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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> pitch rate for WLP810?

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homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


So, I'm going to brew this Kentucky Common inspired beer. I decided to stick with my idea of WLP810 (San Francisco Lager).

I'm planning to ferment @ 60-65 F... do I use an ale pitch rate? Hybrid? Surely not lager rate.




Posted 34 days ago.

KidMoxie
Charter Member
San Elijo Hills, CA
405 Posts


Seems like you could go with ale rates at that temp, hybrid if you want less yeast expression.





Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


That's what I was thinking, Kid.

One of the reasons I chose this strain was for the expression. I understand that 810 can get a little fruity at the warmer end of the range... which I think might be kind of cool.






Posted 34 days ago.

KidMoxie
Charter Member
San Elijo Hills, CA
405 Posts


You want fruity? Use a regular lager strain at ale temps, pear city! I had a Cal Common flight at White Labs tasting room that was from a half dozen of their lager strains and they were all fruit salad.

(Queue Marshmallow, "you can ferment lagers at any temp and they'll come out clean!")





Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


mmm... fruit salad....

Well, I'm going with what I've got. Gonna ferment this one in my backup chamber - the Son of a Fermentation Chamber (aka the "big blue box sitting in the way in the basement"), as my ancient mini fridge is still struggling to lager my Dunkel. Can't seem to get it to stay much below 5 degrees C. :/

The SOAFC works, and is a vast improvement over no temp control, but it's harder to hit an exact temp. I plan to shoot for, say 60 F; that way, if I'm +/- 5 degrees, I'm still in 810's happy range.




Posted 34 days ago.

brulosopher
Charter Member
Fresno, CA
167 Posts


I'll first defer to the data...

People (I believe you were one of them, Derek) were unable to reliably distinguish a beer fermented with WLP800 at 50F from one fermented at 66F. People were also unable to reliably distinguish a beer fermented with 34/70 at 50F from one fermented at 70F. In neither of those was "fruitiness" ever used.

And now, my personal experience and opinion...

I've only been to White Labs once, before NHC last year, and there wasn't a single beer there that didn't taste off to me. In fact, I thought most tasted like barely decent homebrew. With that, I'd say the fruitiness you picked up may not have been a function of the lager yeast... or maybe on a larger scale, ferm temp has a different impact.




Posted 34 days ago.

KidMoxie
Charter Member
San Elijo Hills, CA
405 Posts


FWIW, White Labs has really cleaned up their game since they've opened and even since the last year. Generally if they have a lager it's not a fruit bomb like that Cal Common batch was. Was it a fluke? Maybe.

Their beer isn't *awesome*, but I've had enough of their beers to feel confident that they're generally representative of what they're trying to accomplish.





Posted 34 days ago.

testingapril
Charter Member
Atlanta, GA
595 Posts


> my ancient mini fridge is still struggling to lager my Dunkel

Y U NO Lager in keezer?

Also, wasn't white labs fermenting at 'saison' temps for everything? As in, temps so high they wouldn't admit the actual temp? Even though I tasted that WLP800 batch, I can't imagine fermenting that junk at 80+ and it not being awful. Especially with a lower pitch rate like they recommend.




Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


>Y U NO Lager in keezer?

Not enouhh room. 3 kegs in there, CO2 bottle in there. I could move the bottle and put the fermentor on the hump, I guess, but I don't think the lid would close.

I haven't even started the keezer build yet. :)




Posted 34 days ago.

testingapril
Charter Member
Atlanta, GA
595 Posts


Ohhh...you're not drinking fast enough. Got it. ;)




Posted 34 days ago.

brulosopher
Charter Member
Fresno, CA
167 Posts


Dan, we learned from one of the tour guides that they were fermenting everything at 76F during the few months it took to build the bigger brewery. Interestingly, the group of us who were there (including Tonsmeier, Malcolm, Jame Spencer and crew, Sean Terrill) didn't detect what you might expect from those temps... they still weren't very good, but I think it had more to do with poor brewing process.

After fermenting warm with 34/70 a few times, I can see myself never using 810/2112 again.




Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


lol... this is one big reason why I was reluctant to get into kegging.




Posted 34 days ago.

Necropaw
Charter Member
Central WI
608 Posts


You could still bottle off the kegs if you need to free up some room and one of the kegs is getting low-ish.

picnic tap + tubing works pretty damn well, imo.




Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


Has anyone here tried fermenting these lager strains under pressure to suppress ester production?  I know White Labs has a high pressure lager strain locked in its vault, but I don't see why it couldn't work with other strains. 



Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


I might just do the bottle from keg thing. I hadn't though about that.

I've never fermented in a keg. What about blowoff?




Posted 34 days ago.

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