Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

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der wo
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by der wo »

Reverend Newer wrote:Lallemand SuperStart yeast was bred for fuel production but it has a very clean taste.
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by Ferrum »

My only experience with a turbo and 8 kg sugar was a very strong banana taste (and whole house smelt of banana). It wouldv been pretty nice if I wasn't trying to make a neutral. And it was difficult to separate from the large amount of very nasty tails (altho I was very inexperienced). Distilling it to 95%+ ABV and putting it on coal made a banana flavoured vodka with not too much nastiness. Wouldn't say it was very good either.

Makes me wonder though, what created the banana? Was it the strain of yeast or just the stress on it? Or somehow the nutrients? I think it only took 1 day into fermentation for the banana to develop strongly. If it's the strain of yeast you could make a banana flavoured rum or something while keeping the wash ABV down to make it drinkable. I'm not going to bother experimenting with it though because $5 to most likely ruin a wash is not really worth it.
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by rubelstrudel »

Banana scent? Thats normally (iso)amylacetate [(iso)pentylacetate]. If your yeast produce a noticeable amount of (iso)amyl-alcohol you could get this. Did you use brown sugar? Not sure how you would get this if you used pure refined white sucrose.
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by Ferrum »

rubelstrudel wrote:Banana scent? Thats normally (iso)amylacetate [(iso)pentylacetate]. If your yeast produce a noticeable amount of (iso)amyl-alcohol you could get this. Did you use brown sugar? Not sure how you would get this if you used pure refined white sucrose.
No, I used fully refined white sugar. Like you said, banana is is produced by the yeast, so I don't think it will make a difference if I used brown sugar since It's both sucrose. The question is more how the yeast was made to produce large quantities of it though.
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by still_stirrin »

Ferrum wrote:My only experience with a turbo and 8 kg sugar was a very strong banana taste (and whole house smelt of banana)...Makes me wonder though, what created the banana?

Was it the strain of yeast or just the stress on it? Or somehow the nutrients? I think it only took 1 day into fermentation for the banana to develop strongly. If it's the strain of yeast you could make a banana flavoured rum or something while keeping the wash ABV down to make it drinkable.
Well, I don't want to derail the OP's original line of questions but, the banana smell (and taste) is the result of the yeast activity. Typically, iso-amyl acetate is produced by the reduction of higher alcohols such as amyl alcohol, which is a rapid ferment byproduct.

Studies have shown that inadequate aeration (oxygenation during the yeast budding phase), over pitching yeast, and warm ferment temperatures (upwards of 25*C/77*F) will produce byproducts such as these higher alcohols (in particular, amyl alcohol) and their accompanying esters formed along the way. This is the source of the "fruitiness" in top fermenting beers, especially if fermented warm.

So, if you start with a higher than normal gravity wash and over-pitch the yeast and then keep the fermenter warm, you're going to get these characteristic ferment byproducts. And iso-amyl acetate is just one of them.

On the bright side...the aroma out of the fermenter could be worse than a "bucket full of bananas".
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Re: Turbo conundrum - why isn't it better?

Post by Ferrum »

Ferrum wrote:On the bright side...the aroma out of the fermenter could be worse than a "bucket full of bananas".
yeah, it was most definitely not bad. Was a great flavour in the finished product, even though the product wasnt great. If it is something you´re looking for I guess you can use turbo or imitate aspects of it.

I would guess it´s most likely caused by the temp. the wash was aerated well (shower) and I always overpitch. I've never had anything close to such a strong fruit smell though with any ferment. If I still had turbo leftover I'd try reuse the yeast but with a normal amount of sugar and nutrients, but I dont feel like buying a new packet to most likely make an undrinkable mess.
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