Recent White Labs yeast vials

[bobcat_brewer]

I've been a White Labs yeast user for quite some time. Recently, I've been using the dry yeasts for my English and American ales, but when I brew Belgian or German, I go back to White Labs.

Well I've used two vials of White Labs yeast in the past two months, and had less than great results. Both vials were special ordered for me by my local homebrew shop and according to the dates stamped on the labels, they are fresh. The shop, and I store the yeast in the fridge, so that isn't a problem. I always create starters, so I'm not asking anything extraordinary from the yeast. What I noticed with both of these, is that my starters were really slow getting started, and took some time to finish. Likewise, the samething happened when pitched into the beer. In fact, my Oktoberfest stalled after 25% attenuation. I happened to have a pack of dry lager yeast so I made a starter of that, and pitched that into my O'fest and fermentation restarted.

Has anybody else been experiencing this with White Labs yeast? I've probably brewed 50+ batches with their product in the past and don't recall ever having these problems.

[jawbox]

I recently used their Cal V yeast. I had the same experience with my starter, took a while to get going. But once it was at high krausen I pitched with no problems. I've only just back in the states so I need to take my final gravity reading and keg. I'll let you know how my attenuation turns out.

[bobcat_brewer]

jawbox, are you a frequent user of their product? If so, was this the first time you've encountered this?

I've noticed that with both of these vials, there was no build up of pressure when I opened them. Typically, once the vials were brought up to room temperature, there was a lot of pressure released when I opened the vials. Did you notice anything different there?

Thanks.

[jawbox]

I used to use their product a lot a few years back but switched over to wyeast. I like knowing that my yeast is viable before even pitching into a starter.
I don't remember ever having a problem with white labs in the past though.

[jawbox]

OK my last White Labs Yeast was WLP051 California Ale V

Here's the results

OG 1.050
FG 1.012

About 76% Attenuation. Note I did make a 2L starter with the vial on a stir plate.