BeerBorg

Mr.Beer has had these on sale for a while, and now I see some that I got are no longer for sale. Picked them up to round out a purchase for free shipping.

What kind of recipes would you suggest for these?

1968 ESB
3068 Weihenstephan Weizen
3787 Trappist High Gravity

3068 is wheat beers. It's great for hefeweizens and it's also the yeast I used for Mashani's Weizenbock. 3787 is for Belgian high gravity ales (dubbels, tripels, etc). 1968 is for English Special/Strong bitters.

Just my 2 cents:
- 1968 is also Three Floyds house yeast, and will ferment nice and clean if kept under 66F, it works fast and drops clear.
- 3068 is the quintessential "Hefe" yeast - fermented under 68F, you get clove phenols, above that, banana esters. Requires a lot of headspace or a blow-off tube.
- 3787 is great for all Belgian beers - it's very fruity. The perfect yeast for a low gravity Patersbier among other styles.

Make sure to check the dates on the packs and use a yeast calculator to figure out how big of a starter you need to make.

I got the 1968 ESB and the Trappist HG too. I used the the Trappist HG for the Mr. Beer Amberosia Tripel I brewed earlier this week and the 1968 ESB for Mr. Beer's Spiced Christmas Ale. I planned to use the ESB yeast for an ESB recipe I was planning in the future but the use by date on my yeast pack was approaching so I threw it into the Xmas Ale instead.

My guess is that those items went on sale because their "best if used by date" was just a month away.

NOVA Brewer wrote:I got the 1968 ESB and the Trappist HG too. I used the the Trappist HG for the Mr. Beer Amberosia Tripel I brewed earlier this week and the 1968 ESB for Mr. Beer's Spiced Christmas Ale. I planned to use the ESB yeast for an ESB recipe I was planning in the future but the use by date on my yeast pack was approaching so I threw it into the Xmas Ale instead.

My guess is that those items went on sale because their "best if used by date" was just a month away.

Yeah I used the 1968 the other day for a 2.3g batch, and beersmith said it only had 30% viability. So I threw in a 2g packet of BrewDemon S-33 just to be sure, since it didn't swell much.

jpsherman wrote:Yeah I used the 1968 the other day for a 2.3g batch, and beersmith said it only had 30% viability. So I threw in a 2g packet of BrewDemon S-33 just to be sure, since it didn't swell much.

I had some swelling of the pack, but it took 3 days before lots of activity was visible in the LBK. After 24 hrs there were just a couple of yeast colonies on the surface...no bigger than the end of a pencil. Day 2 more colonies...dime & nickel sized. Day 3...foam all over!

And that is why you NEED a starter with liquid yeast.

Wyeast 1968: Stone IPA; Wyeast 3787: Any Belgian recipe, you're good.

also some of the yeast do take more than a day to swell. When you make a starter you do not to swell the pack. The contents in the large outer pack is just yeast nutrient & a mini starter wort. The yeast is in the inner "smack" pack is the yeast. My LHBS has given me past the best by date smack packs. By doing a step up starter have brewed some great beer. Another advantage of doing a starter is if you know that a bottle conditioned commercial beer. If the brewery does not filter and/or pasteurize you can collect the yeast and step it up to brew your beer with. Yes I am a fan of starters