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I am toward the end of a recent brew (bottle conditioning phase) and had a question about WLP001 California Ale Yeast. O.G. was 1.07 and I wanted about a 1.017 FG (76% atten) but I only got to 1.024 (65% atten). I want to try the recipe with the California again soon, and am wondering what I should do differently to get the attenuation to about 76%. 

The issue may be with the fermentation itself or with the available sugars present to the yeast. Even though your mash schedule may seem correct, try dropping everything in your system 10 degrees Fahrenheit. That is where you would start to see if your wort becomes fermentable. 

You could also try different base malt. For fermentation, make sure you pitch the yeast between 70-75F, then drop to a different temperature if you like after fermentation begins. Keep the temperature consistent during fermentation, even fluctuations during the evening can stall the yeast. Proper aeration at the beginning of fermentation will also be helpful. This is one thing that separates homebrewers and commercial breweries, commercial breweries have almost no problems with stuck fermentations because they have tight temperature control and they saturate the wort with oxygen before they pitch the yeast. One way to get more oxygen into the fermentor is to use a fish type of aquarium pump. Put an air filter on that you can get at homebrew shops, and turn on for one hour after pitching. Don’t use a stone, it will foam too much, just a small bore tubing, this will add big enough bubbles to mix things up, and you get good oxygen delivery into the wort. An additional tip is to transfer the beer when it gets to 1.025; the transfer itself helps to add a little oxygen and mix things up. 

I had a question regarding the High Gravity yeast (WLP099 Super High Gravity Yeast). I used WLP001 California Ale Yeast for the initial fermentation of a 1.120 wort, and it pooped out at 1.032. I wanted to use the high gravity yeast to finish it off. Would the best route be to make a starter and aerate and pitch just like a new beer or will oxidation be a problem? 

Make a starter and aerate the starter, not the beer. That will take care of the oxidation problem and still give the yeast a good start.

I live in India, and I recently got a couple of vials from an American homebrew store. They were in shipping for about 5 days and with an ice pack. Once they arrived, I put them in my refrigerator right away. Today, I used it for a batch of American Brown Ale I made. I had several questions about the yeast. 

1. It was not white in color, and the yeast appeared brownish.

This is normal - we package the yeast with protein and lipids to keep them healthy in shipping.

2. I shook the vial (after removing from the fridge) and left it at room temp. When I opened the vial, there was a lot of frothing.

It built up pressure during shipping and warming to room temperature. One tip is to break the cap when you first take it out of the refrigerator, while most of the CO2 is still in solution. Then vent the cap periodically as the yeast warms up.

3. There was a peculiar smell which I haven’t got from any dry yeast.

This is normal for people to think it smells different; concentrated liquid yeast will have a different aroma. When yeast grows in beer, it smells different for a number of reasons, including the presence in beer of hops. 

I brewed this past week while it was pretty hot outside. I used my counter-flow chiller w/ inline oxygenator as usual but could not get the wort temp down below about 83 Fahrenheit. Being in a hurry I went ahead and pitched the yeast (WLP001 California Ale Yeast). Not asking for a definitive answer but how big of a mistake was this?

Thank you for your inquiry. There will be higher levels of esters and fusel alcohols but since you were able to lower the temperature fairly quickly this may not have too much effect on the final beer. WLP001 is one of the more tolerate strains to higher temperatures. Ale yeast are more tolerant to higher temperatures, lager yeast do not survive well over 80F. Ale yeast will survive to 90F.