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The Platinum Brews


From WhiteLabs.com

Are you looking for something different in your brew? Already using liquid, but getting bored with the standard stuff? Well consider going Platinum with your next batch...

Every other month White Labs introduces two new strains for the homebrewing market. Part of the company's special "Platinum Series," these strains provide you with something new and gives you something to experiment with.

These strains are from the company's private library. If there is enough
demand, the company will offer selected popular strains year-round.

New strains will replace the last ones.  The goal of this program is to get new, interesting yeast strains for homebrewers to use, and to match seasonal brewing with particular yeast strains. Click here for complete descriptions of the strains.


2003 Month Yeast Strain Available
January-February WLP033
Klassic Ale
 Traditional English style, single strain yeast. Produces signature ester character, and does not mask hop character. Leaves ale with a slightly sweet malt character. Best for bitters, milds, porters, and stouts. Also good for Scottish style ales.
 
Attenuation: 66-74; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 66-70
WLP510
Belgian Bastogne Ale NEW! 		A high gravity, Trappist style ale yeast. Produces dry beer with slight acidic finish. More 'clean' fermentation character than WLP500 or WLP530. Not as spicy as WLP530 or WLP550. Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels.
 
Attenuation: 74-80; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 66-72
March-April WLP940
Mexican Lager
 From Mexico City, this yeast produces clean lager beer, with a crisp finish. Good for Mexican style light lagers, as well as dark lagers.
 
Attenuation: 70-78; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 50-55
WLP022
Essex Ale NEW! 		Flavorful British style yeast. Drier finish than many British ale yeast. Produces slightly fruity and bready character. Good top fermenting yeast strain, is well suited for top cropping (collecting). This yeast is well suited for classic British milds, pale ales, bitters, and stouts. Does not flocculate as much as WLP002 and WLP005
 
Attenuation: 71-76; Flocculation: medium to high; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 66-70
May-June WLP003
German Ale II
 Good for Kölsch, Alt, and German style Pale Ales. Strong sulfur component will reduce with aging. Clean, but with more ester production than WLP029.
 
Attenuation: 73-80 †; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 65-70
WLP026
Premium Bitter		 From Staffordshire, England. Fermentation gives a mild, but complex, estery character. Ferments strong and dry. Good for high gravity beers. Best for all English style ales, including bitters, milds, ESBs, porters, stouts, and b

Attenuation: 70-75; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 67-70
July-August WLP410
Belgian Wit II
 Less phenolic than WLP400, and more spicy. Will leave a bit more sweetness, and flocculation is higher than WLP400. Use to produce Belgian Wit, Spiced Ales, Wheat Ales, and Specialty Beers.
 
Attenuation: 70-75; Flocculation: low to medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 67-74
WLP885
Zurich Lager		 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.
 
Attenuation: 70-80; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 50-5
September-October WLP006
Bedford British
 Ferments dry and flocculates very well. Produces a distinctive ester profile. Good choice for most English style ales including bitter, pale ale, porter, and brown ale.
 
Attenuation: 72-80; Flocculation: High; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 65-70
WLP920
Old Bavarian Lager 		From Southern Germany, this yeast finishes malty with a slight ester profile. Use in beers such as Oktoberfest, Bock, and Dark Lagers.
 
Attenuation: 66-73; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 50-55
November-December WLP025
Southwold Ale
 From Suffolk county, England. This yeast produces complex fruit and citrus flavors. Great for British bitters and pale ales. Slight sulfur is produced during fermentation, which will disappear with aging.
 
Attenuation: 68-75; Flocculation: Medium; Optimum Ferm. Temp: 66-69
WLP099
Super High Gravity Ale 		Can ferment up to 25% alcohol. From England.

