Strange Safbrew s-33 taste?

Okay.. here's the story:

I recently brewed a sort of APA/BPA hybrid (no sparge).

12 lbs Fawcett optic
1 lb melanoidin malt (wanted to try it out)
1 lb carapils
5.2 buffer

Boil 60 mins

.5 oz Columbus (60 mins)
.5 oz Glacier (30 mins)
.5 oz Glacier (5 mins)

1.051 sg post-boil, pitched 2 11.5 gm sachets of Safbrew S-33 at about 70 degrees F.

I got airlock activity after about half an hour, and 2 hours post-pitching, it was going crazy, with extremely vigorous fermentation for about a day and a half or so.

I left it in the primary for about 3-4 weeks, then racked to secondary, added a packet of Knox gelatin, let it sit for a week, then bottled with 4 oz of corn sugar. (post fermentation sg of 1.010)

Now, a week later, I cracked one open to test it, and it had a particularly interesting taste- kind of a yeasty, extract tang sort of taste, which is shockingly reminiscent of my first brew ever (1999), which was 6 lbs amber extract, 1 oz N. Brewer, .5 Cascade aroma, .5 Cascade flavor, and Edme dry yeast. Similar yeast behavior, and a very similar flavor so far.


Is this "yeast bite", or is it something else? It smells great- hoppy and good, not in the least bit spoiled, and the tangy taste is pretty subtle; it's not like vinegar or anything.

Is S-33 known for having a strange taste like that?

How much gelatin was in the packet? I use about 1tbs for 5 gal in seconday when crashed @33F

I'm pretty sure S-33 is a dry form of Edme, but I could be wrong. Maybe that's why you are experiencing similar tastes.

I know this is several months later, but I have something interesting to share...

I recently had a bottle of Orval... and it has that same weird taste, and it's the same weird taste that my first homebrew ever had (using EDME yeast).

I suspect that maybe Fermentis is right, and S-33 is better for Belgians; my beer tastes like a less hoppy, lower gravity Orval, to be honest.

Also... it's entirely possible that S-33 is also EDME as well. Maybe if you ferment it at higher temps (~70 degrees), it gives you a more Belgian flavor.

mpruett said:

Also... it's entirely possible that S-33 is also EDME as well. Maybe if you ferment it at higher temps (~70 degrees), it gives you a more Belgian flavor.

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That's been my experience with s-33. If you ferment it in, say, the 70-75 degree range it seems to throw off a really nice ester profile. subtle bubblegum/clove aromas but not too overpowering. I've also noticed that S-33 seems to take a bit longer to "clean up" than other strains. That "yeast twang" flavor, in my experience, tends to last for a couple of months. Makes some pretty nice beer once it cleans up, tho.

went to lhbs and picked up more 05 & 04. pitched o5 dry on top of aerated foam.

now im back on track. damn this being so unorganized at times.

trying to usher summer in and getting rushed to have all my tappers flowing.

time to RDWHAHB

I just put S-33 in a honey ale I brewed on Saturday, and put it in a room I keep at 68 degrees. The fermentation was so vigorous that the carboy temp got up to 75, so lowered the temp in the room. I don't like the smells from the airlock at this point, and I'm wishing I would have used the Safale 05, but we will see how it turns out. This is a bourbon honey ale, so it will go into secondary over bourbon soaked charred oak chips.

i think you kinda botched matching your yeasts here. imo a 05 would have better mayched your beer vs a belgian or wheat beer yeast.

anyway, ferment it out and enjoy. then brew another with an 05 and see which you prefer.

mpruett said:

Is S-33 known for having a strange taste like that?

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Yep. Bready, yeasty, fruity...I hate it.

maltbarleyhops said:

i think you kinda botched matching your yeasts here. imo a 05 would have better mayched your beer vs a belgian or wheat beer yeast.

anyway, ferment it out and enjoy. then brew another with an 05 and see which you prefer.

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A few days in and I agree with you. I got tired of using 05 for everything I do, and looked into other yeasts. I read that the "belgian" comes out at higher temps, that is why I was concerned when I saw it got up to 75. Nothing I can do now but wait and see. This is a bourbon honey ale, so maybe the bourbon soaked oak chips in secondary will cover up anything I don't like.

Used this in an APA I just bottled. It was recommended to me by my LHBS, the guy had just used it in a wheat beer. The taste I got from his was more of a sweet, almost apricoty flavor and that's what I've been tasting all along in my hydro samples. FWIW my ferm room is usually between 61 and 63, fermentation got to 66 on the fermometer

A week in and I transferred this beer into secondary over bourbon soaked oak chips. The gravity was down from 1.053 to 1.020 and I was surprised by the taste. Although it had a lot of the Belgian smell, it had a pretty clean taste. Before I disturbed the beer it was fairly clear. I think a couple of weeks in the fermenter and a cold crash and I should be okay. All that being said, the next time I make this beer it will be Safale 05 all the way.

I've never found anything even vaguely Belgian about S-33.

I love using S-33 for most of my beers, It's my house yeast! I love the flavors and aroma it gives in my beers I craft, I will admit the low attenuation is a pain in the rear...buut I do a yeast blend to get the OG down to where I need it to be. I do S-33 initally and once it finishes around 1.018-1.022 (always in this range...) I rack it into a secondary with cry havoc to bring it down further to my estimated FG.

If you're able to keep this yeast for several generations it just keeps getting better and better. 1 packet of S-33 lasted me for 18 batches before I opted to get a new packet. Reason why I got a new one was i had no available flasks to wash my yeast in at the time I needed it. =(

The bourbon honey ale is bottled and drinkable and I must say that I am very happy with the job that S-33 did. I was worried with some of the smells early on, but it ended up very clean.

I went ahead and used the S-33 in my rye pale ale as well. I usually use S-05 but thought I'd give it a spin in the rye after the results of my Bourbon Honey Ale.