White Labs Club Newsletter

Not sure how many are signed up to get the White Labs Customer Club Newsletter but here is the Fall 2013 Issue.

Customer Club Newsletter	Fall Issue 2013

Written by John Carroll, Customer Service Rep @ White Labs jcarroll@whitelabs.com 888-593-2785

Platinum Strains

The heat of summer is fading and we can all think about brewing again. It’s time to replenish our beer supply that summer picnics and barbeques have depleted! The end of the year Platinum strains are here so get ’em while you can!

Sept/Oct Platinum Strains

WLP039 East Midlands Ale Yeast
British style ale yeast with a very dry finish. Medium to low fruit and fusel alcohol production. Good top fermenting yeast strain, is well suited for top cropping (collecting). This yeast is well suited for pale ales, ambers, porters, and stouts.

WLP709 Sake #9 Yeast
For use in rice-based fermentations. Traditional strain used in Ginjo-shu production because of the yeast’s development of high fragrance components. Also a fairly strong fermenter, but producing a foamless fermentation.

WLP885 Zurich Lager Yeast
Swiss style lager yeast. With proper care, this yeast can be used to produce lager beer over 11% ABV. Sulfur and diacetyl production is minimal. Original culture provided to White Labs by Marc Sedam.

Nov/Dec Platinum Strains

WLP037 Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast
This yeast produces a beer that is malty, but well-balanced. Expect flavors that are toasty with malt-driven esters. Highly flocculent and good choice for English pale ales, English brown ales, and mild ales.

WLP515 Antwerp Ale Yeast
Clean, almost lager like Belgian type ale yeast. Good for Belgian type pales ales and amber ales, or with blends to combine with other Belgian type yeast strains. Biscuity, ale like aroma present. Hop flavors and bitterness are accentuated. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation, which can give the yeast a lager like flavor profile.

WLP920 Old Bavarian Lager Yeast
From Southern Germany, this yeast finishes malty with a slight ester profile. Use in beers such as Oktoberfest, Bock, and Dark Lagers.

If you don’t see any of these strains at your local homebrew shop, be sure to ask for them!

Belgian Pale Ale

Quantity Ingredients Comment
7.0 lbs Great Western 2 row Malt

1.0 lbs Vienna Malt

8.0 oz Crystal Malt (10-20 Lovibond)

2.0 oz Chocolate Malt
1.5 oz Saaz (4% alpha acid hop) 60 min boil
1 vial WLP515 Antwerp Ale Yeast
1 capsule Servomyces Yeast Nutrient 10 min boil

1 tsp. Irish Moss 10 min boil
1 vial Clarity Ferm (optional) see belowBrewing Procedures:
1.   Mash grains at 152°F for 60 minutes in 3 gallons (11.4L) water
2.    Sparge/Lauter at 170°F to collect 6 gallons (23L)
3.   Boil wort for 60 minutes adding hops as indicated
4.   Cool to 68ºF, oxygenate wort

*Optional: add 1 vial Clarity Ferm
5. Pitch 1 vial WLP515 Antwerp Ale Yeast

Extract Option: reduce 2 row malt to 2.5 lbs, add 3 lbs light DME. Steep malt for 45 minutes at 148°F in 3 quarts (2.8L) water.

Fermentation:
Primary: 1-2 weeks at 68°F
Secondary: 1-2 weeks
Bottle: prime with 3/4 cup corn sugarOriginal Gravity: 1.048 Final Gravity: 1.010
Alcohol By Vol: 4.9% IBU: 27 Color(SRM): 12

Distilling style yeast is here

At the National Homebrew conference this year, White Labs rolled out 4 new liquid strains in distinctive blue labels aimed at beer wash recipes that will give authentic Whiskey, Vodka, and Gin flavors to your wash. If you were lucky enough to attend, we served beer made with all 4 yeasts at our booth for flavor comparisons. So without further ado:

WLP045 Scotch Whisky Yeast
A strain that was widely used for Scotch Whisky production from the early 1950s, producing a complex array of ester compounds and fusel oils, as well as some spicy, clove character. Suitable for Scotch Whisky or American-style Whiskey. Used in high-gravity beers.

