skortjorkson
I Eat Magic Plants
Hello all!
Given the lack of resources out there about this yeast, I thought I'd write a review of it.
First, there are a couple of things about the brewing context that need to be kept in mind-- I go for a rustic approach to my brewing, as I live far away from a homebrew store and abhor gadgetry, so I usually end up brewing around what I have or what I can make. I'll give you some rough outlines of the recipes I used in each case (I do use beersmith and can PM you details if you want) but the two important factors are that I don't have a temperature-controlled fermentation system, and that I make all of my own malt. Realize that between those two parameters there's a lot of wiggle room for interpretation of what made a beer come out the way it did!
Over the last few months, I made four different beers using M47. For the sake of simplicity, I'll list the general traits I observed before going into detail:
Fruity/flowery and spicy-- deep, ripe fruit esters tying together a front-palate complex spicy note.
High temperatures (75-90F): Spicy flavor with stone fruit and some banana esters, not what I would call phenolic but more literally like I had added some mixed spices (cinnamon) to the boil. The banana was present but not overwhelming.
Lower temperatures: (60-75F): Fruity and floral, but definitely less spicy and with no banana. Capable of blending in with a complex hop/malt palate.
Attenuation: I'm in between hydrometers right now but consistently left (even with adjuncts) some body behind after fermentation-- probably 1.010-1.015 but not higher.
Flocculation: Low. Mangrove Jack's lists it as 'high' but I found this yeast to have similar powdery traits to some other abbey yeasts. It took an absolute minimum of three weeks from the start of fermentation for the beers I made to clear up much, compared to ten days in the same conditions for the old Nottingham Ale to leave something crystal clear. Agitating the fermentor stirred up a cloud every time, and sometimes transferring to secondary after the krausen finished wasn't even enough to convince the yeast to settle-- once I had to transfer it to a third vessel to get it to drop out!
I brewed four different beers in order to gather the above information. The details were as follows:
1. Pale Ale. 8.5 SRM, 5.5% abv and a calculated 60 IBUs made with pale malt, C40 and noble hops. Fermentation started off cold (about 60F) and raised to 80F+ over a week. Yeast took a long while to settle, and had bready overtones while it was still young. Featured fruity/floral notes that were a bit hidden by the grassy hops. Delicious, but would've been happier with a milder yeast for this style (English or German ale).
2. Dark Strong Ale. 20 SRM, 8% and a calculated 60 IBUs made with pilsner, rice, dark crystal malt and Herkules as the sole hop. This one fermented warm, starting off around 65F and quickly rising to the daytime temps ranging from 75-90F. This yeast really took what I was expecting to be a plain dark ale and turned it into a trappiste-style beer. I was very happy! There was some banana, but it wasn't overpowering, instead blending well with the general deep fruitiness. Tasted a little 'hot' (fusels) for the first few weeks, but mellowed into a complex spiciness after about a month, which I thought was pleasantly quick for the style. A third-party tasters even suggested actual spices had been added to the beer.
3. Spiced Ale. 6 SRM, 5.5% and a calculated 60 IBUs made with wheat malt, pale malt, sugar and Herkules again. The spices were ginger and cardamom added in small quantities at the end of the boil. Fermented at around 70F. The yeast didn't really impress me in this application, it mated with the spices without really helping them. Some fruity/floral notes were present, and added a brightness but were a little lost. Still a good beer, but not a good use of a characterful yeast; in the future I would either skip the spices and use this yeast or skip this yeast and use the spices.
4. Hoppy Blonde. 5 SRM, 5.0% and a calculated 80 IBUs made with pilsner malt, rice, unmalted barley, some C40 and a mix of Cascade and Yakima Gold hops. Fermented on the cooler side, 60-70F. The yeast really impressed me with this one, although this was the beer which required racking to a tertiary vessel to get it to settle fully. The yeast character was, again, fruity/floral but in context it helped make a perfect marriage between the light, clean grain bill and citrusy hops. Probably my favorite application of the four. A third-party taster said it tasted 'refined', and I agree! The beer was probably classier than the brewer.
Well, hope that helps anyone out there yeast shopping... and there's always more to say, so give me a shout if you have any comments or questions!
