Assmanshausen

[Garrett C o s e n z a]

Does anyone have any experience with Assmanshausen on Pinot? I'm in the very early stages of putting stuff together for this season and I'd like to hear some war-stories before I commit to anything. Thanks in advance!

--Garrett

[N Weis]

Long lag time is the only real thing that sticks out in my memory. Thus longer vat time.....which can be good or bad.

[Ian Brand]

Worthwhile if you're making Pinot. Also useful on Grenache and Zin. Definitely an outlier as far as cultured yeasts goes. Long lag time, smells like old feet out of the bag. Longer lag leads to typically lower ferment temps, although I've the assmannhausen take off. Yields a wine that is spicier, classier, more complex and composed than the usual Pinot standby yeasts like RC212. You have to be careful of EA/VA during the lag phase, but other than that nutrient requirements are relatively normal, pretty easy to manage, ferments up past 15%. And its a lot of fun to talk about in the cellar. One of my favorites from the cultured side of things. Really does nice things with Pinots that already tend to the earthy side of things, less so with stuff like SLH pinot, if that helps.

[Stewart Johnson]

I like it for pinot, but I also like to let the cap rise before I pitch. That makes the AMH lag a little nerve wracking. If I'm really sweating kloekera and VA, I've used some of the commercial startup stuff (Go-Ferm?) in the rehydration water, and that has seemed to make AMH act a bit more like other yeasts in that it shortened the lag. Even jump starting it in this way, I think AMH will still hold pinot's fermentation to a better, slower pace than other yeasts.

[Joe Webb]

I don't inoculate but know many who do with PN. Only gripe I have herd was the mentioned lag phase. Best results with this strain seems to come when you start a starter culture a day or 2 prior to receiving the fruit. Though if you cold soak then just start a couple days out prior to adding. Depending on the size of the ferment a carboy or bucket in a warm place for a few days prior seems to get them going faster once introduced. I know some that have had good results using AMH plus another strain like RC212 or any other PN friendly yeast. If I inoculated I would mix as many Pinot Noir yeasts as would be practical.

[Brian Loring]

It's the only yeast we use for our Pinot. We don't see an unusually long lag time - but we do rehydrate with GoFerm, and use Fermaid-K later as well. I'm always worried about VA, so we mist the top of the must/cap during cold soak and fermentation with some SO2 (in water). Has really helped to keep VA smells down, as well as prevent any mold growth during cold soak. We do mix up our must during cold soak every day to take brix and pH readings, so that helps as well.

[Stewart Epstein]

I often use AMH with cab franc and grenache and sometimes tempranillo. Its one of my favorite yeasts. It tends to generate very spicy and complex mid palates and an overall more elegant wine but it does have its quirks, as mentioned by others it has a long lag tome so you have to watch out for VA. We make a starter and let it go for about a day and then pitch it and it seems to work without any issues. It's also a lower temperature fermenter. We add our normal nutrient additions (DAP & superfood) without modification.

[Steve Gower]

And its a lot of fun to talk about in the cellar.

That right, is it actually possible to say "Assmanhausen" without using the Arnold Schwarzenegger voice? I don't think so.

[Linda Baehr]