WLP050 Tennessee Whiskey Yeast
Suitable for American-style whiskey and bourbon. This yeast is famous for creating rich, smooth flavors. Clean and dry fermenting yeast. Will tolerate high alcohol concentrations (15%), and ester production is low. Also popular in high-gravity beers.

WLP065 American Whiskey Yeast
Yeast strain that produces low ester profile and moderate fusel oils. Temperature and alcohol tolerant and suitable for American-style whiskey using barley or corn base. Also used in high-gravity beers.

WLP070 Bourbon Yeast
From a tradtional distillery in the heart of Bourbon country, this strain produces a carmel, malty character with balanced ester profile. Suitable for Bourbon or other American Whiskey with barley, rye, or corn as the base grain. Used in high-gravity beers.

WLP078 Neutral Grain Yeast
Marked by a clean, fast fermentation, this strain is ideal for any neutral grain spirit. Alcohol and temperature tolerant. Used in high-gravity beers.

**Note: Distilling in the United States is illegal without a federal license. This yeast is intended for use in beer or by licensed distilleries. Find beer recipes for these strains at www.whitelabs.com.

Whiskey vs. Whisky

The keen eyed folks out there may have noticed that our strains have 2 different spellings for Whisky/Whiskey. This is intentional and not a label error, so why the difference?

According to the “Master of Malt” website (www.masterofmalt.com):

“As a rule, American and Irish prefer ‘whiskey’ and the Scots, Canadians and the rest of the world’s single malt makers prefer ‘whisky’. This originated during the 19th century. For in around 1870, Scotch whisky was of very low quality, much of it being distilled poorly in Coffey stills.

For exportation to America, the Irish distillers wanted to differentiate their product from the poorer Scotch whisky, thus they added the ‘e’ to mark the crucial distinction. Today, Scotch whisky has become one of the world’s greatest spirits, but the spelling still differs.

On mass, Americans still spell their spirit with an ‘e’, though legally it is spelled ‘whisky’. A few distillers, Maker’s Mark and George Dickel for example, prefer the Scottish spelling, this is to be attributed to their Scottish ancestry.”

Beer 4 Boobs

Help Save Second Base!

We are running a special promotion during the month of October with the WLP005 British Ale yeast. If your recipe calls for this strain, pick up a vial with a pink label to help cure breast cancer. If not, consider substituting it in!

If you are lucky enough to be attending the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO this year, be sure to stop by the Beer 4 Boobs booth. You can say hello to some White Labs employees, and even pick up some cool merchandise!

Beer 4 Boobs is the White Labs team that does the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk every year to raise funds for breast cancer research. By purchasing some cool merchandise from our booth, you are helping to find a cure as well!

White Labs Out and About

Bell’s Homebrew Expo

On September 14th, Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo Michigan hosted over 200 homebrewers for their annual Homebrew Expo. Brewers could sign up to receive 5 gallons of base wort to take home and turn into some tasty brew, which will be judged at Bell’s in a couple of months. Several vendors, including White Labs, were on site with informational booths and schwag to give away. A good time was had by all, and to top the afternoon off, they had a German band playing, complete with Alpenhorns!

Customer Feedback

1) After finding that I really enjoy a saison, I ventured off on my own to reproduce a brew worthy enough to stand up to my liking. I used WLP565 and after 3 months fermenting in my room over the garage with no AC in the hot southeastern, North Carolina summer, I was blessed to have made a fantastic saison. This yeast is by far my favorite. – Kyle, Wilmington, NC.

2) Was brewing a strong pumpkin ale and the fermentation got so vigorous that the top blew off of my conical fermenter. I was standing nearby and it scared the crap out of me! After a long aging it ending up turning out quite good. – Matt, Newark , DE

Rewards!

You get more from being in the customer club than just this scintillating newsletter. Save up those vial labels and exchange them for some cool White Labs gear, beer style books, or free vials of yeast! Visit our Customer Club page on the White Labs website for more info.

Customer Club