Thunder_Chicken
Well-Known Member
At the start of the summer I attempted to brew a batch of Centennial Blonde while my cellar was still cool. I racked the beer off the Nottingham yeast cake from a previous batch of Centennial Blonde, added 1-gallon of bottled water, stirred, let it settle for ~ 30 minutes, then filled the 1-gallon jug with the still suspended yeast, and pitched that entire gallon as 1-gallon of make-up into 4 gallons of wort.
The original batch was clean and crisp, and fermented at about 66F ambient in the cellar on the original rehydrated Nottingham yeast from the packet. The temperature was still about 66F when I pitched the second batch, but this batch came out with a distinct Belgian yeast flavor and aroma. It really is strangely good, though I am not a huge Belgian fan. It really is pleasant.
The second ferment was quick and vigorous, so I am pretty sure the fermentation temps got significantly higher than the 66F ambient which is part of the issue. However, from my previous experience, Nottingham tends to get really cidery and fuselly when fermented too warm.
Something else is going on and I am trying to put my finger on it. Does anyone have any thoughts how I could have turned a British Ale yeast Belgian? I'm not necessarily looking to repeat the process, but I am curious as to how this might have occured. I guess a related question is, what combination of esters and phenolics makes a Belgian taste like a Belgian?
The original batch was clean and crisp, and fermented at about 66F ambient in the cellar on the original rehydrated Nottingham yeast from the packet. The temperature was still about 66F when I pitched the second batch, but this batch came out with a distinct Belgian yeast flavor and aroma. It really is strangely good, though I am not a huge Belgian fan. It really is pleasant.
The second ferment was quick and vigorous, so I am pretty sure the fermentation temps got significantly higher than the 66F ambient which is part of the issue. However, from my previous experience, Nottingham tends to get really cidery and fuselly when fermented too warm.
Something else is going on and I am trying to put my finger on it. Does anyone have any thoughts how I could have turned a British Ale yeast Belgian? I'm not necessarily looking to repeat the process, but I am curious as to how this might have occured. I guess a related question is, what combination of esters and phenolics makes a Belgian taste like a Belgian?