[a10t2]

I really like 1272. Good performance, high flocculation, and the ester profile works well in both hoppy and malty American/British-style ales. I can really ramp up the esters with pitching/fermentation temperature too, which can add some nice complexity to something like a mild or porter.

[kmccaf]

I really like 1272. Good performance, high flocculation, and the ester profile works well in both hoppy and malty American/British-style ales. I can really ramp up the esters with pitching/fermentation temperature too, which can add some nice complexity to something like a mild or porter.

I'm a big fan of 1469 for the same reasons given here, but more on the British side. Fermented low it can be very clean for American styles, but with a nice malt character.

[reverseapachemaster]

This is mainly going to be for american styles. The main thing im looking for is clean fermentation. I'm not as concerned about flocc since i keg/gelatin usually. Ill most likely be using the yeast for APA/IPA/IIPA/Blonde ales

If you're looking for something that tastes like the craft beer you buy then the chico strain is probably where you want to start because that is what a lot of breweries use. You may decide you want something with more character in which case you are getting excellent recommendations on alternatives. I would stay away from picking something from a limited release unless you plan on keeping a culture rolling in your home. Last thing you want to do is fall in love with a strain you can't find.

[mattybrass]

This will be one that i harvest the slurry from the previous batch. I would like something slightly more complex than the chico strain. Maybe ill try out that best of both worlds strain from white labs.

[HoosierBrew]

This will be one that i harvest the slurry from the previous batch. I would like something slightly more complex than the chico strain. Maybe ill try out that best of both worlds strain from white labs.

I'll give +1 to 1272. I've used it several times - it's clean @ ~ 64F, a degree or two warmer and there's a soft, mild fruitiness. Sounds like what you might be after. It is reputed to be the Anchor Liberty strain.

[kylekohlmorgen]

I use 1968 in my high ABV old ale with great success.  I've also used it in an imperial stout.  It's regularly taken both these beers from >1.09 to <1.02.

Treated right, it does just fine with high OGs.  Big pitch, good aeration, good fermentation temps.

I totally agree...it makes outstanding hi-test ales.

Well then... shame on me for perpetuating false info. Not sure why I've held this opinion... It must be because I don't care for the (slightly) lower attenuation and ester profile in big DIPAs.

Now I need to try it. A big ol' Enlgish Barleywine is on the docket, so I guess I'll brew that next!

[S. cerevisiae]

I asked white labs which yeast of theirs would be closest or equal to s04 and they said 002

Well, someone gave you bad information because WLP002 is Fuller's strain.  S-04 is Whitbread B. WLP007 is also Whitbread B, and so is Wyeast 1098.   The delta in attenuation levels between WLP002 and S-04 should be a dead giveaway.   Whitbread B was selected for use in continuous tower fermentation vessels.   It's an extremely hardy yeast strain.

[S. cerevisiae]

I really like 1272. Good performance, high flocculation, and the ester profile works well in both hoppy and malty American/British-style ales. I can really ramp up the esters with pitching/fermentation temperature too, which can add some nice complexity to something like a mild or porter.

Wyeast 1272 is the same strain as Siebel Bry 97.  It's one of my favorite yeast strains as well. Bry 97 is less one dimensional than Siebel Bry 96 (a.k.a. "Chico", 1056, WLP001, and US-05).

I still believe that Bry 96 and Bry 97 are the two strains that were used at Ballantine's beer and ale breweries, respectively.  These strains are held by the USDA Agricultural Research Service NRRL collection.

NRRL Y-7407  (Bry 96?)
  Accession numbers in other collections: Lange 2
  Isolated from (substrate): BR, Beer pitching yeast
  Substrate location: Ballantine Brewery, New Jersey, USA
  Comments: ID from 26S renal partial sequences.
 
NRRL Y-7408 (Bry 97?)
  Accession numbers in other collections: Lange 4
  Isolated from (substrate): BR, Ale pitching yeast
  Comments: ID from 26S rDNA partial sequences

[hopfenundmalz]

I really like 1272. Good performance, high flocculation, and the ester profile works well in both hoppy and malty American/British-style ales. I can really ramp up the esters with pitching/fermentation temperature too, which can add some nice complexity to something like a mild or porter.

Wyeast 1272 is the same strain as Siebel Bry 97.  It's one of my favorite yeast strains as well. Bry 97 is less one dimensional than Siebel Bry 96 (a.k.a. "Chico", 1056, WLP001, and US-05).

I still believe that Bry 96 and Bry 97 are the two strains that were used at Ballantine's beer and ale breweries, respectively.  These strains are held by the USDA Agricultural Research Service NRRL collection.

