pitched hefe slurry, diff flavor profile..

I pitched my hefe-ryeizen onto my wyeast 3638 slurry from the hefe I made and I'm not getting any banana/bubblegum flavors. This yeast is usually full of banana/bubblegum. Especially if fermented at the 22-24c range.


This slurry was taken from the keg after the beer was done. Just wondering why the flavor profile (still in fermenter) seems so different than last time. The recipe is almost the same except I upped the rye a tad.

Sung to "you put the lime in the coconut and mix it all up"...

You put the rye in the bubblegum and mixed it all up...
You put the rye in the bubblegum and mixed it all up...
La, la, la

You put the rye in the bubblegum and mixed it all up...
You put the rye in the bubblegum and mixed it all up...
La, la, la

Actually, I don't have an answer for you and have obviously been drinking and having fun!

Depending on how much rye you used the flavor should end up about the same. Just give it more time.

I'm not sure if i can help you much but i do know that any time you add different ingrediants or change the recipe in the slightest the flavor can sometimes change. Even fermenting a few degrees higher or lower will change your flavor. I know also that with most hefe yeasts if you ferment at higher temps ( low 70's ) banana esters are emphasized. But when you ferment lower ( mid 60's ) `clove flavors are emphasized. Does your fermentation temp vary batch to batch?? IMO Hefes are sometimes very tricky to duplicate batch to batch.

As I understand it, ester profiles largely result from the early stages of yeast growth in the fermenter. If you pitch on to a big, healthy yeast cake, the yeast may skip over this growth/reproduction step, and limit your ester production. This is one reason why some warn not to over-pitch when brewing English ales, because too much yeast leads to a ferment that is TOO clean, and the necessary esters don't get produced. I imagine the same thing happened to your beer.

Well the anount of slurrt from the keg wasn't all that high. About the same as 2 or 3 activator packs for a 10g batch. Fermentation temp was pretty close to previous. Arond 22-24c, which is the high end for this yeast.