Mangrove Jack Craft Series Yeasts

[sp0rk]

Has anyone gotten their hands on any of Mangrove Jack's new Craft Series yeasts?
I may have gotten a hold of a packet of the "Burton Union" British Ale yeast...

*ninja edit*
I forgot to mention, I've just pitched it on top of a Fullers London Pride clone

 

[Barry]

I have tried their Saison yeast. Fermented from 1.050 to 1.002. While still young it tastes similar (not identical) to Saison Belle yeast.
Some tartness but certainly a Saison.

 

[HBHB]

Scored some of the first trial batches that came through. I have tried the West Coast Ale yeast, Burton and the Newcastle Dark Ale ones.

so far so good.

The west coast pitched into a 1.075 wort with a couple of packs took off like a rocket, attenuated out well and flocc'd nicely, nice dry finish, clean.

The Burton was a bit of an animal. Thought it'd climb out of the airlock and top dress the back yard for me. Had a taste at 3 weeks and was nice, dry finish but with some slight esters (pear) enough for the style.

The Newcastle is still fermenting. Wasn't quite the greyhound the Burton was. Expecting it to finish with a fairly full body in an English Brown.

Will be pitching the Cider one into a fresh Strawberry and Pear cider this weekend.

Martin

Has anyone gotten their hands on any of Mangrove Jack's new Craft Series yeasts?
I may have gotten a hold of a packet of the "Burton Union" British Ale yeast...

*ninja edit*
I forgot to mention, I've just pitched it on top of a Fullers London Pride clone

 

[sp0rk]

I kegged the London Pride clone yesterday, so hopefully i'll give it a quick force carb this afternoon and give it a try
it was a monster and fully fermented out in under 4 days at 18 degrees
i did raise it up to 21 for 2 days just in case for a D rest, then another 2 days CC at 2 degrees and it was smelling amazing yesterday

i rinsed the yeast cake and have it chillin in my keg fridge, will try and grab some more grain in the next few weeks to do an ESB with it too

 

[AndrewQLD]

Pitched the Bavarian Wheat yesterday at 22°, it's a bit of a monster as well as it climbed out the airlock this morning, smells sensational.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Pitched the Bavarian Wheat yesterday at 22°, it's a bit of a monster as well as it climbed out the airlock this morning, smells sensational.

I've been drinking this Weizen for a few days now and I think this is a very exceptional yeast.
I brewed my standard Wheat beer recipe of 50/50 wheat malt and Pilsner malt and changed my usual mash schedule to a very basic mash of 60 minutes @ 65c so I could really get an idea of the esters that this yeast would give. Fermentation started at 1.051 and finished at 1.010.
I get a lovely sweet flavour up front that is balanced by a slightly tart finish, very slight clove on the nose and a slight banana aroma at the finish along with a subtle spiciness.
Fermented quite quickly at 22c and I was actually drinking this 7 days after brew day, it's cleared a bit since then (day 14) with only a protein haze left although the flavours and aromas are still as good as on day one.

I'll be using this yeast again without a doubt.

 

[wbosher]

Any updates from anyone else that used this back in April? Just wondering if you've had a taste yet.

Looking at doing an English Pale Ale/Bitter and using the "British Ale" or "Burton Union". I've just stumbled across these yeasts only 10 minutes ago, never heard of them until now. Worth a shot you reckon?

 

[sp0rk]

I'm very happy with my Fuller's London Pride clone using the burton yeast
lovely and sweet and quite malty
fully fermented out in 4 days at 20c

 

[doon]

Where is this yeast available?

 

[sp0rk]

the owner of my LHBS gave it to me to test out for him
I don't think it's actually available yet

 

[wbosher]

My LHBS has it advertised on their web page so it must be.

 

[Lecterfan]

I'm loving the look of some of these yeasts. Keen to try some of the pommy ones after some of the discussions on Jim's BK.

Anyone found out anything more about general release etc? The website still says "nearly ready" to be released...

 

[Beersuit]

They have definatly been released.

I've tried all but a few now the US west coast is a nice yeast it reminds me of the Bry97. I also used the Newcastle dark on a porter that is drinking very well.

At the moment I'm fermenting a saison on the Belgian yeast at 26 and a pilsner on the bohemian pilsner at 12.

I didn't like the workhorse yeast it seemed to stall on 2 batches at 1.020 fermenting at 17 which is inside it's temp range. Im still trying to wake it up to get it to drop a bit more. I also thought the Burton union was a little too estery even when fermented at 18.

