Going further into the rabbit hole, I mapped out a possible timeline of the MJ yeasts since the beginning. In the initial launch in 2013, they had the following yeasts with my approximate assignments (largely but not completely consistent with the Google sheet).
| # | Name | Likely source |
|---|---|---|
| M03 | Newcastle Dark Ale | Lallemand Windsor |
| M07 | British Ale | Lallemand Nottingham |
| M10 | Workhorse Beer | Mauribrew Ale 514? |
| M20 | Bavarian Wheat | Mauribrew Weiss? |
| M27 | Belgian Ale | Lallemand Belle Saison |
| M44 | US West Coast | Lallemand BRY-97 |
| M79 | Burton Union | Lallemand Nottingham + Windsor |
| M84 | Bohemian Lager | Mauribrew Lager 497? |
M07 and M44 should be fairly well established as coming from Lallemand. At this point in time, they probably didn’t have any contract with Fermentis, and the proximity to Australia would make it natural to incorporate the most commonly used Mauribrew yeasts. Specifications are also completely consistent between the Mauribrew and MJ yeasts. If this is correct, that would mean that M84 is Mauribrew Lager (which also means that M54 is probably something else).
In 2015, MJ expanded their line-up, adding a number of Belgian-type yeasts, renaming some of their yeasts (M03→M15, M07→M42, M27→M29, M79→M36) and removing M10. They also added two “lagers”: M76 and M54. Interestingly, a Mangrove Jack’s representative has stated that
“M-84 Bohemian is a bottom fermenting S. Cerevisiae, M-76 Bavarian is a bottom fermenting combination of S. Cerevisiae and S. Pastorianus, and M-54 Cali Lager is a combination of bottom and top fermenting S. Cerevisiae.”
Considering that we can be quite confident that M76 is a mix, then it is likely also true that M54 is a mix, while M84 is a pure strain.
For the expansion in 2015, they could have kept to only Lallemand and Mauribrew, or expanded to include Fermentis yeasts. Reported conversations with previous employees indicates that MJ sourced from both Fermentis and Lallemand. It is also likely that some of the new Belgian-style yeasts were sourced from Fermentis. The M76 and M54 could therefore be mixtures either of Lallemand, Fermentis or Mauribrew yeasts. I think it is less likely that they would cross-mix themselves rather than source mixtures directly from the manufacturers. Speculative assignments could therefore be the following.
M76
Here it is clear that there is at least one pastorianus component. Mauribrew is therefore discarded as they don’t offer pastorianus.
- Lallemand: Nottingham + Diamond. Well-established and recommended by Lallemand themselves to reduce cost.
- Fermentis: S-23/S-189/W-34/70 + US-05/S-04. Would presume similar reasons for this blend.
M54
Here I cannot come up with any good Lallemand alternative as they don’t have an ale yeast capable of lager-style fermentation except Nottingham and BRY-97, but what would they be combined with? And if not combined, they already exist as separate yeasts in the catalogue. Only alternative would be Nottingham + BRY-97 which doesn’t make sense as they are similar.
- Mauribrew: Lager 497 + Draught. This combination doesn’t seem plausible from a style perspective as Draught is supposed to have a higher ester profile at higher temperatures. Ale 514 is not consistent with high attenuation and flocculation of M54.
- Lallemand: K-97 + US-05/S-04. This seems the most plausible to me. Side-to-side fermentation of K-97 and M54 have also shown similar profile and taste (and inconsistent with Mauribrew L 497). There is also a rationale for mixing, as K-97 has slow sedimentation, that could be fixed by adding the faster sedimenting US-05/S-04. This is consistent with the good sedimentation for M54, which is inconsistent with pure K-97.
Summary of speculation:
- M84 is Mauribrew Lager 497
- M76 is either Nottingham + Diamond or S-23/S-189/W-34/70 + US-05/S-04
- M54 is likely K-97 + US-05/S04
Extra link for side-by-side fermentation of K-97, M54 and Mauribrew Lager 497.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/dry-yeasts-identified-your-opinions-please.670466/post-9121744