October 23, 2018
Brewing with Limited Edition Yeast
Know what sucks about Limited Edition/Platinum/Private Collection series yeast strains? They're here long enough for you to learn to love them, then they're gone. Out of your life. Pffft. Case in point: the porter I'm drinking right now. My goodness, but it's dense and full-bodied, not a bit too much CO2, bready and toasty and chocolatey, an almost creamy mouthfeel ... aspirations to oatmeal stout but with the soul of a dark mild. Credit where credit is due: WLP037 Yorkshire Square Ale. Oh, it was a unicellular stallion ... blew hoppy floccs all over the carboy during primary, settled right out in secondary and left the beer the most lucid garnet color. Repitched it into an English strong, which is right now getting the real ale treatment in a keg with some isinglass, priming sugar, and Styrian Goldings. And then the 037 was gone. Sold out, off the shelves. No word when it'd be back. No goodbye; maybe it's easier that way. Good thing I washed the yeastcake ... something to remember it by. Hello, Yorkshire Square Ordinary!