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tdoft · 08-25-2010, 03:50 PM

Brewed Biermuncher's Octoberfast about three weeks ago with no problems on brewday. Pitched S-04 and got good activity in a few hours. Unfortunately, we had a heatwave shortly thereafter and my usually realiably cool basement allowed ferment temp to get into the seventies. Kegged this last night and sample clearly was not right-apple esters bigtime. Soooooooo.....any advice going forward? Will the esters age out better at 68 degrees or 40? Or am I permanently stuck with apple cidery beer in which case any ideas of making it more appealing would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking cinnamon/clove/dryhop/anything!!!!!??????????? BTW finishing gravity was 1.010-should have been 1.014. Thanks!!!!!!!!

kwantam · 08-25-2010, 04:31 PM

Aging it for a while at 68 will let the remaining suspended yeast clean up some of their own byproducts. If you drop the temp to 40 they're going to go dormant and do nothing.

ErieShores · 08-25-2010, 04:34 PM

That is exactly why I used US-05, fear of the ester...

tdoft · 08-25-2010, 05:59 PM

Yeah, I did a deception cream stout with S-05 shortly after the Octfest which turned out great despite the same high temps. I agree that aging at 68 makes more sense. I just hope that my basement stays thatt cool....lately its clearly not something I can count on. Thanks all!

tenchu_11 · 08-25-2010, 06:09 PM

dumb question what is exactly an Octoberfest..is it an ale or lager. What would be the closest beer to it..I have unfortunately never tried Octoberfest.

BrookdaleBrew · 08-25-2010, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenchu_11

dumb question what is exactly an Octoberfest..is it an ale or lager. What would be the closest beer to it..I have unfortunately never tried Octoberfest.

Think of a malty lager with a toasted grain flavor.

tdoft · 08-25-2010, 08:35 PM

Yeah, I think it is typically a malt forward lager. However, in this case Biermuncher tries (and in his case) suceeds in replicating the style with a lowish attenuation ale yeast S-04. Thus, the beer in question in this post is an ale. Look under the amber hybrid category in the recipes section for more info.

bierhaus15 · 08-25-2010, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdoft

Brewed Biermuncher's Octoberfast about three weeks ago with no problems on brewday. Pitched S-04 and got good activity in a few hours. Unfortunately, we had a heatwave shortly thereafter and my usually realiably cool basement allowed ferment temp to get into the seventies. Kegged this last night and sample clearly was not right-apple esters bigtime. Soooooooo.....any advice going forward? Will the esters age out better at 68 degrees or 40? Or am I permanently stuck with apple cidery beer in which case any ideas of making it more appealing would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking cinnamon/clove/dryhop/anything!!!!!??????????? BTW finishing gravity was 1.010-should have been 1.014. Thanks!!!!!!!!

Yeah, sorry to hear that man but your stuck with what ya got now. Foremost, I don't know why anyone would willingly would use s04 for a oktoberfest (yeah, even if its fermented cool) and secondly, s-04 just plain sucks. Better yeasts out there no matter what style your brewing. I'd probably dump the beer and make a note to never use s-04 again. Or make a fresh batch of oktoberfest with a better yeast choice.

RavenChief · 08-25-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdoft

Brewed Biermuncher's Octoberfast about three weeks ago with no problems on brewday. Pitched S-04 and got good activity in a few hours. Unfortunately, we had a heatwave shortly thereafter and my usually realiably cool basement allowed ferment temp to get into the seventies. Kegged this last night and sample clearly was not right-apple esters bigtime. Soooooooo.....any advice going forward? Will the esters age out better at 68 degrees or 40? Or am I permanently stuck with apple cidery beer in which case any ideas of making it more appealing would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking cinnamon/clove/dryhop/anything!!!!!??????????? BTW finishing gravity was 1.010-should have been 1.014. Thanks!!!!!!!!

I would wait a month at 68 degrees and then see what it tasts like. Or better yet, send it to me and I will conduct a thorough scientific evaluation of all the esoteric qualities of your beer.

I love Octoberfest!

***Yooper*** · 08-25-2010, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bierhaus15

Yeah, sorry to hear that man but your stuck with what ya got now. Foremost, I don't know why anyone would willingly would use s04 for a oktoberfest (yeah, even if its fermented cool) and secondly, s-04 just plain sucks. Better yeasts out there no matter what style your brewing. I'd probably dump the beer and make a note to never use s-04 again. Or make a fresh batch of oktoberfest with a better yeast choice.

Really? I didn't know that S04 was such a poor yeast strain. I use it all the time. My beer must suck.