2016 Deschutes Red Chair has hints of clove and banana. How do I get this in my clone

[vibroluxious]

I brew a Red Chair clone that I am really happy with.
I have found Red Chair tends to vary a bit year after year and mine is closer to what Red Chair was around 2013. I bought a sixer of this years version to compare to my clone version and it has a definite clove and banana ester thing happening. Deschutes still shows using an English yeast to ferment with on their home brew info but I have never gotten that out of an English yeast and certainly don't get either from Cascade or Centennial hops which is what they show. Has Deschutes changed their house yeast? I use WLP007 in my clone fermented at 66*F and it works really well in this beer but I don't think I can get clove/banana out it regardless of temps. Any ideas?

 

[bransona]

All I can think is hefeweizen yeast. Banana and clove for days

 

[BrunDog]

Wyeast 3333 is a German IIRC which will give you a bit. It will drop clear after enough time though.

 

[ba-brewer]

So a few weeks backs I made a mosaic blonde and fermented it with WLP007, the yeast was a repitch about 2 months old, slightly less than the mrmalty recommendation. The fermentation was slow then past experience taking about 36 hours to really get going. The day after it got going I opened up the ferment chamber and got a very strong clove aroma and a overflowing airlock with thick yeast over the top the bucket. I tasted the beer that day and did not get any clove. I was thinking I might have goofed up which jar of yeast I used but the beer finished up a few days later and dropped clear so I was not sure. When I kegged the beer though I got a very strong clove aroma from the bucket, but the yeast was packet tight in the bottom of the fermentor. When it carbed up it had clove aroma and flavor with a black pepper aftertaste, the beer tasted good just not what I expecting. Sorry/glad I got no bananas.

I am pretty sure I mislabeled the jar of yeast, thinking ardennes yeast maybe, but your post has me wondering again. I saved some of the yeast and may try it again to see what it generates next time.

 

[vibroluxious]

So a few weeks backs I made a mosaic blonde and fermented it with WLP007, the yeast was a repitch about 2 months old, slightly less than the mrmalty recommendation.

I am pretty sure I mislabeled the jar of yeast, thinking ardennes yeast maybe, but your post has me wondering again. I saved some of the yeast and may try it again to see what it generates next time.

Second generation mutation maybe? I'm thinking mislabel may be right though. I've found 007 to be pretty clean in general. Interesting though if it will produce saison type esters when stressed. Any indications of fusel alcohols?

 

[vibroluxious]

BrunDog and bransona the flavor reminds me of hefe type esters but Red Chair is a brilliant, clear beer and I'm not familiar with a hefe yeast that will floc out that way. It is pretty subtle and more of a background note that I don't recall from previous years of the beer.

 

[ba-brewer]

That was the 4th use of that yeast, nothing weird like that from the prior uses, always fairly clean like you said. No fusels.


Maybe blending a hefe yeast with your other yeast might give you a touch of the flavors you are looking for and still get a clear beer. If you look at WLP064 Buchner Yeast Blend in the yeast vault, they say it flocculates wells because one of the yeasts is a heavy flocculator.

 

[BrunDog]

As I noted, the 3333 drops clear with enough time. I believe it is used in German Krystalweizen (sp?).