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  • Anyone having WL Yeast problems too?

    Hi all,

    After almost a year and a half of working with White Labs Yeasts in our BOP, we're run into some problems. Mainly, our Lagers (German Lager or German Kolsch yeasts) and Belgian (Trappist, Abbey or Belgian yeasts) style beers are not fermenting at their usual rates.

    We've checked every step in our processes, double checked sanitation issues and have had our ale and lager room fans cleaned and regulated for the correct temperatures. So far we have found nothing wrong with our system.

    Now, most of the ales into which we pitch dry Coopers are running fine. This is the first problem we've had with any product from WL and still continue to use their SF Lager, Weizen, High Grav, Wit and various other yeasts.

    Has anyone else had a problem like this? Any ideas or suggestions? Help!

    Cheers!

    Mel

  • #2
    Me Too!

    We also were having a terrible problem with WLP029. Lag time had stretched out to 36+ hours even with pitching triple our usual dose. Besides that the flavor profile was unnacceptable to say the least. White Labs did credit us but we are currently using the Wyeast 2565, nice flavor profile but a bugger to filter. I hope they figure out the problem.

    We also run a BOP besides our 10BBL and usually have 4-6 yeast strains going at once. Absolutely no problems with any other strain, so I really do not think its us!

    Chris McKim
    The BREW Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse
    Strongsville, Ohio

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    • #3
      I am using Whie Labs califonia ale, and their hefe strain. The cal ale took 4 days to take off, I got nervous and called WL after the 3rd day. They sent me a second strain free of charge. By the time I received it, the orginal beer had finished fermenting, and I had a free slurry. Pitched that one with no problems. Hefe strain was good, pitched it at about 10pm, and had vigorous fermentation the next morning. The california strain is on its 10th generation now, with no off flavors, and the lag time is a couple of hours.
      Tim Butler

      Empire Brewing Co.
      Syracuse, NY

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      • #4
        I exclusively use White Labs and have had zero problems that I couldn't eventually trace back to me (cracked O2 Stone, incorrect mash temp readout). Its always god to check though. Could the yeast be getting damaged in this record heat during shipping? We have had numerous days topping out at over 110F. I always request extra ice packs in the summer and try to avoid ordering during the hottest months. My 001 takes off very quickly every time.
        Big Willey
        "You are what you is." FZ

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        • #5
          I too must confess, my WL yeast (WLP007) has become quite sluggish. It began several months ago, I would have to check my notes to pinpoint exactly when. It still produces a stellar beer, just not as quickly. I have yet to tell them because I swore it was something wrong on my end. Maybe the water, or a thermometer. I also notice, it doesn't flocc as well as it did since it became sluggish. For all I know, that could also be me

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          • #6
            I am a brewer for one of the RAM pubs(there are a bunch of us). We weren't having any problems with White labs yeast but a few months ago we made the switch to BSI. Better prices, shorter lead times--3 to 5 days as compared to 2 weeks--and great service.The yeast has performed beautifully and BSI has a huge library of strains to choose from. Both of the owners have been head brewers in brewpubs, so they understand yeast propagation as well as brewing. I have placed orders like this: I'd like 14 million cells per ml for a 15bbl batch. No problem. They do the math and your fermentation goes off perfectly. I highly recommend them. Check them out at brewingscience.com
            Bill Eye
            Dry Dock Brewing

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            • #7
              Ive noticed the attenuations across the board have dropped this year, Im thinking it has more to do with last years bad malt crop in Europe, I dont know if the US was affected. Perhaps if any of you are using European malts then you would have the same problem. I have been mashing a little longer to get more conversion. Still having a little trouble though.
              www.Lervig.no

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Eyebrew
                I am a brewer for one of the RAM pubs(there are a bunch of us). We weren't having any problems with White labs yeast but a few months ago we made the switch to BSI. Better prices, shorter lead times--3 to 5 days as compared to 2 weeks--and great service.The yeast has performed beautifully and BSI has a huge library of strains to choose from. Both of the owners have been head brewers in brewpubs, so they understand yeast propagation as well as brewing. I have placed orders like this: I'd like 14 million cells per ml for a 15bbl batch. No problem. They do the math and your fermentation goes off perfectly. I highly recommend them. Check them out at brewingscience.com

                BSI is good, no doubt.
                BrewerTL

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                • #9
                  I think it'd be good if you guys did the following, if you're not already (i.e. before you blame the supplier):

                  1. check yeast cell counts (15 - 20 million cells/ml);

                  2. check the number of living cells;

                  3. add yeast nutrients to the wort;

                  4. check mash program;

                  5. check aeration/oxygenation levels (too much O2 is deadly).

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                  • #10
                    Sluggish yeast

                    Until my very latest shipment, I’ve been very pleased with WL.Good fermentation times, great attenuation. Of the 27 breweries, not all are having the same issues, but at least 1/4 of them are. While the points of checking the items set forth from the last reply are good let’s not forget we are for the most part professional brewers. With that said checking your yeast viability, aeration, and mash saccharification should be checked each and every brew. My point being that in my controlled environment I too have had problems with the last two batches forms WL.
                    We will be sending samples into the lab and share what we can.

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                    • #11
                      Still having problems...

                      Well, we're still having problems. In our troubleshooting of our yeast issues we've started an aeration program on every single brew that takes WL strains...and man is it a pain in the ass!

                      I'll keep you posted on how it goes and thanks for the great suggestions!

                      Cheers!

                      Mel

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                      • #12
                        Usually, any lab with a background in university research, such as WL, uses -80C freezers for storing yeast and bacteria freezer stocks with 15% glycerin. These freezers don't last that long, and with the ice that forms on the weatherstripping on a daily basis and mechanicals pumping out heat the cold is not retained well. In my days as a lab monkey I was always the first person to work. There was the dreaded day when I came in after a holiday vacation (3 days) to find the -80C freezer at 30C. It really fucked up the viability of many stocks.

                        Yeast is easier to transform (or mutate) using environmental stress more than one may think. Engineering yeast can be as relatively simple as moving the cells from freezing to thaw in the presence of foreign plasmids.
                        Last edited by 3DogsBarking; 09-26-2007, 07:34 PM.
                        fungus rules the earth

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                        • #13
                          Use WL regularly with no problems on any strains I'v used. They also have great customer service and stand behind there product. I'm not convinced yet that fast produced yeast is better. Just as Fast Produced Beer is not better in my mind. Would you sell your beer in 5-7 days after brewing it.
                          Mike Hall

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                          • #14
                            yeast issue

                            I'm using them too, but had not problems.

                            Maybe you want to get your yeast slurry out of the anaerobic stage into aerobic stage.
                            Aerate a bit in your FV's before adding wort.

                            Also, you may want to keep ~ 5 ml of the yeast sent to you until the particular batch is done, so they can research the problem.

                            Are you adding any yeast nutrient?

                            Aerate your wort with ~ 8 ppm D.O.

                            Don't pitch to cold, depending on the beer brewed.

                            Fred

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