Brown Ale - Yeast Advice

Greetings brewheads -

I was working on a recipe for a brown ale (in my dreams it would come out like SS Nut Brown, but in the ballpark is ok). I was going to go with the WLP037 Yorkshire Square yeast, but it seems this is ‘seasonal’ or otherwise hard to come by. The same seems to be true for the Wyeast 1469. Any suggestions for a viable alternative? I realize I could just go with a reliable standby like WLP002 and it would work, but was hoping to get some nutty/malty flavor enhancement out of it.

Grain/hop bill thus far:

5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
3 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs Biscuit Malt (Dingemanns) (24.5 SRM)
1 lbs Crisp Brown Malt (65.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (220.0 SRM)
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 17.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 8.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8 9.6 IBUs

Thanks for any advice, you guys rock.

WY1450 is my go to for brown ale.

Hmmm yes, I see that! lol
Ok, I think I might have to give this a try - thanks Denny! :cheers:

Alas, that seems to be out of stock too. Buggers.
I went with the White Labs WLP006 Bedford British - Platinum Series, will see how it comes out and report back. Thanks for the tip though - will definitely try the 1450 in the future!

1450 for an English brown? Thats a good yeast but if you want something like sam smiths you need some yeast character. I would try a ringwood strain next time. I really like 1318 london ale III in my northern brown

He didn’t specify he wanted an English brown. FWIW, 2 experiences with Ringwood were enough to last me the rest of my life!

I used nottingham dry yeast for a porter a while back. It unintentionally tasted almost identical to samuel smiths taddy porter, so I was proud of that. I think it would make a good brown ale.

Although there seems to be some debate about nottingham. some love it, some really dislike it.

:cheers:

He didn’t specify he wanted an English brown. FWIW, 2 experiences with Ringwood were enough to last me the rest of my life![/quote]

I was just basing that sam smiths nut brown being the inspiration. Ive heard ringwood is the closest to ssmiths. I brewed with wlp005 for a string of batches and had none of the flavor or attenuation issues associated I think more with wyeasts ringwood. Just curious did you use 1187 and what did ringwood in for you.

[quote=“S.Scoggin”]I used nottingham dry yeast for a porter a while back. It unintentionally tasted almost identical to samuel smiths taddy porter, so I was proud of that. I think it would make a good brown ale.

Although there seems to be some debate about nottingham. some love it, some really dislike it.

:cheers: [/quote]

You got that recipe handy?

He didn’t specify he wanted an English brown. FWIW, 2 experiences with Ringwood were enough to last me the rest of my life![/quote]

I was just basing that sam smiths nut brown being the inspiration. Ive heard ringwood is the closest to ssmiths. I brewed with wlp005 for a string of batches and had none of the flavor or attenuation issues associated I think more with wyeasts ringwood. Just curious did you use 1187 and what did ringwood in for you.[/quote]

Yeah, it was 1187 back when they called it “Swedish Porter” yeast. Loads of diacetyl and generally poor performance.

UPDATE: OK I went with the White Labs WLP006 Bedford British - Platinum Series and after 2 weeks in primary I just bottled it. Took a sample taste with the FG reading and I must say its off the hook. Both my OG and FG were a little higher than planned, bit nonetheless it looks like this is going to taste delightful. Very Sam Smith like. So good that I harvested some of the yeast for another batch.

I just tapped a keg of a Norther English Brown and I used WY1028.

I fermented around 62 and bumped it up to 68 for a few days before conditioning for a week at 52 (in the keg).

Tastes good and has a crisp and nutty flavor.

[quote=“andymag”]I just tapped a keg of a Norther English Brown and I used WY1028.

I fermented around 62 and bumped it up to 68 for a few days before conditioning for a week at 52 (in the keg).

Tastes good and has a crisp and nutty flavor.[/quote]
I usually use 1028 in a brown ale, because it is among the highest attenuating English strains (I consistently get 78% attenuation). I like a drier finish in a brown. The yeast derived character is more subtle than many other English strains and not fruity at all in my experience, but still quite nice.

This year I used 1469, since I had some on hand. To get a drier finish I used 10% brown sugar. I hit 78% on the money and of course I got more yeast derived character. Will probably do this going forward for my seasonal batch of brown.

[quote=“S.Scoggin”]I used nottingham dry yeast for a porter a while back. It unintentionally tasted almost identical to samuel smiths taddy porter, so I was proud of that. I think it would make a good brown ale.

Although there seems to be some debate about nottingham. some love it, some really dislike it.

:cheers: [/quote]
My English brown ale tastes great using nottingham