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Author Topic: Banana esters in a Grape Ale  (Read 567 times)

Offline philip.a.lafleur@gmail.com

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Banana esters in a Grape Ale
« on: January 10, 2022, 10:42:28 pm »
Recently, I made an Italian Grape Ale. Grain bill was 100% root shoot 3.5 L Munich (51% of fermentables). Remaining 49% supplied by Muscato wine base concentrate from a wine kit. Yeast used 71B. I did not boil the wine must concentrate. I added it to the fermenter directly from the bag into the freshly chilled wort. The beer ended up with a very strong banana ester. It is possible I picked up some hef yeast contamination in my fermenter as I made a hef a month before this brew. However, it is interesting in the new 2021 BJCP guidelines banana and bubble gum esters are specifically called out as a fault. Is there something in Grape Ales that can lead to banana esters using 71B?

Offline fredthecat

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Re: Banana esters in a Grape Ale
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2022, 11:06:46 pm »
Recently, I made an Italian Grape Ale. Grain bill was 100% root shoot 3.5 L Munich (51% of fermentables). Remaining 49% supplied by Muscato wine base concentrate from a wine kit. Yeast used 71B. I did not boil the wine must concentrate. I added it to the fermenter directly from the bag into the freshly chilled wort. The beer ended up with a very strong banana ester. It is possible I picked up some hef yeast contamination in my fermenter as I made a hef a month before this brew. However, it is interesting in the new 2021 BJCP guidelines banana and bubble gum esters are specifically called out as a fault. Is there something in Grape Ales that can lead to banana esters using 71B?

what kind of attenuation did you get from 71b with a 50/50 wort and must?

i think ive used 71b before, definitely not on wort though. im guessing its not contamination, but a feature of the yeast. how does it taste?

Offline erockrph

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Re: Banana esters in a Grape Ale
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2022, 10:00:02 am »
Wine yeasts tend to throw a lot of esters in beer wort in my experience. It is very likely the 71B that is the culprit. If you don't want esters, you're better off using a clean ale yeast for a beer like this, although if you give this beer a little age you may find them come into balance nicely. I brewed a saison with Gewurztraminer must a few years back using Belle Saison, which has a tendency to throw some banana esters. After a month or two of aging the beer turned out phenomenal.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer