Dry Yeas - US-05 - Strong Bananna/Bubblegum

A strange case here.

I just recently started with a tight temp control on all my beers. I have been using US 05 both professionally and for home brews. I did a 7 gallon batch of an ALT recipe from the "Brewing Classic Styles" book and when I noticed banana when I took my first hydrometer reading just a few days in.

Nothing was out of the ordinary in terms of process for me. I over pitched, slightly, according to Mr Malty calculator. I should have pitched 1.3 packs but thought - why not pitch 2 because I have experienced some recent long lag times with US05.

I started fermentation at 66F and over 3 - 4 days let it slowly rise to 69 and finally hitting 70- for a D rest. It was banana and bubblegum the whole way and I don't think a longer D rest would clean anything up. It tastes exactly like a pretty good Bavarian Hefeweizen - actually nothing bad or un-servable about it.

Im crash cooling now and taking samples - hoping maybe yeast in suspension is giving the flavor, but no - its through and through. It developed right at the start of fermentation.

Poor yeast handling from supplier? I put them in the fridge immediately and rehydrate with 95-105F and do everything else "to the books". Ive worked in a brewery for a while as well. My sanitation is proper. Thoughts? Ive snooped around to find some people saying the same thing but no real answers. :rockin:

I've always attributed the presence of banana and bubblegum flavored esters to be a result of high initial fermentation temperatures. Are you super confident about your temp control?

edit; in fact the last time I got them was in an altbier that I pitched too warm... which I have not done since thankfully
edit once again. Now that I'm rereading you say you started at 66 and let it rise to 70. Usually the internal temperature is several degrees higher than on the outside. US-05 ferments super clean in the low 60's so I'm sure your temperature was the issue, not that your beer won't still taste absolutely fantastic. Just next time keep it lower and it'll taste cleaner

I'd question initial temp as well. Was 66F the ambient temp or the temp of the actual beer?

I've used US-05 on probably 75 batches so far and have gone from 55F-70F and still haven't gotten those flavors.

I've heard people say US-05 can be fruity/peachy when its first generation, but I've never tasted that either.

I have my temp probe taped to my bucket with bubble wrap to prevent a false reading. I'm pretty confident it takes accurate temp of the outside of bucket wall.

High temp must be the culprit here but the spot on Weiss-bier flavor is perplexing. Esters I would have expected from high ferm are the common apple/fruit or maybe peach as some say.

I love the ease of using US05 and I hope its a fluke and not something I cant figure out.

I wont re-pitch on this cake and try a couple fresh packs on a Red Ale tomorrow. I try to brew once a week now. Practice makes perfect

bwhite3 said:

I love the ease of using US05 and I hope its a fluke and not something I cant figure out.

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It's totally fine, just keep it lower. You would prob have to ferment much higher to get any perceived Apple flavors. Looking at my notes the alt that tasted like bubblegum started right at your temp and raised to 72 over the course of a hot day

BigFloyd said:

The only thing I can think of doing differently is to run it a bit cooler. Everything else you're doing sounds fine.

Since you have the ability to control fermentation temps (btw - kudos to you for that, and what a wonderful ability it is), I'd suggest pitching around 60-62*F and running it at 62-63*F for that first week before bring it up to a max of 67*F for the last couple days to finish and then cold crashing a few days at 38*F.

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yup. It'll get going just fine at 60-62. I usually pitch at 62 then hold for a week then move up to 66-68 for 3-4 days.

Love it :rockin:

Thanks Everybody

I get peach aromas from US-05 when fermenting at the lower range but not at the higher range. Other brewers have posted this as well.

wildwest450 said:

I definitely get fruity, "peachy" esters, but only when fermented at the very low end, 59-60f, strange as it may seem.

In the mid range where I usually ferment it, 63-65f nice and clean, it's a solid dry yeast.


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