Ok, so, I bought a can of this yeast believing that it would be some sort of "normal" ale yeast, since its number is "A43" and "A" indicates British and American ales with Imperial. I realized before using it that this was a "farmhouse" strain, so I tried it in a basic strong bitter wort (20# pale ale malt, 1# wheat, 1.5# C40, and 1# corn sugar 1.051, ~35 ibus, mashed at 151F for 60 mins).
Anyway, I pitched cooler than expected (58F), but visible fermentation began at 62. I let it finish at ambient in my garage during a warm week, so the top fermentation temp was in the high 70's or low 80's. The high temperature was recommended from the few sites where I could find details. Then I cold crashed and kegged it with some biofine.
My opinion: the aroma and flavor are somewhere between a hefeweizen and a trappist yeast, and not in a great way. There's a ton of clove and a little pepper. Maybe I should've gone with a simpler recipe (I split it and the other half got Fuller's yeast, fwiw), but this just ain't great. I have about 750 mL of slurry saved, but I don't think I will use it. This is a niche yeast, and I think it would taste best in a low-gravity wheat beer. I wouldn't consider it saison-like.
Topic: Imperial A43 Loki Yeast (Read 3836 times)
