yeast flavor

[ralphpetteruti]

hello everyone,
kinda new to posting, although i have come to this forum a lot for help. i've been brewing 1 gallon batches for a while now, and for some reason, almost every batch has had a yeast flavor, regardless of the strain of yeast i have used and regardless of the style. it's always come out with this specific flavor. i feel like my sanitation is good, everything i do throughout the brew process is good. when i pitch my yeast, i drop it down to 62-65 and then *****. i let it ferment around 65-68 the first 72 hours and let it naturally rise. i've been using dry yeast since it's easier to manage with small batches. i don't have a wort chiller, i use ice baths. i do primary ferm for 2 weeks, bottle condition for 2 weeks, pop it in the fridge a few days to a week and then drink. still a slight yeast flavor. and not a desirable one like with belgians. just off flavor. help!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Yeasty
The cause of this flavor is pretty easy to understand. If the yeast is unhealthy and begins autolyzing it will release compounds that can only be described as yeasty. Also if the beer is green, too young, and the yeast has not had time to settle out, it will have a yeasty taste. Watch your pouring method too, keep the yeast layer on the bottom of the bottle.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/is-my-beer-ruined/common-off-flavors

 

[ralphpetteruti]

thanks for the reply. how can i be sure i have healthy yeast. i typically do starters, i aerate the wort throughly. i've been told before that it's more than likely a green issue, so then i assume two weeks in primary is not enough time.

 

[BGHSmt7]

Most dry yeast packets come with enough healthy yeast to not need a starter for a 1-5 gallon batch. Check out a yeast calculator like Mr. Malty to get your pitching rates correct. I've read that sometimes you can actually hurt the yeast colony's health if you make a starter with dry yeast.

Although that being said, you might want to re-hydrate the yeast 0.5 - 1.5 hours prior to pitching.

 

[ralphpetteruti]

yes i meant i always rehydrate the yeast. i don't make starters, i simply gather some boiling wort, chill it to a pitching temp, and then add yeast. i'm thinking it's a timing issue, meaning i should be waiting longer to bottle, but then it makes me this whole 2 week thing. i realize times aren't definite, but it would seem that two weeks definitely is not long enough, with another 2 weeks of bottle conditioning.

 

[GnenieGone]

Once I started cold crashing before kegging or bottling, my beers got cleaner tasting. I suspect you have the same issue. Your procedure appears sound. I just ice bath for 12-24hrs before transferring.

I've never had bad dry yeast and with 1 gallon batches you have way more yeast then needed. I rehydrate in the wort, works great every time.

 

[BGHSmt7]

I was thinking along the same lines. Need to crash or age longer to allow the yeast to flocculate (drop out).

 

[flars]

yes i meant i always rehydrate the yeast. i don't make starters, i simply gather some boiling wort, chill it to a pitching temp, and then add yeast. i'm thinking it's a timing issue, meaning i should be waiting longer to bottle, but then it makes me this whole 2 week thing. i realize times aren't definite, but it would seem that two weeks definitely is not long enough, with another 2 weeks of bottle conditioning.

Rehydrate the dry yeast with well water or bottled spring water. Rehydrating with wort is about the same as sprinkling the dry yeast on top of the wort in the fermentor. Osmotic pressure on the cell walls from the sugar in the wort will damage the cell walls. The higher the OG of the wort the more cells that will be damaged.

Using distilled water or RO water to rehydrate dry yeast will also cause damage to the cell walls. The osmotic pressure damage will be caused by the lack of minerals in the water instead of sugars as in wort.

The less flocculant yeasts will need more time in the primary to drop out of the beer. Couple this with carefully racking from above the yeast/trub layer, a few weeks or more of bottle conditioning, and a careful pour from the bottle should give you a less yeasty tasting beer.

How many grams of dry yeast are you pitching into your one gallon brews?

 

[ralphpetteruti]

what about using RO water for my boil/sparge? i honestly just eyeball it, i don't use the whole packet of dry yeast, maybe about 1/3 or so.
at what point in the process is it important to be careful how your wort is pouring into a vessel? (to prevent oxidation) is that when i'm transferring wort to the kettle before the boil? sorry for the derailing.

 

[flars]

You can use RO water in all grain brewing but it will need additions to make the water optimal for the style of beer you are brewing. There is a free download of Bru'n Water available to help with this. I would also suggest two books to help get you started, "The Joy of Home Brewing" and "How to Brew". The previous edition of "How to Brew" is available online.

One pack of rehydrated dry yeast is good for a five gallons for a beer that has an OG of about 1.074. One-third of a pack of dry yeast pitched dry on top of a one gallon wort is about right because some cells will be killed by osmotic pressure.

Oxidation is only a concern after the beer is fermented such as when racking to the bottling bucket. You may be thinking about hot side aeration but this problem is now thought to not exist.

Keeping your beer in the primary for three weeks will allow time for yeast and other particles suspended by off gassing CO2 to drop out. Careful racking from above the yeast/trub layer will greatly reduce the amount of yeast going into your bottles. Longer conditioning time around 72°F will allow more yeast drop to the bottom of the bottles. Two weeks for a wheat beer can be okay because wheat beers are typically hazy. Three to four weeks for other average gravity beers allows for good carbonation and the yeast to compact at the bottle of the bottle coupled with a few days of refrigeration before sampling. Even with this amount of time a careful pour to the glass is needed to avoid resuspending the yeast.

Hope some of this will improve the quality of your beer.

 

[ralphpetteruti]

thank you! all of these inputs are very helpful!

 

[GnenieGone]

thank you! all of these inputs are very helpful!

Let us know your findings

 

[ralphpetteruti]

i shall! thanks again!