NRRL Y-7407  (Bry 96?)
  Accession numbers in other collections: Lange 2
  Isolated from (substrate): BR, Beer pitching yeast
  Substrate location: Ballantine Brewery, New Jersey, USA
  Comments: ID from 26S renal partial sequences.
 
NRRL Y-7408 (Bry 97?)
  Accession numbers in other collections: Lange 4
  Isolated from (substrate): BR, Ale pitching yeast
  Comments: ID from 26S rDNA partial sequences

If the Anchor Ale strain is from the Ballantine Ale brewery, I will have to give that a try on my next Ballantine IPA clone.

[S. cerevisiae]

Here's what we know about Anchor.  The yeast strain commonly known as Wyeast 2112 was originally introduced into the Anchor brewery in 1974 or 1975.  It is an old Wallerstein Labs strain.   This information is not second hand.  It came from Anchor's head brewer Mark Carpenter.

http://desdemoor.co.uk/anchor-and-the-birth-of-craft-beer/

"We brewed so rarely and didn’t have the ability to cultivate yeast so we would borrow yeast from other breweries every time. Then in 1974 or 1975 we got a very old strain of Wallerstein Labs lager yeast and that’s what we’ve been using ever since. Wallerstein Labs no longer exists but their yeast lives on here. We just collect it from the fermenters and reuse it. So many brewers today say they have to change the yeast after so many generations but we’ve never found that necessary."

Mike mentions their ale yeast in the same article.

“We also have an ale yeast we got years ago and that’s what we use for all our ales, even the wheat beer. We recently did a special high alcohol export stout for the Great British Beer Festival and for the first time in many years we brought in a different yeast.”

Wallerstein and Seibel were competitors. They both kept yeast culture collections.  Wallerstein Labs became the Wallerstein Company.  The Wallerstein Company was owned by Baxter Labs when they became embroiled in a patent infringement lawsuit in the seventies with the Danish life sciences company known today as Novo Nordisk, which is why the Wallerstein Company no longer exists (see http://openjurist.org/607/f2d/186/novo-terapeutisk-laboratorium-as-v-baxter-travenol-laboratories-inc-n-v).

Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to connect the dots.  Anchor created Liberty Ale in 1976.  Ballantine went out of business in 1972.  No deposits were made between Bry 96 and Bry 97, which leads me to believe that they were both deposited around the same time, if not at the same time.   Both strains hold relatively low accession numbers in the Siebel collection, which means that the strains came from an old American ale brewery. The only American ale brewery that is old enough is Ballantine.

From Siebel's web page (http://www.siebelinstitute.com/services/yeast/yeast-cultures):

"Bry 96

This is a flocculent top fermenting ale yeast from a brewery formerly operating on the East Coast of the United States. It produces a very clean ale flavor which has been well accepted in a number of breweries."

[scottNU]

I really like 1272. Good performance, high flocculation, and the ester profile works well in both hoppy and malty American/British-style ales. I can really ramp up the esters with pitching/fermentation temperature too, which can add some nice complexity to something like a mild or porter.

I agree.  1272 is my house strain and a very good and flexible performer.

[reverseapachemaster]

I've read some things recently suggesting several breweries are using/transitioning to London Ale III as a house yeast. Anybody have thoughts on how this beer performs as an alternative to chico?

[a10t2]

I've read some things recently suggesting several breweries are using/transitioning to London Ale III as a house yeast. Anybody have thoughts on how this beer performs as an alternative to chico?

I used it for a while in a pub setting. It works well for what it is. Very vigorous krausen, great for top cropping, which is what I needed at the time. Nicely flocculant, but it didn't attenuate well enough for me to use it as a true house strain. I had to use some sugars to get to ~80% ADF.

[chumley]

One of the breweries here in town used WY1728 Scottish as a house strain, and all their beers are pretty good.  All of their year round beers use it, from Cream Ale to Stout.

http://blackfootriverbrewing.com/beer/

From Wyeast's website:

Our Scottish ale strain is ideally suited for the strong, malty ales of Scotland. This strain is very versatile, and is often used as a “House” strain as it ferments neutral and clean. Higher fermentation temperatures will result in an increased ester profile.

[ynotbrusum]

For my English bitters, Milds, etc...I try to keep some 1768 on hand to propagate - I like it and have even used it on a 60 Schilling Scottish Ale that was mashed pretty high and it finished off below 1.010, surprisingly.  That and 1450 for the American Ales pretty much could work for most of the lighter styles I brew.  For a bigger yeast for across the board - you could consider Wyeast 1332 Northwest Ale yeast.  I tried it on an American light rye ale and it was superb.