Beer Forum

I bought a pack of Mangrove Jack's U.S. West Coast Yeast, and I thought I'd share my experience. One caveat however, is that this is my first experience with dry yeast. I typically use liquid yeast with starters.
The best buy date on the package was 9/2014. It is supposed to be adequate for up to a 6.6 gal batch of wort under 1.050. I followed the manufacturers re-hydration instructions, http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0195/8 ... t.pdf?1935, which states to add the entire package to 100 ml of water adjusted to 86-95 F water and stir for 8-12 minutes, then pitch immediately.
Since I was only making a 4 gallon batch of 1.046 wort, I used Mr. Malty's calculator and only used 7.5 grams of yeast re-hydrated in 750 ml of water. (my plan was to slightly over-pitch, just-in-case)
I cleaned and sanitized a small beaker, and then rinsed out the sanitizer with previously boiled and chilled water, heated it to around 95 F, and added it to the beaker. I checked the temperature in the beaker to make sure it hadn't dropped too much, added the yeast, and stirred for 10 min. I didn't pitch immediately, but after about 15 minutes, and definitely before 30 minutes of re-hydrating. I oxygenated with oxygen for 1 minute before pitching, and the wort was at 66F checked with a thermowell.
I didn't see visual signs of fermentation until around 18 hrs, definitively after 24 hours. Krausen formed after 48 hrs. and high krausen after 72 hrs. It's still fermenting now after 4 days, and I'll keep updating.
This was the slowest fermentation I've had (I usually have vigorous fermentation within 12 hrs.), and depending how this beer taste, I probably will stick with liquid yeast. I'm assuming because of the slow start I might have under-pitched. If I do use this yeast again, I might consider using the Yeast Books re-hydration instructions.

I fermented a Bohemian Pils with their M84 Bo Lager yeast. It took a while to start up, I ended up raising temp to 57F to get it to start after 2days at 50F. I held it at 55F after it started and it fermented well to 72% attenuation. The beer is 1 week into lagering in the keg and tastes great so far. I harvested the yeast and will re-pitch it.

It seems to be a solid Bo Lager yeast similar to Wyeast 2278.

Interesting to hear about. I saw their 9 different strains at the homebrew expo at NHC and was curious how they performed. I have not seen them for sale locally though. Apparently the West Coast yeast strain is a dry version of Rogue's Pacman.

Even after the slow start, the beer tastes clean. After I transferred from primary, the yeast did have a strong sulfur smell, but I don't taste it in the final beer. The yeast did its job, but I still love liquid yeast.

brewinhard wrote:Interesting to hear about. I saw their 9 different strains at the homebrew expo at NHC and was curious how they performed. I have not seen them for sale locally though. Apparently the West Coast yeast strain is a dry version of Rogue's Pacman.

Here's the cheapest place I've seen to order it. Shipping is only ~ $2 for small items like this too, which makes ordering a few packs reasonable. http://www.ritebrew.com/category-s/1923.htm

I pitched ~200 ml of washed M84 slurry into a German lager on Sunday. It was beginning to ferment Mon night and is going well this AM at 53F.