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Everything You Need To Know About The Fermentis Product SafBrew™ DA-16

Fermentis is a worldwide recognised brand in the brewing industry that specialises in producing a wide selection of yeast strains for fermentation. They are well-known for their high-quality yeast products, which are utilised by both homebrewers and commercial breweries worldwide.

Fermentis offers a wide range of yeast strains, each of which is customised to various beer styles and fermentation conditions. Their yeast strains are carefully chosen and developed to deliver reliable and consistent fermentation performance, resulting in desirable flavour profiles and characteristics in the finished beer.

Know everything about SafBrew™ DA-16, the innovative fermentation solution, from Philippe Janssens, Product R&D Manager at Fermentis, in the article below.

Why did Fermentis decide to add this yeast to the range?

SafBrew™ DA-16 is an All-In-1™ solution, made from 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 to produce dry aromatic beer styles.

Since the enzymes degrade the 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 – AMG) before pitching it into various worts. We noticed the Saccharomyces strain produced a lot of esters and, amongst others, 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 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 it 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.

What are the differences 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)

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.

How is SAFBREW™ DA-16 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)

About SafBrew™ DA-16

SafBrew™ DA-16 is a unique solution. It produces very dry and aromatic beer, with no phenol production during fermentation. It’s suitable for very hoppy beers but as a brewer, be creative!

About Fermentis

Fermentis, based in the north of France, is a business unit of the Lesaffre Group, a global leader in yeasts and fermentation solutions. Fermentis collaborates with everyone in the beer, wine, spirits, and other fermented beverage industries. Its product and service portfolio covers practically all professional requirements, from product security to sensory expression.

If you are interested to find out more about the product SafBrew™ DA-16 and current industry trends? Join them in Mumbai on June 5th, 2023. It will be an exclusive opportunity for you to taste an excellent new Brut IPA using SafBrew™ DA-16 made by the world-famous brewery BrewDog. 

Mark the date: Jun 5th, 2023

Location: Brewdog Brewery – Ground and 1st Floor, Pinnacle House 604, 15th Road, Hinduja Junction, PD Hinduja Rd, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050.

Contact Fermentis for furthur details at https://fermentis.com/en/contact/