Yeast autolysis in bottles

[yashicamat]

My apologies if this has been asked before, but it's a thought which has been recurring for a while, I just keep forgetting when I come on here!

There is a lot of fuss made about ensuring that beer is taken off the yeast in the FV quickly after fermentation completes to prevent any nasty of flavours from the yeast starting to die (and I presume also the trub has a contribution to these off flavours too). However, bottle conditioned beers are often left for months if not years, during which time surely the yeast will die . . . so my question is, why doesn't yeast autolysis in bottles cause the same off flavours? Or does it and we just don't notice?

[Shoit]

I'm not sure whether there is enough yeast left in the bottles to make a difference but i'm sure that someone more knowledgeable that me will be along soon! What i can say is that, 3 weeks ago i bottled a AG brew that had been in the fermenter for close to 4 weeks and it tastes great! It's clearer than my previous brews and whilst it isn't as carbonated it's fine.......

I'm not sure whether this is good luck or whether yeast autolysis is something not to worry too much about in smaller scale brewing?

Kev

[Capped]

Maybe autolysis takes place in the fermenter because the moribund yeast is sat on the bottom in the presence of all the other gunk that falls out of suspension,whereas only the yeast itself gets carried over to bottles?

[simple one]

Some brewers consider autolysis a myth! On that oz clarke drink program they cracked open a bottle condition bass, I am sure it was over 100 years old. Oz drunk it, but the one with floppy hair didnt think it was up to much.

I have often thought about this. But never reached a definitive conclusion.

[Eadweard]

There's much less yeast in a bottle conditoned beer than there is in a FV.

[tomU]

Like all flavour compounds there will be a level where off flavours from yeast autolysis will become noticeable. All beer will almost certainly have undergone some degree of yeast autolysis but the amount in a bottle is probably indetectable. With the sheer amount of dead and dying yeast at the bottom of the fermenter at the end of fermentation the relative amount of unpleasant flavour compounds will be high enough to release noticeable amounts of these compounds into the beer.

It probably doesn't hit a critical level at the commonly stated 2 weeks though. The latest episode of basic brewing radio talks about the results of an experiment in leving beers on their lees for various amounts of time (http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio). They conclude that it aint a big deal...