Mangrove Jacks M44 yeast

Benfleet Brewery · Jan 19, 2020

matt76 said:
I pitched a pack of M44 yesterday evening into my Chinook APA - didn't reydrate, just added it dry straight into the FV of aerated wort (10L batch though).

I was aiming to pitch at 22-23degC but missed and ended up pitching at 20degC. From I'd read here and elsewhere on the web I was aware it has a reputation for being laggy..... not a bit of it. When I came downstairs this morning (12hrs after pitching) it was starting to tick over, and now 24hrs after pitching the airlock is in full overdive!

If it goes anything like mine did I’d get a few towels ready if I were you!

krispn · May 20, 2020

Used this recently and it did a cracking job. Just ordered few packets for emergency purposes.
I’m ok with it!

Uist Brewer · May 21, 2020

Have just bottled a small batch (4L+) Cali Common from an all-grain kit where M44 was supplied. The amount of yeast supplied was too small (< 3g) and the end product was slightly under-strength as a result of an understandably poor attenuation percentage, but my sample jar evidence is a good clean taste to the beer and I've got reasonable hopes for its quality once it's finished conditioning.

It did take a while to get going - I'd seen this thread before I brewed, so I was a little worried! - but the airlock was happily going after about 36 hours and some level of activity was still present on the sixth day. Time wil tell, but at this point I'd definitely use it again.

MickDundee · May 21, 2020

Uist Brewer said:
Have just bottled a small batch (4L+) Cali Common from an all-grain kit where M44 was supplied. The amount of yeast supplied was too small (< 3g) and the end product was slightly under-strength as a result of an understandably poor attenuation percentage, but my sample jar evidence is a good clean taste to the beer and I've got reasonable hopes for its quality once it's finished conditioning.

It did take a while to get going - I'd seen this thread before I brewed, so I was a little worried! - but the airlock was happily going after about 36 hours and some level of activity was still present on the sixth day. Time wil tell, but at this point I'd definitely use it again.

3G should be enough for 4L given that we use 11g in 20L (although I’m not sure why they didn’t just give you a sachet - also I’m not sure why they provided M44 for a Cali Common when M54 is a California Common yeast strain, I would assume they have a bulk pack of M44 and giving the bear minimum out with each kit).

Was it definitely finished? How long did you leave it and what was your FG?

Uist Brewer · May 21, 2020

MickDundee said:
3G should be enough for 4L given that we use 11g in 20L (although I’m not sure why they didn’t just give you a sachet - also I’m not sure why they provided M44 for a Cali Common when M54 is a California Common yeast strain, I would assume they have a bulk pack of M44 and giving the bear minimum out with each kit).

Was it definitely finished? How long did you leave it and what was your FG?

Cheers Mick,

The weight of the packet was actually 2.93g - Brewer's Friend told me 4.3g would have produced the right number of cells. I'm not so worried (pre-brew I also did the quick maths based on an 11g packet size/20L!) as the pre-carbonation brew tastes alright (and I did brew pretty promptly after the kit arrived, and kept it in the fridge). But the FG was as high as 1.018 (giving me an ABV of 4.5% rather than the target 4.7%). On such small batches, I only take two hydrometer measures - it's not worth the waste of beer - but abide by the '2+2+2' rule (actually, this one was in the FV for 18 days), so it should have done its work.

Interesting that there is a specific M54 strain - I didn't know that. Will keep that in mind when I start brewing properly! The M44 was what came with the kit but I was a little surprised at the size especially in the light of the general advice to over-pitch rather than under-pitch.

MickDundee · May 21, 2020

Uist Brewer said:
Cheers Mick,

The weight of the packet was actually 2.93g - Brewer's Friend told me 4.3g would have produced the right number of cells. I'm not so worried (pre-brew I also did the quick maths based on an 11g packet size/20L!) as the pre-carbonation brew tastes alright (and I did brew pretty promptly after the kit arrived, and kept it in the fridge). But the FG was as high as 1.018 (giving me an ABV of 4.5% rather than the target 4.7%). On such small batches, I only take two hydrometer measures - it's not worth the waste of beer - but abide by the '2+2+2' rule (actually, this one was in the FV for 18 days), so it should have done its work.

Interesting that there is a specific M54 strain - I didn't know that. Will keep that in mind when I start brewing properly! The M44 was what came with the kit but I was a little surprised at the size especially in the light of the general advice to over-pitch rather than under-pitch.

Yeah I’ve made 4 different AG Cali Commons now, I’ve used M54 twice and the Crossmyloof equivalent twice - I like them both but if I had to choose it would probably be the CML one, probably because it’s cheap so you can pitch 2 packs for a little extra “crispness”.