Mangrove Jack's M21 Belgian Wit - What Else It's Good For?

[Protos]

I tried MJ M21 in my first Belgian Wit and it came out as planned, generally quite similar to Hoegaarden. The experiment was successful but I don't think I wanna brew more Wits (not a fan of the real Hoegaarden to begin with), so I'm thinking of trying the remaining yeast in some other styles.
My question is, what are the styles besides Wit you can make with MJ M21 (or with Wit yeasts in general, for that matter)?
The manufacturer suggests "Witbiers, Grand Cru and Spiced Ales" which sounds a bit vague to me. F. ex., which kind of Grand Crue they suggest - only the coriander-spiced one or every kind of G. C.? (my thinking was the traditional yeasts for a Grand Cru were Belgian Strong-type yeasts like M41 rather than Witbier yeasts). Again, which of the Spiced Ales are good to brew with a Wit yeast (there are so many of them)?
I hope someone may have some experience to share.

 

[dmtaylor]

You can use M21 for pretty much any Belgian style beer including dubbel, tripel, etc. Coriander is yummy but you could try any other fruits or spices that you like. Citrus zest is good, grapes, raisins, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, you name it. Each in small amounts preferably but hey it’s your beer. Or try brewing without any additives to see what the yeast can do on its own at different fermentation temperatures. This is a yeast strain that should perform differently depending on temperatures. I know using it cold made an extremely clean beer for me.

 

[Protos]

Thank you for your suggestions. Yes, it makes a good point to try it without any spices in some classic Belgian styles to get a better idea what it's all about and which other Belgian yeasts it's most similar to flavourwise. Just didn't get it this time as the yeast flavour is pretty much hidden behind the spices.
Since the manufacturer suggests a Grand Cru, will try it first in a non-spiced Quadrupel. Hopefully this will give me a clearer idea.
(I see they say it's not much alcohol tolerant... That's even better: will see what it behaves like when pushed to the limit).

 

[Protos]

Well, a follow-up to my question. I've made several beers with M21 Witbier yeast since then, none of them strictly a witbier: a Grisette, a Rooibos-and-Zuidafrikan-Hops-Blonde, and a Biere-de-Garde. What can I say about the yeast to those who will search the forum for M21, like I did a year before? M21 is a fine yeast that makes a very tasty beer. Flavourwise it's obviously close to German Weizenbier yeasts (f. ex. M20 in MJ range) and most probably descends historically from the same ancestry. It differs from German wheat yeasts in that it barely produces any "bananery" esters, is a bit richer in phenols and also it flocculates more readily. When fermented warmer, M20 tends to produce more estery rather than phenolic beer, while M21 just increases its phenolic character, not getting much of estery nose. While not so close to M47 Abbey, I think M21 could be a fair substitution for brewing Belgian Ales when you need a whiff of phenols.

 

[Shenanigans]

I have also used it successfully for making a few tasty White IPAs.

I have two packs left now and was wondering about the attenuation in a stronger Belgian ale.
According to the data sheet it has an attenuation of 70 to 75% but on the 3 beers I brewed with it I got in the range of about 80% attenuation without adding sugar.
These beers were all between 5 to 6.5% Abv. but I would like to brew something like a Karmeliet tripel (9%) which doesn't have to be bone dry but still I would need to get over 80% attenuation to get it down to below 1.013.
I would be adding 10% table sugar to the grain bill, mashing low and adding both packs so it might be possible.
According to BeerSmith I should expect an FG of 1.022 but I take that with a pinch of salt as I (almost) always get better attenuation than estimated.

 

[dmtaylor]

@Shenanigans, I have not used this yeast in a stronger style (yet). I will be curious to hear results from others. In any case, I believe it is definitely wise to plan to use 10% or even up to 20% simple sugars in a strong Belgian style to help keep it "digestible" as they say.

 

[Shenanigans]

OK Dave thanks anyway.

I want to brew this on the weekend and have 2 packs of M21 and one pack of M31.
The M31 I have never used before but I need to use it up soon and it's a high fermemter so should get me down to 1.010.
However one pack might not be enough for 6 gallons of a 1.080 beer.

I might just experiment and do one pack of each and see what happens
Maybe it will become my house belgian yeast.
I'd expect the M31 to be eventually become more dominant anyway due to the higher attenuation and alcohol tollerance but the M21 will help have enough cell count to start this beer off quickly.