nutty_gnome
Well-Known Member
I also will not use S-04. That brewhouse pest excels at putting a distinctive twang taste on anything it touches.
Not loving S-04...
- Thread starter andycr
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
stevedasleeve
Well-Known Member
People who don't like S04 - hey it's your preference. But there truly is nothing wrong with this yeast. I love it myself and have used it for maybe 1/3 of my almost 100 brews to date. It is different to S05 and different to Nottingham. I hate to be pedantic but duh, yeasts taste different man. So give it a rest why don't you?!
nutty_gnome
Well-Known Member
stevedasleeve said:
Sorry... Are you new to the interwebs?
dbrewski
Well-Known Member
nutty_gnome said:
There's room for all opinions, not my favorite as noted, but you have to respect that many like it.
ReverseApacheMaster
Well-Known Member
I just bottled my first beer with S-04 -- a porter. I didn't notice any yeast flavor to it but I also fermented it at 62F so I would be surprised to see a lot of ester at those temps. I'll have to see if any yeast flavor develops after carbonation although I'm not opposed to a small amount of ester in my english beers.
I perfer the Windsor or Notthingham for Dry Yeast British Ales. American Ale I use -05
I don't mind the flavors it produces, when I have the time to babysit it and keep it at exactly the right temp (64F in my apartment) to prevent it from making nasty flavors (>65F) or dropping out entirely (<63F), it's quite a nice yeast. But I really don't like the warm esters it produces, and really do like how clear the beers I make with it are. It has its pros and cons, but there are other British yeasts I like much more.
I fermented a brown ale with S-04 back in october 62-64* for the first 3-4 days and then I kicked it up to 66-67 range (primary for 3 weeks). After two months in the keg, it is now palatable. The twang still over powers any other flavors in the beer - not my desired flavor profile. I don't get this when I used WLP002, but I was out... I am jumping on the "S-04 No More" train.
whitehause
Well-Known Member
He's apparently from a giant sun, and uses pedantic and duh in the same sentence.....I'll give him a break.
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
Love s04. Just brewed a stout on Saturday it's done already(Wednesday). Clear and tastes great, no off flavors that my admittedly poor palate can detect an I pitched hot, and it even started fermenting within 6 hours while the wort was still over 80
OP
OP
andycr
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2012
- Messages
- 308
- Reaction score
- 44
Just sampled a blonde ale fermented with US-05, has one of the same most unpleasant off-flavors I had attributed to S-04. Looking for common elements between the two other than yeast - may give S-04 another chance.
Hmmm. I've got a Hobgoblin clone fermenting right now with S-04. I made the same beer with the same yeast 2 years ago and it was really good, so I'm hoping nothing has changed.
BarnyardFunk
Active Member
Great to hear man- hope I have the same luck. I have a ruination clone fermenting with S-04 right now. I really didn't know anything about it as I had gotten it with a kit and this is only my 2nd batch. I pitched at the correct temperature but I have no serious temperature control and my garage has been between 64-68 during this time. From what it sounds like, fermentation at high 60's can cause repulsive off flavors with S-04 (and I'm not sure how hot the actual fermentation got as I had it in a bucket w/ no temp gauge- but I have been reading that S-04 can get really hot). After reading about the strain I decided to leave it for a while after fermentation to 'clean up' the beer..so I had it in primary for 3 weeks and its been in secondary for 2 1/2 weeks- Also, it's a fairly big beer (1.077 OG), but hopefully leaving it in that long will help. (I really just have no time to bottle as it is right now anyway ha)
HungerJack
Active Member
Brewed a Robust Porter monday. Pitched S-04. Checked gravity today. I gotta say, it's great at attenuating, down to 1.012, and it was pretty clear for only being 4 days old. BUT, the ****ing Robust Porter, tasted like Robust Red Wine! WTF??!!! Temps in the closet it was in didn't go higher than 62 degrees.
solbes
Well-Known Member
How good could the robust porter taste just a few days into the fermentation. Let that one ride, I bet it will end up great.
My low gravity brown evolved into a decent brew. Still taste a faint off sour taste from the upper 60's ferment with S-04, but its way in the background now. Probably 9-10 weeks in the bottle. I have to assume this is the best it will ever get, so time to get it consumed before it declines.
