WLP002 vs. S-04

[bwarbiany]

I'm going to be brewing 15 gallons of the milk stout in a few weeks, and wanted to get some thoughts on this. I used S-04 the last time around, and I'm not sure it finished quite as sweet as I wanted it to.

I've upped my recipe, replacing some of the 60L crystal with 80L, upping the Chocolate malt by a few percent, and increasing the Lactose sugar by a few percent. I think all of these changes will smooth it out a bit while retaining the roast character.

But everything I'm finding shows the S-04 having an AA in the low 70%'s range, while the WLP002 is in the high 60%'s. For a 1.055 beer, I'd much rather have it finish in the 1.018 range than 1.014.

So for 15 gallons, part of me would just say that my recipe changes will bring the flavor changes I want, and pitch 3 packs of S-04. Another part of me wants to also change the yeast to cut down the attenuation a bit, and do one vial of WLP002 with a big 2L starter.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I trust my brother-in-law to make the starter, and I'll be out of town the entire week preceeding brew day, so I can't do it myself. So I'm wondering, for those of you who have used S-04 on a regular basis, what sort of attenuation are you experiencing?

Below is the recipe, if anyone wants to throw out some critiques:

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 29.03 %
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.13 %
4.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 12.90 %
3.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 9.68 %
3.00 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 9.68 %
3.00 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 9.68 %
1.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 24.6 IBU
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (10 min) Hops 4.3 IBU
4.00 lb Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 12.90 %
3 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.25 %
Bitterness: 28.9 IBU
Est Color: 48.3 SRM