Hey guys - I recently brewed a batch of pilsner lager and split it to compare yeast strains.
I keep WY2308 Munich Lager in my yeast bank as a versatile German lager strain. I've used it for Vienna lager, Munich Helles, and Munich Dunkel. I'm also planning to pitch it into a Schwarzbier this winter. So far, I've enjoyed all of these batches immensely.
So I wanted to see how it performed in a Bo Pils. I pitched WY2001 Urquell Lager into the other fermenter. Identical fermentation conditions and timetables were maintained - 3 weeks in primary @ 50 degrees, 1 week D-rest, then 2 weeks lagering in the keg fridge so far.
I sampled the two this weekend, and I have to say I'm really surprised at how different they are. I know they will benefit from more conditioning time, but both beers are very good already. However, the WY2308 Munich Lager has a much more malty, rounded character. The WY2001 Urquell Lager has a slight sulfur note up front, but overall is much cleaner and crisper, accenting the hop character. The hops got lost in the Munich Lager beer.
I'll reflect on this more as the beer ages, but I wanted to share my impressions. I was hoping that the 2308 would be just as good or better, so I could maintain just one lager yeast. But it appears that in this case, the yeast strain really makes a difference. One thing that comes to mind is that although I built both starters up in identical steps, I can't be sure how many cells I had in each culture at the start. I factored this in and erred on the side of overpitching, but that's the one variable I can think of that could have had an effect.