Yeasty Taste

[RajBoab]

Hi all,

Maybe someone can help me with this?

I brewed an extract brew recently made with 3kg DME/1kg BKE and, all up and entire vacuum packet of Styrian Goldings (113g), - about 60g bittering (60 mins), 25g flavour (15 mins), 25g aroma (flameout) and dry hopped with the rest in the primary for 3 days. I based it on the Stunner recipe but wanted more bitterness and more hop aroma. Maybe a bit ambitious!

I don't have a chiller yet so I put the boiling wort into my "no-chill cube" and left it to cool overnight. It was added to the fermenter the next day and came to about 24L

A starter of Gervin Ale Yeast (nottingham?) was pitched but seemed extremely slow to start. It was in the garage and may have been a bit cold so I pitched another sachet of Gervin and stuck in my electrim heater. It took off like a rocket!

The brew spent 10 days in primary and another week in the secondary. It was slow to clear but did so eventually.

It's in the corny now but doesn't taste great! It's got a taste that I can only describe as yeasty. It's clear, not crystal but clear enough to see throughh.

What have I done wrong? Could the extra yeast be the reason for the less than great taste.
I also think it may have fermented at close to 27C which may be too high.

Can I remedy the situation?

Stuart

[PureGuiness]

It may just need some more conditioning? How long and at what temperature has it been conditioning?

You may have been a bit early to repitch the yeast (I've found that Nottingham takes a while to start but then goes like the clappers) but having said that pitching more yeast shouldn't make alot of difference.

27oC is a tad too hot and may result in off-flavours. Have a look here for some further info...

[RajBoab]

Thanks for the reply.
It's been in the corny for a week or so. The corny is in the garage so it's probably about 15C in there.

S

[PureGuiness]

Early days then. Give it another 4-6 weeks and it may have improved.

[Waffty]

I had a Nelson's revenge kit I over cooked, tasted foul i.e very fruity.

I popped it into the Corny, dry hopped it for a week, with 10g of goldings and literally forgot about it for 6 weeks. Was just about to sling it, as I needed the corny but thought I'd give it one last taste & to my surprise, it was absolutly spot on & if pressed into a corner, I'd say my best kit ever.

As a general rule, you condition a week per 10 points of OG i.e 4 weeks for 1.040, 3 weeks for 1.030 etc.

So if I were you, I'd think about a dry hop, as it does change the aroma & in my experiances, can alter the taste. label it up & leave it for another 4 weeks. Owwwww and if you can leave it this time, it will come out crystal clear.

I did an extract London Pride, it fermented out in 4 days, I left it in the Fv for another week, dropped it into the Corny, dry hopped, labelled it & won't come back for another 3 weeks.

[RajBoab]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Had the misses sniffing the beer last night (I've got a cold) to see what she thought it smelled of.
She initially came up with fruit and grapefruit but when I read the John Palmer passage to her about esters and banana flavours she locked onto the smell of banana skin!

Too hot a fermentation temp seems to be the culprit. Gonna get myself a digi thermometer and may swith back to Safale-04.

Will defo leave it a while to see if it improves.
May dry hop in the corny. I've also got some Brewferm Hop Aroma Tablets in the fridge that I bought and have never used. This may be an opportunity to try them.

Stuart

[OldSpeckledBadger]

S-04 is fairly heat tolerant but I wouldn't guarantee your not having trouble with it at 27C (from experience it seems happy at around 24C though). Perhaps if you leave the beer in the FV for a few extra days the yeast might clean up some of the nasties.

[Waffty]

After throwing several batches of beer down the drain, I've give up sampling my brews until they've had a suitable conditioning time, as it really does alter the taste. I've also extended the time I leave it in the FV, by at least 4 to 5 days after primary fermentation has finished, as this too helps 'tidy' up the flavour & improve clarity.

In short, time can make a huge difference to the way a beer tastes, so before you get too worried about this one, get another one on the go, to take you mind off it i.e I'm drinking an 8 week old extract Banks's bitter clone, have an extract Boddingtons bitter on it's 4th week of conditioning & an extract London pride, just about to go into it's 2nd week of conditioning.

Next on my plan is a Brewferms Abbey for Chrismas, this takes 12 weeks of conditioning & is well worth the wait, followed by a Old ale/Barley wine, then I'll top these off with another Banks's bitter or even a boddingtons