LAX
WHC LAX is a dry American ale yeast isolated from a well-known West Coast brewery. It attenuates 76 to 80%, throws almost no esters and finishes clean, which makes it the neutral workhorse of the WHC range.
There is very little yeast flavor here by design. LAX ferments dry and crisp and lets late hop additions read clearly, which is what a modern West Coast IPA needs. It handles high-gravity worts without stalling and crops cleanly for repitching.
Brewing with LAX
- Ferment at 64 to 72F. It stays clean across the whole range.
- Reach for this when the recipe is built around hop expression rather than yeast character.
- Medium-low to medium flocculation keeps it in suspension long enough to finish, then it crops reliably for the next batch.
- Pitch dry at 50 to 150 g/hL, roughly 10 to 28 g for a 5-gallon batch.
Styles: West Coast IPA, pale ale, double IPA, red ale, brown ale, amber ale, stout, imperial stout
Comparable strains: White Labs WLP001 California Ale, Fermentis Safale US-05, LalBrew BRY-97, Wyeast 1056 American Ale, Omega OYL-004 West Coast Ale I, Mangrove Jack's M10
Technical specifications
| Species | Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
|---|---|
| Attenuation | 76 to 80% |
| Fermentation temp | 64 to 72F (18 to 22C) |
| Flocculation | Medium-low to medium |
| Alcohol tolerance | 13% ABV |
| Nitrogen demand | Medium |
| Pitch rate | 50 to 150 g/hL (about 10 to 28 g per 5 gal) |
| Format | 500 g vacuum-sealed brick |
About WHC Lab
WHC Lab is an Irish yeast producer supplying dry brewing strains to craft breweries across Europe and North America. This strain ships as a 500 g vacuum-sealed brick with a published technical data sheet, and it can be pitched dry with no rehydration step.