WY 1968 different performance

I only do extract and I used 1968 recently in an IPA, which turned out great. I was amazed at the activity during fermentation ----- white clumps swimming violently around in the murky wort. I read somewhere that it works well for most styles with the exception of a stout so I used it yesterday when I started a porter. After the first day there is no visible “swimming” activity but luckily I used a blow-off hose because both the hose and pail are now filled with krausen.
I did a yeast starter for both batches and the only difference was when pouring the yeast from the inflated pack those white curd like clumps had to be squeezed out of the pack (hadn’t mixed with the nutrient).
Is it unusual for a yeast to act so differently when used in different styles of beer?

I’ve noticed it to some degree but never any really significant differences, except maybe in a strong Burton ale. Then again, I don’t use a fresh batch of yeast for every brew…repitching slurry from a prior batch (multiple times) is my S O P.

I will say without hesitation however that 1968 makes a fantastic stout, despite what you may have have heard.
It’s a great yeast to use in a wide variety of styles…even some so called ‘American’ styles.

I have no clue what makes 1968 clump in some fermentations and not others. It’s just the way it is. It seems to do it most frequently in earlier generations and medium-large worts.

I tend to renew my 1968 once, maybe twice, each year and it sorta clumps when it clumps and it doesn’t when it doesn’t. There’s no rhyme or reason to it that I can deduce. That said, I don’t recall it clumping in anything in the 1.030s–but it’s not something I keep records on.

Fun to watch, though!

What bothers me is that there is nothing to watch. If I didn’t have the krausen and resulting blow off I would assume I had a very delayed fermentation. Would I be doing any harm if I added another 1968 pack to the worth?

IF you’ve got krausen and blowoff, adding another pack would just be a waste of money. There’s many times that amount of yeast already at work.

You could add another pack of yeast. It wouldn’t do any harm, but I don’t think it would do any good. I would say your beer is fermenting just fine since you have a fermentation active enough to warrant a blow off tube. You may not see the same activity, but the krausen indicates all is well. Cooler wort temperature at pitching may be one of the variables for what you are not seeing with this ferment.

Got you. Will wait it out. Thanks to all for your advice.