Imperial Harvest - Apple/Berry character?

[Jettanbass9]

Does anyone else get a strong apple (not acetaldehyde but a nondescript apple character) or berry aroma from this yeast?

After hearing how clean and versatile this yeast is, I attempted a Helles with it. Brewed a really straightforward recipe with Pils, Munich, and Hersbrucker. 2000ml starter. Fermented at 50F, lagered at 35F for 6 weeks. I was really surprised to find an estery, Kolsch-like quality from the yeast.

Not sure this is the character I had in mind when employing it. If you have experienced the same character or typically use this yeast, are you pitching at a higher rate, giving extra O2, or controlling it in some other way to keep that character in check?

 

[couchsending]

this yeast is so weird to me. It’s supposed to be one of the easiest and cleanest lagers yeasts to use but with well over 50 lagers under my belt the 4 or 5 times I’ve used it have been some of the worst lagers I’ve made and I really have no idea why.

I would say this yeast is better fermented a bit warmer. 50 is a bit too cold for it. It will be cleaner at 52-54. Which doesn’t sound right I know but it’s what’s recommended for this particular strain.

 

[bierhaus15]

I've used the Augustiner yeast a lot over the years and one thing I find is that it doesn't hold up that well in static storage and needs a larger than average pitch rate to achieve really crisp/clean lagers. I'll go as high as 2.0 m/c/ml/P and rarely under 1.5. I pitch at 48F and ferment at 50F. I try to get the beer off the yeast by day 10 at the latest.

You might try doubling your pitch rate and increasing your oxygentation.

 

[jdauria]

I use Harvest a lot, for almost all my lagers and have not had that issue. As Bierhaus says, big pitch rates help, I also do at least 1.5 billion cells/mL/°P if not higher, and ferment at 50. Actually have a starter of it going now for a Schwarzbier tomorrow, and I did 1.75B/ml/°P for that. Brewer's Friend has a yeast pitch calculator that shows your pitch rate in this format. Have also used Harvest yeast cake for beers with no issue. I also do 2 minutes of pure O2 when pitching.

To the OP: Have you done a lot of lagers or fairly new to it? It's hard to hide faults in light lagers, especially when fairly new at it. Are you using tap water and know your water profile? How old was the yeast pack? If more than a few months old, maybe 2 liter starter was an underpitch?

 

[Jettanbass9]

@couchsending @bierhaus15 @jdauria - thanks for the feedback!

Ive done a number of lagers in the past, but typically used Wyeast and Whitelabs. I think I underestimated the viability of the Imperial packs, and under pitched. The pack I had was used within two months of the production date.

Im not sure I’ll try this again though there are a ton of other options that are a lot less of a hassle - what are your favorite go to lager yeasts aside from the classic 830/2124?

 

[jdauria]

For me, it's usually Harvest, WLP830, or Imperial Global which is the same strain as 830/2124. But WLP833/Wy2487 works well for malty lagers too, that's the Ayinger's strain.

 

[monkeymath]

Very interesting. I made a Helles with that yeast a year ago and just the other night I found a forgotten bottle of that beer imy basement.

It had aged, of course, but there still was this strange aroma and taste of red apple. I had fermented that beer at 7 degrees celsius, so esters were not expected or planned. Quite a disappointment.