SafBrew T-58 yeast

[Mash Monster]

Hi All I have a Leffe Clone from MM which has now been bottle conditioning for 4 weeks. Although It looks the part crystal clear with good carbonation. There is a definite taste that is not to my liking a cross between bubble gum and banana!
I can’t detect any cloves or pepper notes which is what I was expecting. Having never used T-58 before is this a normal characteristic for this strain ? If so will the strong flavours reduce over time ? Any advice welcomed

 

[chthon]

Interesting question. I have been brewing a Kasteel Donker clone with the T-58, and only bottled last week. When moving over to secondary (from open fermentation), I also smelled much banana. After secondary fermentation (with adjunct candi sugar and caramel), and before bottling the banana was gone. My wife and I tasted wat remained after bottling, and we were actually surprised how good it tasted, no bubble gum or banana.

And for fermentation, I actually pitched my dry yeast in my wort at 30° C, before moving the kettle to an environment of 18° C. 4 hours later I already got a big, fat kraüsen...

 

[Mash Monster]

Many thanks chthon
Mine has gone the other way There was no banana taste or smell at the bottling stage it has only become apparent after conditioning. I suppose I will have to give it a little longer and hope for the best.

 

[peebee]

I used to like T-58 when I was using it, but it did need patience (notes from Nov 2016 brew).

I was a bit more descriptive a year earlier (2015):

But if you really wanted to shock people, the same manufacturer had their "Abbaye" yeast!

 

[Mash Monster]

Many thanks for the notes looks like I’m in for a long wait !
Thankfully I have a full cellar at the moment

 

[An Ankoù]

T-58 is supposed to taste like that. It's what it's for. See "product details" about half way down the page. I understand that with these phenolic "yeasts" you get cloves at the lower end of the fermentation range and bananas at the higher end.

SafAle T-58 Ale Dry Yeast

THE RIGHT BREWER’S YEAST FOR FRUITY & SPICY BEER Specialty brewer’s yeast selected for its strong fermentation character, intense fruity and phenolic flavors – especially banana, clove and peppery notes. Suitable for a great variety of wheat-base beers and fruity-spicy oriented styles. Yeast...

www.northernbrewer.com

 

[Sadfield]

T-58 is supposed to taste like that. It's what it's for. See "product details" about half way down the page. I understand that with these phenolic "yeasts" you get cloves at the lower end of the fermentation range and bananas at the higher end.

SafAle T-58 Ale Dry Yeast

THE RIGHT BREWER’S YEAST FOR FRUITY & SPICY BEER Specialty brewer’s yeast selected for its strong fermentation character, intense fruity and phenolic flavors – especially banana, clove and peppery notes. Suitable for a great variety of wheat-base beers and fruity-spicy oriented styles. Yeast...

www.northernbrewer.com

That's interesting. Mash schedule plays a part too, affecting how much ferulic acid is produced, that gets converted into clove flavours.

 

[Mash Monster]

Clearly I still have a lot to learn about how yeast affects the taste and aroma of the final product. Thank you all for your helpful comments

 

[Northern_Brewer]

4 hours later I already got a big, fat kraüsen...

Yep, that's very typical, it's one of the fastest-starting yeast I know.

a cross between bubble gum and banana!
I can’t detect any cloves or pepper notes which is what I was expecting. Having never used T-58 before is this a normal characteristic for this strain ?

T-58 is not strongly phenolic, its reputation is more for black pepper rather than cloves and that's certainly been my experience of it. It's a close relative of Windsor and is best thought of as a slightly phenolic version of Windsor rather than a classic "Belgian" yeast.

You can play around with the mash and fermentation conditions a bit to push the esters etc, but it's not going to suddenly turn into Munich Classic or something.

It is very biotransformative though, if you use it in say a 5g/l Chinook SMaSH it will turn the Chinook's grapefruit into lime, it tastes like a completely different hop was used.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

I've used T-58 a couple of times. Worked well in a wheat beer giving good peppery tones. Tried it again in a chocolate stout where I was hoping a high temp fermentation could deliver banana flavours. Got a nice stout but absolutely no banana. Maybe I needed to be braver with the temps as it was brewed at 24c.

Cherish your banana/ bubblegum flavours - sounds like a result!

 

[Hop_it]

I have never used T58, so I cannot comment on your particular experience. However, I have successfully used several other SafAle and SafLager types There is a lot of information available on the Fermentis web site (Fermentis yeasts and fermentation solutions for beer, wine, spirits…). It's worth looking under the following headings:

• Fermentation Solutions/You create beer, and
• Tips and Tricks/For you, brewers.

There is a lot of good information about yeasts in general, and about their own products. You can download a datasheet for each product. I have found their descriptions of the fermentation characteristics/flavours to be reasonably accurate so far.

 

[Mash Monster]

Hi guys just a quick update after another month bottle conditioning. The banana and bubblegum flavours have completely mellowed and it has turned out to be a true to style Belgian blond. Must try it in a side by side comparison with Leffe to see how tue it is. Once again thanks to all for your comments and encouragement

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Can't say I noticed too much yeast flavour in my Belgian Stout with T-58 but in my IPA it seems very peppery, no clove or banana at all.