S04

Share your experiences of using brewing yeast.
Whorst
Sober
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:34 pm

S04

Post by Whorst » Sat Jun 20, 2020 6:47 pm

Good morning and good afternoon. I believe it’s been roughly 10 years since I’ve posted. I hope you’re all well in ale considering the current state.

Has anyone noticed any difference in S04? I have been using it exclusively and it does not appear to behave or taste like I remember it to. It’s actually much better or at least I think it is. I remember it previously as masking hop flavor and bitterness. I also remember it dropping like a brick when finished. It does drop out, but not like I remember it. I remember 2-3 day fermentations. The deducting beer looked filtered. Anyway, I don’t believe it’s the same strain. Have I gone mad? Has anyone noticed a change in flavor profile or how this yeast behaves?

Peace

User avatar
leedsbrew
Steady Drinker
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:51 pm

Re: S04

Post by leedsbrew » Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:33 pm

Now then! Another returned to the fold.

I’ve had a break from brewing and I’ve noticed it’s different. A couple of others I know have mentioned such as well.

I’ve noticed it can crap out at 1.020 if the temp drops even a bit. Takes longer to ferment out as well, sometimes two weeks.

Have you had any problems with it taking longer?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

User avatar
JamesF
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:09 am
Location: West Somerset

Re: S04

Post by JamesF » Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:39 pm

My experience has always been that it top-ferments very nicely and suddenly drops like a stone forming a fairly solid mass at the bottom of the fermenter. I've not used it for two or maybe three years though. I do have some that was delivered on Friday, so I shall watch out for changes in behaviour when I get around to using it.

I always kick my yeasts off with a starter the day before pitching, so that may make a difference.

James

Whorst
Sober
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:34 pm

Re: S04

Post by Whorst » Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:49 pm

I’ve had zero problems with it. I’ve been brewing everything from British Golden Ales, Stouts and Best Bitter. I read a post on an American home brew forum where I guy claims he had 16 beers that were undrinkable using S04. I’m wondering if something happened and Fermentis changed the strain? I never got the hop character with the stuff I used years ago. I don’t even notice the doughy, twang it supposedly hand.

User avatar
johnmac
Under the Table
Posts: 1357
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:00 pm
Location: Shropshire

Re: S04

Post by johnmac » Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:48 pm

Whorst, hello from 10 years ago - I remember you :D

Yes, I thought it was just me and my subjective judgement, but that's exactly my experience of SO4 now vs SO4 in the past

User avatar
john luc
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 669
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:04 pm

Re: S04

Post by john luc » Thu Nov 26, 2020 9:14 am

Whorst wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:49 pm
I’ve had zero problems with it. I’ve been brewing everything from British Golden Ales, Stouts and Best Bitter. I read a post on an American home brew forum where I guy claims he had 16 beers that were undrinkable using S04. I’m wondering if something happened and Fermentis changed the strain? I never got the hop character with the stuff I used years ago. I don’t even notice the doughy, twang it supposedly hand.
If you are back on the forum where the American lad posted 16 attempts and 16 failures, you might suggest that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sign of madness and that he should go to the Chaise Lounge chair and chat with a beautiful lady psychiatrist. It could be a he but this is my post so I will think of it as I visualize it :lol:
Deos miscendarum discipule
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie

User avatar
IPA
Under the Table
Posts: 1731
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:29 am
Location: France Gascony

Re: S04

Post by IPA » Thu Nov 26, 2020 9:24 am

john luc wrote:
Thu Nov 26, 2020 9:14 am
Whorst wrote:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:49 pm
I’ve had zero problems with it. I’ve been brewing everything from British Golden Ales, Stouts and Best Bitter. I read a post on an American home brew forum where I guy claims he had 16 beers that were undrinkable using S04. I’m wondering if something happened and Fermentis changed the strain? I never got the hop character with the stuff I used years ago. I don’t even notice the doughy, twang it supposedly hand.
If you are back on the forum where the American lad posted 16 attempts and 16 failures, you might suggest that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a sign of madness and that he should go to the Chaise Lounge chair and chat with a beautiful lady psychiatrist. It could be a he but this is my post so I will think of it as I visualize it :lol:
Sorry to be picky but it's a Chaise Longue meaning a long chair.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

User avatar
IPA
Under the Table
Posts: 1731
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:29 am
Location: France Gascony

Re: S04

Post by IPA » Thu Nov 26, 2020 9:26 am

Welcome back Whorst. If I remember correctly you had a very special Avatar :lol:

16 undrinkable beers ! The guy should be looking at his hygeine not blaming the yeast.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

guypettigrew
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2626
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:10 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset

Re: S04

Post by guypettigrew » Thu Nov 26, 2020 10:14 am

16 undrinkable beers? That's surely exaggeration, a sign of incredible optimism or, as john luc suggested, a deranged mind!

S-04 is currently fermenting a brew for me. When I used an olfactory test (I sniffed the blow off bucket) there was a definite bready smell. I've never used S-04 before, so have nothing to compare it with.

Guy

User avatar
Bad 'Ed
Piss Artist
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:35 pm
Location: North Yorkshire

Re: S04

Post by Bad 'Ed » Thu Nov 26, 2020 1:03 pm

I was drinking a S04 beer last night (first brew for a few years too) and it was very clear, only a tiny amount of yeast left in the bottle and those bits were very heavy. Same as I remember it. I didn't check on the beer for the two weeks it was fermenting so not sure the fermentation profile.

I can't comment on whether the flavour has changed because so many things went wrong with the brew it would be hard to point to the impact the yeast had!
Never enough time...

User avatar
Trefoyl
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2519
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:28 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: S04

Post by Trefoyl » Thu Nov 26, 2020 2:23 pm

79FC048C-BBA1-4C37-B7B6-3121185FDD6A.jpeg
I just made one of the best beers I’ve ever had with S-04: Propino malt, a touch of crystal, Horizon for bittering and WGV last 10 minutes. The yeast character balanced by an assertive bitterness is amazing, similar to yeast forward beers like Sam Smith’s or Old Speckled Hen.
Sommeliers recommend that you swirl a glass of wine and inhale its bouquet before throwing it in the face of your enemy.

micmacmoc
Steady Drinker
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:49 pm

Re: S04

Post by micmacmoc » Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:45 pm

That looks tasty! Hello whorst! Where’s the avatar? Heh!

Whorst
Sober
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:34 pm

Re: S04

Post by Whorst » Sun Dec 06, 2020 8:03 pm

Was the avatar a naked bird on horseback?

User avatar
Trefoyl
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2519
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:28 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: S04

Post by Trefoyl » Sun Dec 06, 2020 9:39 pm

Was it this girl?
0374CA48-EC9F-4A1E-98BA-FD269896FEF7.gif
0374CA48-EC9F-4A1E-98BA-FD269896FEF7.gif (763 KiB) Viewed 2895 times
Sommeliers recommend that you swirl a glass of wine and inhale its bouquet before throwing it in the face of your enemy.

User avatar
leedsbrew
Steady Drinker
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:51 pm

Re: S04

Post by leedsbrew » Sun Dec 06, 2020 9:40 pm

Trefoyl wrote:Was it this girl?
0374CA48-EC9F-4A1E-98BA-FD269896FEF7.gif
That’s the one ImageImageImage


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Post Reply