Q4 Legacy Curation | Featured & Limited Release Strains
Our Q4 Legacy Curation honors the tradition of crafting robust, flavorful beers that reflect the heritage of Europe’s malty ales and lagers. In this collection, we’re highlighting two special strains that have become famous among professional brewers: 1728 Scottish Ale and 1968 London ESB Ale, with this year marking thirty years since they were isolated for the Wyeast Culture Collection. 1728 Scottish Ale enriches Scottish ales with a clean and neutral fermentation to allow the malt profile to be showcased. Meanwhile, 1968 London ESB Ale is the quintessential choice for brewing Extra Special Bitters, renowned for its strong flocculation and lower attenuation, imparting distinctive maltiness, slight sweetness, and fruity notes to ales while achieving remarkable clarity without the need for extended filtration. Wyeast’s quarterly Legacy Curation continues to spotlight strains that brewing legacies are built upon and are available for your next brew day.
Classic Culture Collection Featured Strains:
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
A Scottish strain is as versatile as it is traditional. An ideal choice for the strong, malty ales of Scotland, double IPAs, barrel-aged and smoked beers, seasonal autumn styles, and more. This strain also makes an excellent house strain as it ferments clean and neutral across a wide temperature range.
Beer Styles: Scottish Ales; Scottish Gruit; Porters; Irish, British, and American Stouts; Strong IPAs; Seasonal specialty styles; wood-aged and smoked beers
Featured Style: Scottish Export – Scottish Ale
A malt-focused, generally caramelly beer with perhaps a few esters and occasionally a butterscotch aftertaste. Hops only to balance and support the malt. The malt character can range from dry and grainy to rich, toasty, and caramelly, but is never roasty and especially never has a peat smoke character.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Favored for its unique properties, this extremely flocculent yeast produces distinctly malty beers. Attenuation is lower than many strains which results in a slightly sweeter finish. Ales tend to be fruity, increasingly so with higher fermentation temperatures. Bright beers are easily achieved within days without any filtration.
Beer Styles: British Bitters, Mild Ale, and Strong Ale; English IPA; Barleywine; Seasonal specialty styles and specialty beers or ciders with added fruit and spices
Featured Style: Strong Bitter – British Bitter
An average-strength to moderately strong British bitter ale. The balance may be fairly even between malt and hops to somewhat bitter. Drinkability is a critical component of the style. A rather broad style that allows for considerable interpretation by the brewer.
Private Culture Collection: Limited Release
Our Private Collection features two limited-released strains that are top choices for professional brewers – and now homebrewers too – aiming to craft authentic and high-quality lager beers. 2000-PC Budvar Lager, renowned for its versatility, lends itself to a range of lager styles. This strain accentuates maltiness while preserving a clean, well-rounded profile. The resulting beer reflects the crispness and full-bodied nature that have made Czech lagers cherished classics. In parallel, 2001-PC Pilsner Urquell H-Strain embodies the essence of Pilsner Urquell, the world’s first pale lager. This strain’s exceptional ability to highlight the interplay between malt and hop character is a testament to the meticulous selection that has made it a favorite from Wyeast’s collection in the world of professional brewing.
Saccharomyces pastorianus
This yeast produces a nice malty nose with subtle fruit tones and a rich malt profile on the palate. It finishes malty but dry, well balanced, and crisp, allowing hop character to come through in the finish and enhance the lager beer character.
Beer Styles: American Light Lager, Czech Premium Pale Lager, German Helles
Featured Style: American Lager
Highly carbonated, very light-bodied, nearly flavorless lager designed to be consumed very cold. Very refreshing and thirst quenching.
2001-PC Pilsner Urquell H-Strain
Saccharomyces pastorianus
With a mild fruit and floral aroma, this Czech strain produces a very dry, clean palate with a full mouthfeel and nice subtle malt character. It finishes very clean and neutral, enhancing the hop character.
Beer Styles: Czech Premium Pale Lager, Bohemian Pilsner
Featured Style: Czech Premium Pale Lager
Rich, characterful, pale Czech lager, with considerable malt and hop character and a long, rounded finish. Complex yet well-balanced and refreshing. The malt flavors are complex for a Pilsner-type beer, and the bitterness is strong but clean and without harshness, which gives a rounded impression that enhances drinkability.
These Private Collection Strains are available October through December 2023 at Wyeast retailer locations. Find a Store near you or browse or online retailer list.