeks.

I also cropped from the FV and that is some of the healthiest yeast I have ever seen. It went berserk. I reckon I could have harvested 2 litres of pure yeast on day 3

MyQul · Nov 30, 2015

This thread has definatley got me interested in the strain now. With such a high attenuation it look great for using in my House Dry Stout ( GH's one in his book). I'm looking forward to some tasting notes to find out if this is a clean or estery strain

jeg3 · Nov 30, 2015

MyQul said:
This thread has definatley got me interested in the strain now. With such a high attenuation it look great for using in my House Dry Stout ( GH's one in his book). I'm looking forward to some tasting notes to find out if this is a clean or estery strain

I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to beer flavours, what I am I tasting when a beer has more ester?

MyQul · Nov 30, 2015

Fruitiness. A estery yeast will be the opposite of a clean yeast which won't have any real flavour of its own (unless you ferment it quite high) so lets the yeast/hop flavour shine through.

Sandimas · Dec 1, 2015

I'm no tasting expert but using it in my Coopers Stout produced a smoother, surperior taste to the Coopers yeast.

Maybe I got lucky but I was able to cultivate the yeast from a single bottle in one step, and it was fine for a full 20L brew.

AG #9 Wye Valley HPA Clone

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