Recipe to focus on yeast flavors and esthers

I am thinking that that belgian tripels are basically yeast flavor delivery systems, as in american IPA is to hops, the belgian tripel is to allow the yeast to be in the forefront. That being said:

I have an old smack pack of wyeast 1275 (thames valley) that I am thinking of firing up on the stir plate, and I keep hearing of subtle stone fruit, pear, biscuit...etc..etc..notes from this yeast but I have always used it in hop forward ales, so I beleive I have not experienced/identified exactly what this yeast brings to the table.


So, I am asking, in the opinion of the many experienced and excellent brewers on homebrewtalk, what sort of ale and fermentation schedule could I brew to accentuate and focuse on the flavor profile of this yeast?


A few thoughts:


1. I believe that not only does the higher fermentation temperature allow tripels to get the esther profile desired, I believe yeast esther profiles change based on gravity. The higher gravity beers haveing more distinct yeasty esthers.


2. I believe if you pitch cool and slowly ramp the temperature up over the course of days, desirebable esthers can be obtained from many yeast strains, not just french/belgian straints

Point 1 is in line with what Fix says in his book "The Science of Brewing" Dr. Fix suggests that ester production is hyper linear. A 18 Plato Beer diluted by a factor of two will have more ester in the final product than a 9 Plato beer that is not diluted.

I'm not sure about point 2. IME higher temperatures produce more esters type aromas regardless of the strain, but that's not exactly what you are suggesting.

Underpitching a bit also brings out greater yeast flavor

So do you think using a pilsen base, sugar, low ibu and minimal finishing hops would yield an interesting beer with 1275? Like a tripel with english yeast

It might be interesting as an experiment to taste the yeast esters. It might come across as a mild without as much malt character, or as a light lager with some unexpected personality. That particular yeast doesn't produce many flavor components, so if you forced flavor components out of it by under pitching, high gravity and warm temperatures I would be afraid you would just end up with a strong diacetyl taste.

But I have never done anything like that. It would be interesting to hear how it comes out.

i think when experimenting, it really makes sense to scale back the batch size.

Maybe I will try and find some ringwood ale or WLP0123 for this experiment and use the 1275 in more of a standard brew.

I brew 10-15 gallon batches and would hate to end up with something undrinkable!

If you really want to taste test for yeast profiles, do mini batches of a low gravity beer using just base malts and put your theories to the test. I would do a run of 1 gallon batches, say three of them, simultaneously.

Run #1: Three 1 gallon batches of 2 row (or just extra light DME) at OG's of 1.040, 1.060 and 1.080. Ferment all at the same constant temperature (on the cool side recommended for the yeast). Taste test for ester characteristics and make good notes.

Run #2: Three 1 gallon batches of 2 row (or just extra light DME) at the same gravities, but adjust the ferment temps to the high range for the yeast.

Run #3: Same three batches, just increase the temps from the low range to the high temperature range, say 1-2 degrees per day during the fermentation.

Since you posted this thread I have been thinking about doing some similar experimentation. Because the focus would be the yeast, I'm thinking of just using DME, no boil, and no hops. Perhaps even ferment them right in 12 oz bottles just to make life easy. Maybe just a cotton ball for an air lock. After fermentation is complete add 1/2 tsp of sugar and cap. I imagine there will be a ton of trub in the bottle, but I just need a taste off the top.

Small test batches are a great idea actually. I have some 1 gallon jugs I could use. I just think that often times with all the specialty grains and hops some of the subtle and possibly delicious flavors may be masked. I have targeted english strains as they are known for being fruity...I think if I guy pitched at 65 and slowly ramped up to 75 degrees or so, a nice fruity "english tripel" could be discovered with some of these strains.

Well, I am going to take a leap of faith. 15 gallon batch and I bet it will be tasty as heck. I am calling it super pale ale....but it fits into the ESB category. Thoughts/comments are encouraged


18 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.7 %
4 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2 14.8 %
2 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.4 %
3 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 4 11.1 %
1.00 oz Millenium [14.25 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 18.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 4.7 IBUs
2.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %

Est Color: 4.1 SRM
Mash at 150 for 90 minutes
Batch Sparge
Wyeast 1275 pitched at 65 degrees and slowly raised up to 72-74 degrees to encourage esthers

If you think it is going to be tasty, I bet you will enjoy it very much.