WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast
From a small brewpub in Cologne, Germany, this yeast works great in Kölsch and Alt style beers. Good for light beers like blond and honey. Accentuates hop flavors, similar to WLP001. The slight sulfur produced during fermentation will disappear with age and leave a super clean, lager like ale. 
Attenuation: 72-78%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F
Does not ferment well less than 62°F, unless during active fermentation.
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

MiniFerment data:
What is MiniFerment? White Labs yeast strains were tested using the same wort in its proprietary MiniFerment process. The process simulates large-scale brewing. To learn more about MiniFerment click here. To learn more about understanding the data, click here.

This first table (below) involves fermentation temperature at 68° F.

This second table (below)  involves fermentation temperature at 55° F.

Fermentation temperature: 55° F and 68° F
Attenuation: At 55° F, 79%; at 68° F, 78%
Hours to get to 50 percent attenuation: At 55° F, 48 hours; at 68° F, 30 hours

Audio:

Listen to audio about WLP029 
Chris White, president of White Labs, discusses the company's strains in these audio tapes.
(The download may take a few minutes depending on one's computer)

Reviews:
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"Resulting beer was very clear"
By: j_snook
Date: April 29, 2009
Beers Brewed: Kolsch
Comments: Brewed a triple-decoction Kolsch and got attenuation at 84% (70% RDF). Went from 1.050 OG to 1.008 FG after sitting on yeast for 16 days. Resulting beer was very clear. Flavor profile incredibly clean and spot on for a Kolsch. This strain would be great for California Common or mock-lager type brews, or any ale where you want to accentuate the malt and keep yeast-derived aromas to a minimum.

"The Mock Bock was great ... "
By: Robert Russell
Date: March 17, 2008
Beers Brewed: "Bock" - Koelsh - Blond
Comments: This was the first liquid yeast I have used and I am quite impressed. The first brew was a Shiner Bock Clone and our local shop owner suggested WLP029 because I don't have Lagering capabilities. The Mock Bock was great, it had been brewed for the March club meeting but did not make it that long. The second brew was placed directly on the trub of the first and it produced a great koelsh which I am still enjoying. I saved the yeast for three weeks (!) and used it for a Blond Ale which is very smooth and slightly sweet. I am sold on White Labs Yeast!

"It made the best dark beers I have made ... "
By: dave d
Date: January 21, 2008
Beers Brewed: German dark
Comments: I made three batches at once with one test tube. I boiled 8 oz of powdered malt and yeast starter in 2 liters of water to make a starter solution. In three days it was ready. It did smell of sulphur during the process, but it went away. I brewed up 3 batches: a starbucks expresso oatmeal chocolate stout, a chocolate grain dark ale, and a dark German ale. I used the yeast in all three batches (16 gallons total) at once. One batch was ready to be bottled after a week, the other two were slower and they took two weeks. The final product turned out as smooth, aromatic German type dark beers. It made the best dark beers I have made yet and definitely had a distinct German flavor.

"Great yeast"
By: Mike Conner
Date: September 12, 2007
Beers Brewed: Kolsch
Comments: Great yeast. Got 73% real attenuation with a starter fermenting at 65-66F and then rising to 72F for a few days at the end to completely ferment out (after day 10 or so). If you lager near freezing a few weeks on the yeast in secondary - trust me you don't have to primary ferment lower than 65F to get a real clean, dry, subtle beer with almost white wine like hints of flavor. Good flocculence to produce a very clear beer. Classic.

"GREAT Kolsch yeast"
By: Matt
Date: September 11, 2007
Beers Brewed: Kolsch
Comments: A GREAT Kolsch yeast. Always produces a clean, crisp Kolsch for me 3 weeks after brewing. Warning: for the first few days of fermentation, it stinks like hard boiled eggs/farts/sulfur.

"Anybody try this?"
By: JC
Date: April 27, 2007
Beers Brewed: IPA?
Comments: I was thinking about doing an IPA with the WLP029 strain just as an experiment. Any of you ever try that? How would you expect it to turn out?

" ... ended up with a classic tasting Kolsch"
By: JCC
Date: April 25, 2007
Beers Brewed: Kolsch
Comments: This yeast to me tastes like the perfect midpoint between lager and ale yeast. It's a very clean tasting yeast, and like all White Labs yeast fermented well for me. I used Hallertau for bittering and flavor, followed a pretty stock recipe, and ended up with a classic tasting Kolsch.

FAQ for this yeast
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I wonder if you could help me with my Kolsch. I'm looking to brew this as my next batch (40L). I notice from your information about WLP029 that it shouldn't be fermented at any less than 62F, which according to my calculations is 16.7C. What is your advice here?

For WLP029, people can experience problems under 16C, so we recommend that temperature, but many do ferment cooler. You just have to be more careful and keep an eye on the fermentation. With 029, you don’t need to ferment that cool anyway to get the clean flavors, you can cool it during fermentation if you like, but I wouldn’t the first time and see what you think.