Dave did you get around to trying the 1187 and if so how did it turn out?
I have tried it once or twice, and I have my doubts that it is the same yeast as Picaroons. It handles completely differently, for one thing it does not produce anything like the unbelievably strong top crop of yeast that Picaroons' does. In the limited times I used it (once or twice) it did not throw any diacetyl, which I found disappointing because I was wanting it to and expecting it to.
For what it's worth I find that Picaroons' yeast produces substantially different flavours than the all the other Ringwood beers that I have tried (McAuslan, Granite, and Ringwood).