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I recently decided to brew a seasonal favorite of mine, a Nut Brown Ale (BJCP 11C, Northern English Brown, with White Labs' WLP-037-P Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast (part of their Platium Strain series) as its yeast. Basically, it sounded good for the style, I had (and still have) it in my yeast bank, and I wanted to try it out, so I did. I was also brewing around the limited grains I had in stock at the time. So, using GTbrew2, I came up with my Yorkshire Square Nut Brown Ale.
When fermentation started, I thought I detected a "funky" smell coming from the fermenter. It was a familiar, almost medicinal smell that made me really suspicious, except, it wasn't that smell, it was different, somehow. So, I let it crank on, assuming I was just smelling something the yeast will chew up later.
When fermentation stopped (like a car running into a 200 ton brick wall would stop—when it stopped, it STOPPED), that smell or aroma or whatever it amounted to, was still there. However, by this point, I'd done some reading online, and knew better than to worry. It seems that not only CAN this yeast produce this semi-Belgian-ish note at first, it is EXPECTED to do so. A bit of aging later, and it goes away.
So, I kegged it despite its sour, near-Belgian character (and when I use the reference to Belgian beers, I must point out that what I am referring to is the various types of bacterial and wild yeast strains which would, in any other beer, be horrific flaws, but which the Belgians combine with some sort of magic to produce some incredibly good beers). I did what I would with any beer that I've just kegged. I crashed it down to as close to freezing as my beer fridge goes, and fed it some CO2 at my dispensing pressure, around 14 PSI, to get a nice, stable carbonation on the beer. After about five days, it was ready to sample. I was not prepared for what was about to happen....
When I sampled the Yorkshire Square Nut Brown Ale, the "funky" taste and aroma had faded DEEP into the background, and, in fact, had become a positive contributor to the beer. But not only that, I realized that I'd just sampled the best Nut Brown that I've ever not only brewed, but had, period, and the esters from the WLP-037-P were a critical component of that flavor and aroma.
It is also worth noting that, until I sampled this brew, my official best Nut Brown, last year's version, was my Midnight 007 Nut Brown Ale, which I brewed with WLP-007 "Dry English Ale Yeast". This yeast also produces a fantastic Nut Brown. As of the first sampling of the new version, the "Midnight 007" was moved down to a close second place.
Oh, I should point out, the dominant flavors that are not from the yeast are mostly all from the grain, which this yeast really, REALLY seems to emphasize. The chocolate/coffee flavor from the chocolate malt, the biscuity character from the Victory malt, and countless other more subtle flavors I don't have names for, all balance out nicely with the flavor and aroma contributions from the yeast. Meanwhile, the hops are hanging out in the basckground to finish out this whole, complex balancing act.
Next planned brew with this yeast: not sure...but I might try it in my oatmeal stout. But then, my Thunderous Oatmeal Stout is pretty much locked down, and uses Brewtek CL-170 (at least, I'm 99% sure it does), I might not want to touch it.
Put simply, if you're brewing a dark, British-style ale (e.g., brown, porter, mild, stout, etc.), this would be a great yeast to try. Just remember: when/if you get that initial (seemingly-) off character, don't worry...it's one of those yeasty characters that goes away with some aging. In my one brew with it, that was about five days. As they say, your mileage may vary. But it'll be well worth the wait, however long it takes.
Jim Graham
"Graham's Tavern" (aka, the tin can I live in until I get past these
long-term side-effects from cancer that are keeping me out of work even
now, at 3.5 years cancer free).....
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