wy3522 Banana Flavor

[TAK]

I was not expecting banana flavors from this yeast. Based on what I read, I did expect, and in fact want, some ester profile. But from what I'd read, I expected more subtle fruit, maybe a bit tart, balanced with spice. There is a bit of spice in this beer, but it's in-your-face banana.

I pitched in the mid 60's, let it rise naturally into the upper 60's. When fermentation showed signs of slowing, I raised the temp into the very low 70's. I kept the temp there for about a week and then gently brought it back down to ambient. Like I said, I was hoping this temp schedule would give me an estery profile, just didn't expect banana.

So, is there anything I might be doing that produced banana over other ester flavors, or is that just what this yeast does?

As a side note, this attenuated like a beast, 94%.

Cheers

 

[Jayslay]

Banana flavor:Isoamyl acetate, also known as isopentyl acetate, is an organic compound that is the ester formed from isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid. Its an ester, and you got it. My experience tells me you should keep it in the low 60's the whole time to minimize it.

I keep it high 60's or above for banana in my Hefes, different yeast though.

 

[TAK]

This beer is 3 weeks in the bottle now. The banana esters are less dominating now. At bottling, that's the only thing I tasted. But now, there's enough of those other Belgian funk flavors to balance it out. It's still probably more banana than I want, but it's not a one trick pony like I feared.