I had bought Fermentis T-58 as the peppery flavor profile sounded interesting. I ended up making a witbier recipe using Grains of Paradise and some lemon zest to work with Mt Hood hops thinking the “spicy” flavor might work well with it.
However it doesn’t have anything remotely pepper-like. In fact it almost has a flavor something like the caramel/butterscotch I find in Old Speckled Hen or Fuller’s than it does anything else. I’m dumbfounded to say the least, though it still tastes great. It’s just nothing like what I wanted or expected.
This is the 5 gal recipe I made:
3 lbs 2-row
2.5 lbs soft white wheat berries
4 lbs wheat LME (FO)
3/4 oz Mt Hood @ 77 mins
1/4 oz Mt Hood @ 21 mins
1 oz Grains of Paradise & 0.045 oz lemon zest (all I had) @ 7 mins
T-58 yeast
1.057/1.017
5.3% ABV
16 IBU’s
3 SRM
Fermented @ 64* for 7 days and 14 days @ ~73*.
I don’t recall if the yeast was at or just past its expiration date. If it was past it was by a month or two. It may have had a month to go. This seems to be the only explanation…