Brewers Notes:
Flavors from this yeast vary greatly with the beer produced. The higher the gravity, the more winey the result. Beers over 16% ABV begin to taste less like beer, and more like fortified wines. With low gravity beers, this yeast produces a nice, subtle English ale-like ester profile.As the gravity increases, some phenolic character is evident, followed by the winey-ness of beers over 16% ABV. Most fermentations will stop between 12-16% ABV unless these high gravity tips are performed:
  • Aerate very heavily, 4 times as much as with a normal gravity beer. Less oxygen dissolves into solution at high gravity.
  • Pitch 3-4 times as much yeast as normal.
  • Consider aerating intermittently during the first 5 days of fermentation. This will help yeast cells during a very difficult fermentation. Aerate with oxygen for 30 seconds or air for 5-10 minutes. 
  • Higher nutrient levels can allow yeast to tolerate higher alcohol levels. Use 2 times the normal nutrient level. This is especially important when using WLP099 to make wine and mead, which have almost no nutrient level to begin with.
  • Do not start with the entire wort sugar at once. Begin fermentation with a wort that would produce a 6-8% beer, and add wort (it can be concentrated) each day during the first 5 days. This can be done together with aeration. This is mandatory if the reported 25% ABV is to be achieved.
  • See schedule for availability.


Click on yeast name for complete descriptions of the strains and their dates of availability.

Here are some HBA favorites:


21st Century Schizoid Ale:: Brewboard’s 21st Century Schizoid Ale is a group effort involving several members of Homebrew Adventures’ Brewboard Community from as far away as Japan. It began as an idea posted on the forums and rapidly turned into a Monster with dozens of members suggesting varied ingredients. Its original pedigree seems to have been very German, but then it drifted more towards Belgian. With the addition of Maple Syrup, it became firmly North American. Deep brown in color, medium to full body with a complex hop profile. The use of Maple Syrup in this recipe will add a woody finish to this beer. This is truly an Ale with multiple personalities. (Starting Gravity: 1.073-1.077) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.018) (IBU: 58-62) (Approximate Alcohol content: 6.5-7.2%)
Micawber's Meticulous English Mild Ale:: English Mild is a close cousin to an English Brown Ale. Mild Ale is designed to be a session beer – full flavored and full bodied but reletively low in alcohol. Malty sweetness dominate the flavor profile with little hop bitterness or flavor. Hop aroma is light. Very low diacetyl flavors may be appropriate in this low-alcohol beer. Fruity-ester level is very low. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures. (Starting Gravity: 1.031-1.035) (Finishing Gravity: 1.005 – 1.009)(Bitterness: 23 IBU) Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 2.7-3.2% (3.2-4.0%) Color SRM (EBC): 8-17 (16-34 EBC)
Kulmbach Schwarzbier: Black beer with a rich, smooth and malty flavor...offset with medium hop bitterness and aroma, this is a tasty example of this commercially rare beer.
Burton Pale Ale:: Example of a English Pale Ale. The use of Carapils and Crystal 120L give this beer a nice medium body as well as a pale to copper color. Kent Goldings provide a crisp bitter bite along the upper end of the bittering scale for this style.
Chappaquiddick Ale:: Chappequiddick Ale is a Boston style ale that is characterized by a malty body and medium bitterness with a very clean finish devoid of yeast characteristics. It will be medium to dark amber in color. A refreshing ale with the hues leaning towards tan. An excellent session beer! (Starting Gravity: 1.042-1.048) (Finishing Gravity: 1.007-1.013) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 4.0-4.5%) (35 IBU)
Abbey Normal Belgian Ale:: Abbey Style Ales cover a lot of ground in terms of strength, color, and flavor. They can vary from 6 to 11% alcohol. They can be pale to dark brown. Hops rarely play a dominant role so the flavors generally range from sweet to spicy to earthy. The use of pure Belgian Candi Sugar aids in giving this beer its authentic Belgian character. Medium amber in color, medium to full bodied with a malty/spicy aroma. Liquid yeast is strongly recommended with this recipe. (Starting Gravity: 1.075-1.080) (Finishing Gravity: 1.014-1.020) (Approximate Alcohol Content: 7.8-8.3% by volume) (24 IBU)