bobeer
Fermentation Specalist
From what I can gather I fermented wlp001 a little on the cold side, 61-62 degrees F, and it has caused an off flavor even I can't manage to choke down. I think I might have under pitched too but I'm not 100% sure. Either way I've tried to wait it out a couple of weeks in the keg and I think it's just getting worse. I'm bummed because my other beers wont be ready for another couple of weeks. I could dry hop it more but I'm half tempted to not waste anymore hops on it, or c02 for that matter, and just dump it.
The temps were unusually cold a while back so my fermentation didn't really get going for about 2 weeks. I'm so used to my process I just pitched the yeast and sat it in the basement for 2 weeks per usual. After 2 weeks I decided to take a SG and it only went down 20 points so I put it atop of the basement steps for another week; 64-66 degrees F. It started to bubble again, pretty vigorously, so I took another SG after the week and it was 1.020; still not at terminal gravity. So I left it on my kitchen counter for another week at 70 degrees F to help clean things up. After that week it was at 1.016 which was good enough for me. I cold crashed it for a few days then kegged it with an ounce of cascade and simcoe in the keg. Looking back maybe I should have let it clean up longer.
The dry hops lasted maybe a couple of days, and, while the beer was a cloudy mess, it was drinkable. Once the dry hops wore off and the beer cleared a bit the off flavor has gotten worse. I have done a ton of research and have decided it's probably acetaldehyde from not pitching enough yeast/not fermenting at proper temps but I'm not really sure. None of the other common off flavors I've read about seem like what's going on with my beer. The latex paint smell might be the closest one. It just smells and tastes like bad yeast to me.
I usually use sa05 and have never had any issues. I made a starter for the wlp001 but didn't record what size. I had 150 million cells I made the starter from and my OG was 1.056 I believe. Grist was just 2 row and a splash of honey malt. 50 IBUs of centennial @ FWH then some in the WP. It was a pretty straight forward beer/brew day done the same way I brew all my beer.
Anyway, you all think I should dump it or should I keep waiting it out?
The temps were unusually cold a while back so my fermentation didn't really get going for about 2 weeks. I'm so used to my process I just pitched the yeast and sat it in the basement for 2 weeks per usual. After 2 weeks I decided to take a SG and it only went down 20 points so I put it atop of the basement steps for another week; 64-66 degrees F. It started to bubble again, pretty vigorously, so I took another SG after the week and it was 1.020; still not at terminal gravity. So I left it on my kitchen counter for another week at 70 degrees F to help clean things up. After that week it was at 1.016 which was good enough for me. I cold crashed it for a few days then kegged it with an ounce of cascade and simcoe in the keg. Looking back maybe I should have let it clean up longer.
The dry hops lasted maybe a couple of days, and, while the beer was a cloudy mess, it was drinkable. Once the dry hops wore off and the beer cleared a bit the off flavor has gotten worse. I have done a ton of research and have decided it's probably acetaldehyde from not pitching enough yeast/not fermenting at proper temps but I'm not really sure. None of the other common off flavors I've read about seem like what's going on with my beer. The latex paint smell might be the closest one. It just smells and tastes like bad yeast to me.
I usually use sa05 and have never had any issues. I made a starter for the wlp001 but didn't record what size. I had 150 million cells I made the starter from and my OG was 1.056 I believe. Grist was just 2 row and a splash of honey malt. 50 IBUs of centennial @ FWH then some in the WP. It was a pretty straight forward beer/brew day done the same way I brew all my beer.
Anyway, you all think I should dump it or should I keep waiting it out?