So i brewed this for my wife. Recall no mistakes with the recipe. It has been 68 days since brew day. And I just don’t think I like this beer. It almost has a banana taste, with a citrusy after taste.
It just may be that I don’t like blondes … although I do enjoy Guiness’ new blonde ale.
Anybody else make this recipe?
I made this beer one time a few years ago. It was good and I liked it. But I like Patersbier better.
I don’t recall Lefse being particularly banana-ish, but it’s been a long time since I had it. my tasting notes from the time just said “some fruit,” so I’m a horrible commenter. Are you getting a bit of banana, with maybe some clove or pepper? Or is it just a banana bomb?
Banana flavor is a yeast thing, and is good in some recipies, but can be jarring if you’re not expecting it. Yeast selection and fermentation temps are what bring it out. Which yeast did you use, and what were your temps during fermentation?
[quote=“JMcK”]I don’t recall Lefse being particularly banana-ish, but it’s been a long time since I had it. my tasting notes from the time just said “some fruit,” so I’m a horrible commenter. Are you getting a bit of banana, with maybe some clove or pepper? Or is it just a banana bomb?
Banana flavor is a yeast thing, and is good in some recipies, but can be jarring if you’re not expecting it. Yeast selection and fermentation temps are what bring it out. Which yeast did you use, and what were your temps during fermentation?[/quote]
I used what was recommended with the beer kit recipe, looks like Safbrew T-58 Ale Dry Yeast. Temperatures would seem normal, no more than; 67 to 69 degrees.
[quote=“Jobu”][quote=“JMcK”]I don’t recall Lefse being particularly banana-ish, but it’s been a long time since I had it. my tasting notes from the time just said “some fruit,” so I’m a horrible commenter. Are you getting a bit of banana, with maybe some clove or pepper? Or is it just a banana bomb?
Banana flavor is a yeast thing, and is good in some recipies, but can be jarring if you’re not expecting it. Yeast selection and fermentation temps are what bring it out. Which yeast did you use, and what were your temps during fermentation?[/quote]
I used what was recommended with the beer kit recipe, looks like Safbrew T-58 Ale Dry Yeast. Temperatures would seem normal, no more than; 67 to 69 degrees.[/quote]
I’ve never used this yeast in particular but most Belgian yeasts will give off a lot of banana/bubblegum when fermented that warm. If you want to be more on the spicy clovey phenolic side, you’ll want to ferment closer to the bottom end of the yeasts temp range.
[quote=“Jobu”]
I used what was recommended with the beer kit recipe, looks like Safbrew T-58 Ale Dry Yeast. Temperatures would seem normal, no more than; 67 to 69 degrees.[/quote]
Beer temp or ambient temp? If ambient, the beer likely got up to 74-75, which as Matt said is warm for that yeast and it likely threw off some powerful phenols. I would try again (especially if your wife liked it) but put the fermenter in a water bath in a cool area of the house for the first few days (or you could get it in the low 60’s with a swamp cooler method).
There are different types of blondes too. Belgian blondes have a lot more alcohol and usually more yeast character than American blondes, which are a pretty wide style and can essentially be a lot of different things.
I personally do get some banana/bubblegum from Leffe, and I’m not a fan of that phenol, in those beers or in hefes.
