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Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whiskey?

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 pm
by rumbuff
I've been making a bunch of rum lately with just baking yeast, but I've picked up a bunch of grain and I'm getting some malt this weekend to do an AG scotch type whiskey. I found this yeast while looking for a good whiskey yeast, and now I'm thinking of using it for rum too, just to get all that diacetyl flavor into the still! I'm wondering if anybody else has any experience with this yeast?

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:05 pm
by rubber duck
I haven't tried it but it might be good. Take notes and let me know what you think, if you have any success I may try it.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:15 am
by rumbuff
It'll be a couple of weeks probably by the time I get everything set up and ran, but I'll let you know

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:16 pm
by rumbuff
So the only pack of 1187 my local shop had was expired, so he's ordering some more, but it will be sometime in november before I get this going. I figure while I'm at it, I got him to order a pack of 5733 Pediococcus. I'm thinking I'll start an additional dunder pit for my rum with this in it, and maybe one for the scotch as well? I'd only add it before stilling, so I wouldn't have to worry about messing up the primary fermentation. Well see if I get any extra butterscotch notes or other interesting flavors.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:47 pm
by rumbuff
So I haven't gotten around to doing my scotch yet, got distracted making beer to test my mash tun set up, but I did put the 5733 Pediococcus into a second dunder pit. It's only been a week, but the chocolate and slightly sweet smell is amazing. I'm hoping to get to the scotch this weekend, will keep updating.

Scotch with Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:48 am
by rumbuff
So the recipe is as follows.

2 Row 6.5 Lb
Crystal C80 1 Lb
Honey Malt .5 Lb
Flattened Oats 4 Lb
Toasted Oats .5 Lb
Flattened Barley 4 Lb
Smoked Barley .5 Lb


My efficiency is terrible, I'm still trying to figure out the crush and the sparge and everything. But I did manage to get 35 Liters at 1.042. The Toasted Oats were the same oats, just roasted in the oven at 350 for 45 min. The Smoked Barley was smoked with cherry, and has a nice aroma. I used some of the barley in a beer I did last week, and the flavor came through, but it was nice and subtle, so I'm hoping the same goes for this. The yeast I had made a starter from my petri slab, and after stepping it up once over 3 days, it took off in less time than the original smack pack! I plan to run this next weekend, will keep you posted

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:26 pm
by Dnderhead
the grains that are altered/toasted/roasted/caramelized you will git little alcohol form.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:37 pm
by rumbuff
I'm thinking I might have to pre cook the oats and barley. It was my understanding that I didn't have to but perhaps that will help? and the toasted/smoked only accounts fo 1 pound total, I was just looking for some flavors.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 6:38 pm
by realtree71
Any updates?

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:31 am
by rumbuff
so far, the only thing I have to go on is the aroma of the fermenter, but that smells awesome. I plan on running it tomorrow and I'm going to try cooking the adjuncts first to see if that ups my yield. I'll update after and let you know!

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:13 pm
by rumbuff
The flavor of this run was very promising, but it foams horribly. I'm hoping my new mash tun will get me better yeild this time, but it's a little slow as I'm heating the sparge water in my still pot, and I'm currently running the last batch, so it's a bit time consuming. Oh well, will update when I know more.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 3:37 pm
by Dnderhead
" but it foams horribly"
thats from the oats..

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:59 pm
by rumbuff
makes sense, if they add that creamy head to beers, then it adds a ridiculus amount of foam to a still! although I did notice it was relatively silent on heat up, the rum I run foams and bubbles as it heats, and it's quite noisy but then gets quiet once it starts producing. The whiskey was silent the whole time. Wonder if that was from the oats too? As for yield, I got 1.051 this time so the new set up was a big help.(I cnc'd a false bottom with 1638 2mm holes for the cooler) Still not great, but makes it more worth while. I'm tempted to add sugar, but I want to do an honest all grain batch for aging. I'm running low on 2 row, so I'll probably switch it up to a pale ale malt, give it a little more complexity, but so far I'm pretty happy with it.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 10:50 am
by rumbuff
Ran the second batch of whiskey today. I'm pleased with the flavour, I think it'll really get good with some age, after I do the spirit run. Something happened with the rum, and I ended up having to save it with some baking yeast. When it's done I'll start another starter and try again.

Re: Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale Yeast-perfect for rum and whisk

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:50 pm
by rumbuff
So it's been a long while since I've updated this thread. The ringwood refused to work on the rum for me, perhaps others will have some luck? I'm letting the whiskey low wines sit as per another thread idea. My new plan is to start 2 identical rum batches, and have lalvin d80 in one and lalvin d254 in the other. I'll take a hearts sample of both, and take tasting notes. I'll also blend the 2 and see what's the best out of the 3 versions. Hope to get this going soon, will post notes when I have them.