Replacing yeast for brewferm Diablo

[LisaP]

Hi, I'm about to brew a kit of brewferm Diablo that I've had stashed in a cupboard for over a year and forgot about! So I suspect buying new yeast will be necessary. Planned on using Mangrove Jack M41 Belgian ale yeast, but not sure if this is a good choice? I've not done many successful beer kits, I've mostly just done fruit wines and a lot of mead, so suggestions would be appreciated!

Should also add that my plan is to split the kit between two 5L demijohn and do one with honey and another with candi sugar (which the brewstore suggested but I've since read its just overpriced cooked sugar!) - in any case I've already bought it so figured worth using here. Anyone tried this kit with different sugars?

 

[Pavros]

I'm not sure about the MJ yeast as I haven't used that one before. If you are splitting the kit, you could try one with the kit yeast and one with the MJ.
I have made the Diablo with golden syrup and would suggest that instead of the honey/candy sugar.
Don't be in a hurry to drink this brew - it tastes far better after about 6 months in the bottle, as do most of the Brewferm kits. They are good though, so worth the wait.

 

[LisaP]

Ok great, thanks for the suggestion! I might go with one with golden syrup and the other with the candi then, just to use it up really since I've already got it!
The kit yeast is well out of date now (over a year past). Do you think it's worth trying with it anyway? From reading online I assumed it would mostly be dead...

And yeah id read that this one takes a while! I'm happy to wait on it, got mead that will be sitting for over a year before i drink it so I'm used to that! :)

 

[Pavros]

You could try re-hydrating the kit yeast before pitching. I believe that if it all sinks to the bottom of the glass of lukewarm (?) water, then it is dead. I never re-hydrate so I'm not too sure about the process but there will be a thread on here somewhere about it if you search.

 

[LisaP]

Fab, thanks for the input :) fingers crossed I get a good beer!

 

[Pavros]

I've just been looking at James Morton's book. In the Belgian recipes section he suggests using MJ Belgian ale yeast (if using dried yeast) in just about every recipe - blonde/dubbel/tripel/quad/strong golden

 

[LisaP]

Ah great to know - will go with that then!

 

[chthon]

M41 is a nice one for a Duvel clone. I used it in 2017 to brew an all-grain recipe Duvel clone.

 

[Richard_H]

I have used M41 and M31 with positive results for my Belgian beers, i also use golden syrup. Supposed to be very close to candi sugar taste wise but much cheaper

 

[LisaP]

Great! I'll pick up some M41 tomorrow then and definitely try the golden syrup. Seems like a lot of people like this kit so hoping I get good results