I'd like to know who made this range for them to get a little more insite into the strains.

 

[Lecterfan]

Thanks for the feedback! The .pdf on the site is pretty good for info and specs etc.

When you say the Burton was too estery, in what way? I'm not always a fan of 'neutral' yeasts - I like yeasts that contribute something to the beer, or that push a particular mouthfeel or whatever (and it's rare that I ferment an English yeast much lower than 20c - especially as of day two or three into the ferment)...

I'm just excited that the range of English-style yeasts has been expanded in dry form.

Let me/us know how the Belgian works out also...is it a different strain altogether to T58 etc?

I can't believe how little splash these yeasts have made (or at least that I've noticed) compared to the Bry97 and Belle Saison releases.

Edit: the description of the Belgian sounds similar to the descriptions of T58. There was talk of a few suspected double ups on Jims BK also.

 

[Beersuit]

I guess the flavour of the Burton yeast was a little too big for my liking. I did a split batch of TT landlord with it and 1469 and it seemed to over power the beer to an extent I didn't like. The 1469 won hands down.

I know of other people using it in milds and rave about it though. Maybe it's just not to my taste.

 

[AndrewQLD]

The belgian Ale is a beast, my last Belgian started at 1.077 and finished at 1.004 and tasted very nice.

 

[wbosher]

I guess the flavour of the Burton yeast was a little too big for my liking. I did a split batch of TT landlord with it and 1469 and it seemed to over power the beer to an extent I didn't like. The 1469 won hands down.

I know of other people using it in milds and rave about it though. Maybe it's just not to my taste.

I did an ESB with the Burton yeast and thought it was very nice. I had to bottle condition for a very long time before it was nice though, although that probably had more to do with the very cold temperature than anything else, just wouldn't carb up.

I've got Smurto's English Pale Ale fermenting ATM, I used the British Ale yeast (M07) so quite keen to taste that in a few weeks.

 

[JasonP]

Scored some of the first trial batches that came through. I have tried the West Coast Ale yeast, Burton and the Newcastle Dark Ale ones.

so far so good.

The west coast pitched into a 1.075 wort with a couple of packs took off like a rocket, attenuated out well and flocc'd nicely, nice dry finish, clean.

The Burton was a bit of an animal. Thought it'd climb out of the airlock and top dress the back yard for me. Had a taste at 3 weeks and was nice, dry finish but with some slight esters (pear) enough for the style.

The Newcastle is still fermenting. Wasn't quite the greyhound the Burton was. Expecting it to finish with a fairly full body in an English Brown.

Will be pitching the Cider one into a fresh Strawberry and Pear cider this weekend.

Martin

How did the Brown Ale turn out? I've been given a pack of the Newcastle Darl Ale and thinking of brewing a brown ale. Was it a low attenuator?

 

[Lecterfan]

Hey wbosher keep us informed of how it goes.

AndrewQld - what sort of 'Belgiany' flavours did you get from it? Different to T58 do you think? Would it work in a Dark Strong Ale?

 

[AndrewQLD]

It's finished dry, acidic/tart and peppery, totally different from T-58 as the flavours are more intense, I've got some alcohol warmth going on as well which is not surprising.
The PDF below has the full range and descriptions which are pretty accurate when compared to the 4 yeasts i have used so far.

View attachment MJ_Craft_Series__A5_Yeast_Booklet.pdf

 

[QldKev]

I've tried a couple of the yeasts so far, and have some more beer on one now.

West Coast.
The first generation was put onto a Citra IPA. I'd brewed 4 x cubes of this and the other 3 cubes had been done on US-05, so I was really interested in this. It took off like a rocket, and blew it's krauzen load into my fermenting fridge. It finished out pretty quick, but I still left of for a few extra days. It floc'd out really clean. On tasting the beer, not impressed. Whilst it was clean tasting with no yeast byproducts, the hop aroma was completely gone. It also attenuated a lot more than US-5 leaving the beer dry and very bitter. I then split the yeast cake and fired up 2 more batches, I kept these at 16.5c to help keep the krauzen monster down, but they still made a mess. The resulting beer was not as dry as the first one, but still lacked any considerable aroma.

Last weekend I went to a mates place who had fermented my house beer, a MID APA (borrowed a couple of cubes from me) and who also had used West Coast. This is a beer I have brewed over 100 times. The beer was barely drinkable, with an extreme attenuation level and very bitter, with no aroma.