Cheers!
Given the lack of resources out there about this yeast, I thought I'd write a review of it.
First, there are a couple of things about the brewing context that need to be kept in mind-- I go for a rustic approach to my brewing, as I live far away from a homebrew store and abhor gadgetry, so I usually end up brewing around what I have or what I can make. I'll give you some rough outlines of the recipes I used in each case (I do use beersmith and can PM you details if you want) but the two important factors are that I don't have a temperature-controlled fermentation system, and that I make all of my own malt. Realize that between those two parameters there's a lot of wiggle room for interpretation of what made a beer come out the way it did!
Over the last few months, I made four different beers using M47. For the sake of simplicity, I'll list the general traits I observed before going into detail:
Fruity/flowery and spicy-- deep, ripe fruit esters tying together a front-palate complex spicy note.
High temperatures (75-90F): Spicy flavor with stone fruit and some banana esters, not what I would call phenolic but more literally like I had added some mixed spices (cinnamon) to the boil. The banana was present but not overwhelming.
Lower temperatures: (60-75F): Fruity and floral, but definitely less spicy and with no banana. Capable of blending in with a complex hop/malt palate.
Attenuation: I'm in between hydrometers right now but consistently left (even with adjuncts) some body behind after fermentation-- probably 1.010-1.015 but not higher.
Flocculation: Low. Mangrove Jack's lists it as 'high' but I found this yeast to have similar powdery traits to some other abbey yeasts. It took an absolute minimum of three weeks from the start of fermentation for the beers I made to clear up much, compared to ten days in the same conditions for the old Nottingham Ale to leave something crystal clear. Agitating the fermentor stirred up a cloud every time, and sometimes transferring to secondary after the krausen finished wasn't even enough to convince the yeast to settle-- once I had to transfer it to a third vessel to get it to drop out!
I brewed four different beers in order to gather the above information. The details were as follows:
1. Pale Ale. 8.5 SRM, 5.5% abv and a calculated 60 IBUs made with pale malt, C40 and noble hops. Fermentation started off cold (about 60F) and raised to 80F+ over a week. Yeast took a long while to settle, and had bready overtones while it was still young. Featured fruity/floral notes that were a bit hidden by the grassy hops. Delicious, but would've been happier with a milder yeast for this style (English or German ale).
2. Dark Strong Ale. 20 SRM, 8% and a calculated 60 IBUs made with pilsner, rice, dark crystal malt and Herkules as the sole hop. This one fermented warm, starting off around 65F and quickly rising to the daytime temps ranging from 75-90F. This yeast really took what I was expecting to be a plain dark ale and turned it into a trappiste-style beer. I was very happy! There was some banana, but it wasn't overpowering, instead blending well with the general deep fruitiness. Tasted a little 'hot' (fusels) for the first few weeks, but mellowed into a complex spiciness after about a month, which I thought was pleasantly quick for the style. A third-party tasters even suggested actual spices had been added to the beer.
3. Spiced Ale. 6 SRM, 5.5% and a calculated 60 IBUs made with wheat malt, pale malt, sugar and Herkules again. The spices were ginger and cardamom added in small quantities at the end of the boil. Fermented at around 70F. The yeast didn't really impress me in this application, it mated with the spices without really helping them. Some fruity/floral notes were present, and added a brightness but were a little lost. Still a good beer, but not a good use of a characterful yeast; in the future I would either skip the spices and use this yeast or skip this yeast and use the spices.
4. Hoppy Blonde. 5 SRM, 5.0% and a calculated 80 IBUs made with pilsner malt, rice, unmalted barley, some C40 and a mix of Cascade and Yakima Gold hops. Fermented on the cooler side, 60-70F. The yeast really impressed me with this one, although this was the beer which required racking to a tertiary vessel to get it to settle fully. The yeast character was, again, fruity/floral but in context it helped make a perfect marriage between the light, clean grain bill and citrusy hops. Probably my favorite application of the four. A third-party taster said it tasted 'refined', and I agree! The beer was probably classier than the brewer.
Well, hope that helps anyone out there yeast shopping... and there's always more to say, so give me a shout if you have any comments or questions!
Cheers!
