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At Fermentis we recently launched a brand-new yeast-based product: SafBrew™ DA-16. Find out everything you need to know about this innovative fermentation solution, by reading our question & answers with the product R&D Manager, Philippe Janssens.
Why did Fermentis decide to add this yeast product to the range?
SafBrew™ DA-16 is a mix of yeast and enzyme. It is a highly attenuating yeast product developed in a similar way to SafBrew™ HA-18, which is made with a POF+ yeast strain.
With SafBrew™ DA-16, we wanted to create a new solution which doesn’t create phenols by using a Saccharomyces yeast that is POF-. During trials, we observed that this combination of yeast and enzyme was particularly suitable for the production of dry aromatic beer styles.
Since the enzymes degrade most complex sugars present in the wort, and the yeast consumes the simple sugars, the end beverage contains very little residual sugars, hence the dry taste and relatively high alcohol potential.
How was it developed?
After a careful pre-selection process, we screened 6 yeast strains that were particularly suited for aromatic and/or hoppy beers and selected one of them, a POF- Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain.
We then combined this yeast strain with an enzyme (amyloglucosidase) before pitching it into various worts. We noticed the Saccharomyces strain produced a lot of esters and, amongst other, worked well with aromatic hops added at different moments of the process (at end of boiling or in whirlpool and during fermentation or maturation).
The enzyme (AMG) was selected because it works very well at fermentation temperatures, and it’s also a natural product.
SafBrew™ DA-16 is the perfect combination of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and enzyme to create a complete solution.
What is is for?
The end product, SafBrew™ DA-16, is particularly suited for strong and dry aromatic beer styles like “Brut IPA”. It is also to be noted that this yeast has the potential of working perfectly to release and activate aromatic precursors in the hops; including, but not limited to currently well-known hops like Citra, Mosaic and Cascade.
What are the key advantages of this product?
The dryness of the product comes from the enzymatic activity of the amyloglucosidase. This enzyme converts the non-fermentable, more complex sugars into fermentable sugars. Those fermentable sugars are consumed by the yeast creating alcohol, CO2 and aromatic compounds. The more you ferment, the more aroma you get.
The end result is a very dry, clean and crisp beer with no off flavors. SafBrew™ DA-16 is really good at enhancing and increasing the potential of hops and provides specific characters typical for hop forward beers.
There are some similarities between SafBrew™ DA-16 and SafBrew™ HA-18 as they’re both made from a mix of yeast and enzymes; (and as such are both able to create highly attenuated beers). What are the differences?
The first difference is in the alcohol level, you can immediately see this when you ferment. SafBrew™ HA-18 has the potential to reach 18% ABV when the original gravity is close to 30-32°P. On the other hand, SafBrew™ DA-16 reaches only 16% ABV when the original gravity is close to 30°P.
The second difference is the POF character. SafBrew™ HA-18 will provide phenols whereas SafBrew™ DA-16 will not.
SafBrew™ HA-18 was originally designed for farmhouse beer styles and Barley Wine, with high alcohol and higher phenolic characters and SafBrew™ DA-16 was designed for dry and aromatic beer styles with a high fruity profile.
N.B. HA = High Attenuation, DA = Dry Aroma
DA-16 is recommended for Brut IPA, how is it different from SafAle™ S-04 or SafAle™ US-05 which can be used for IPAs as well?
Brut IPA is a beer style inspired by sparkling wines, because it is very dry, light in body, intensively sparkling with small bubbles, relatively high in alcohol and aromatic. It is fruity and hoppy with very low residual sugar.
SafAle™ S-04 and SafAle™ US-05 are yeast strains matching perfectly for standard IPAs and are very complementary in this respect; with the first being more aromatic as well and flocculating and settling very strongly; and the second being more “neutral”; both POF- though. Their attenuation is between 83-84% ADF while SafBrew™ DA-16 has an ADF close to 100% (between 98 -102 ADF).
Conclusion
SafBrew™ DA-16 is a unique solution. It’s very dry, aromatic, with no phenol production during fermentation. It’s suitable for very hoppy beers as it will put at its best some of the hop flavors. But as a brewer, you can always experiment with all our products and discover new ways of using them. Be creative!