If I was brewing for this yeast I could change the mash to suit and attempt to leave some body in the beer, but with the issue of the aroma I won't be using it again.


Burton Union
I pitched this onto a Golden Ale at 17.5c. Good sized krauzen without being overly aggressive, and smelt really nice during the ferment. I'd recently made the same recipe and fermented on US-05 so the comparison was expected to be very different. On tasting I picked up some esters which I enjoyed in the beer, but the big note was the caramel. It was quite there for 6% Crystal Med. Over a couple of weeks in the keg I found the caramel subsided a bit and the beer became more dry.

I'm currently brewing a Brown Ale on the yeast and am looking forward to it. This is on my to use again list, and has made me want to the the British Ale yeast.


Work Horse
I've heard good reviews that this may be an US-05 alternative, and have a packet currently fermenting an Aussie Gold.

 

[rehabs_for_quitters]

I had the same experience with the West Coast and British Ale it ruined 60L of beer, first brew was rehydrated west coast then did a re brew and pitched some slurry and it got drier and drier to the point of undrinkable, then did same recipe again with the British Ale, suffice to say I won't be using any more of there yeasts on the experience I have had, It all seems to finish way to dry for my liking I prefer my beer wet

 

[Lecterfan]

Can I ask what mash temps were you using Kev? I've only used the Burton Union yeast and it's only been in the keg a few days. I mashed at 67c with a rest at 72c then mahout at 77c. I only got 62% attenuation from it (recipe had 4.5% caraaroma and 4.5% biscuit). I must say, it tastes and smells very nice so far, but I was a bit surprised as it gets a 4/5 attenuation rating in the literature. I will try it at 66c next time, or maybe include a lower step. I would have thought 1.016 (OG 1.053) would have been achievable.

Still, I will report back upon tasting and further experimentation. Next off is the British Ale yeast into an IPA.

I don't care if they are high or low attenuators, just what they taste like. If they throw good flavours then the rest of brew can be designed around their other characteristics. It's early days with these yeasts.

 

[Kingbrownbrewing]

I met the rep for these guys at Melbourne good beer week earlier this year and he gave me a sample pack (he was the funniest cuzzy bro you have ever met).

I can not say a bad word about any of these yeasts, and I have almost used them all.

The burton union was the yeast I used in the brown ale that took out the BABBs mini comp the other week.

Just wish you could buy them somewhere.... Does anyone know who stocks them in Bris?

 

[Lecterfan]

...and found the attenuation fine on the Burton Union yeast?

I notice the National HB sponsor has them listed, I'll be buying a few more via post if the rest have good flavours and results like the above are being found.

 

[Batz]

I noticed Gympie Home Brew has them, I'm going stop by next time I'm in town and give a couple a go.

Batz

 

[HBHB]

How did the Brown Ale turn out? I've been given a pack of the Newcastle Darl Ale and thinking of brewing a brown ale. Was it a low attenuator?

Sorry Jason, i missed this one.

It turned out pretty well actually, nice subtle ester profile, not over the top. Easy session beer actually. Took about 8 days from memory and left a nice residual maltiness / slight sweetness as i was aiming for.

Will be puting down a Belgian golden strong this weekend on the Belgian one again. It's a cracker, finishes them up nice and dry.

Overall, most people have had a pretty strong, positive response to the range.

Martin

 

[QldKev]

The Golden ale was a 55/5, 62/35, 72/25, 77/5. It's a mash schedule I use often.

The homebrew shop up here has the full range of the Mangrove Jack yeasts.

 

[RobB]

I have been following reviews of these yeasts on US and UK forums as well. I have seen comparisons made of the Bavarian Wheat to 3638 and the Burton Union to 1275 (Thames Valley, reputedly a Brakspear yeast).

It would be great if these dry yeasts were in those respective ballparks.

Has anyone found these in Perth yet?

 

[mahonya1]

I met the rep for these guys at Melbourne good beer week earlier this year and he gave me a sample pack (he was the funniest cuzzy bro you have ever met).

I can not say a bad word about any of these yeasts, and I have almost used them all.

The burton union was the yeast I used in the brown ale that took out the BABBs mini comp the other week.

Just wish you could buy them somewhere.... Does anyone know who stocks them in Bris?

Mike's Homebrew in Beenleigh stocks them.