My low gravity brown evolved into a decent brew. Still taste a faint off sour taste from the upper 60's ferment with S-04, but its way in the background now. Probably 9-10 weeks in the bottle. I have to assume this is the best it will ever get, so time to get it consumed before it declines.
HungerJack
Active Member
Maybe I'm feeling like I'm "cursed by the gods of porter" or something. My last attempt was an Oatmeal Robust Porter that ended up getting infected. My fault really though, by leaving my chilling wort outside overnight after having a few too many Edmund Fitzgerald. Thanks for the words of inspiration. I also have an IPA in primary and when I checked the gravity on it, it tasted amazing only 8 days in. I guess similar expectations were anticipated in the taste of my young brews.
Ah! I wish I had read this before my last brew. Though I have yet to taste the final product, I stumbled on this and now understand what went wrong. Seems s04 is not the yeast for me because I can use yeasts that work at my fairly stable basement temp of 66-68 just fine. This isn't that s04 is a bad yeast for those with ferm chambers, just not for me. Here's my bad s04 experience. Left this gingerbread stout 3 weeks in primary. Opened the primary for the first time at 3 weeks to rack to secondary. The thing burnt my nose hairs... Oh *** this thing was throwing esters bad. Perhaps one pack was slightly under pitching for 5 gallons at 1.061 someone earlier mentioned an English Ale yeast will throw esters (more so then most strains would) if it is struggling. This wasn't under-pitching enough to need a whole second pack though. So I would have had to buy a second and use half of it, had I known it would be such a struggle for the little guys I would have sent more in. Again, should have done my homework. So under pitched combined with the steady 66deg F - that now I am reading here is 6 degrees to hot. So 10 days in secondary with some vanilla bean, brew partner and I are like man can't wait to smell this gingerbread stout... Me: "BANANA BREAD WTF?" Brew Partner: Oh good you smell it too? I thought I was crazy. Man the esters out did themselves here. We bottled anyway, of course, and in one more week it should be carbed, but I have to say I am scared. It seems for the extra work and monitoring needed with 04 I am going to find a better English yeast. I prefer to pitch and forget, ya know give the yeasties some privacy while they multiply, eat, then go to sleep. Then come in and steal the beer away. We may enter in our intended home brew club competition anyway and call it a banana bread just for a laugh.
aiptasia
Well-Known Member
I've had great luck with S04.
TacoGuthrie
Well-Known Member
It's my go to yeast for my stout. I like the flavour. It goes even better when I add coffee to the stout.
I have made it in a bitter that I didn't love so haven't made since but i've used it >5X in that stout.
I have made it in a bitter that I didn't love so haven't made since but i've used it >5X in that stout.
I tasted my gravity sample last night on my Hobgoblin and it was exquisite. It might drop a few more points but the flavor I've got now is perfect. S-04 continues to be a winner for me.
HungerJack
Active Member
Hey TacoGuthrie, how long does it take till your stouts start to taste right using his yeast?
TacoGuthrie
Well-Known Member
I primary for 2 weeks and then keg. They taste right as soon carbed, usually a week but they taste BEST after another 3 weeks in the keg. I wouldn't call them tart or sour or any other words used itt though.
I find this is true for all my beer, even ipas.
Hey...go Postal Service....
Have the S-04 In my zombie dust clone. The airlock smells awesome...like a fruit roll-up.
Well see when I taste it today when I take gravity. Used this yeast along time ago when I brewed brewers best California blonde ale. It tasted awesome then. This thread is kind of pointless now.its a matter of people's tastes in my opinion.
Different strokes for different folks....u say tomato I say....u get the point.
LOL, why did I read this post. I just made Common Room ESP last night with the subject yeast, and am at about 64-66 degrees. Hope I don't have a mess on my hands.
blacksquid
Well-Known Member
A month and a half after bottling my sweet potato porter I can say that I do taste a little sharp malty aftertaste from S-04 that I have to "remove" by pouring aggressively - it's definitely not from the 1.5lbs of Munich (6g batch)! Fermented at 62F.
I think I'll stick to US-05 and WLP004.
I think I'll stick to US-05 and WLP004.
Friedclutch
Well-Known Member
Man! You guys are not loving s-04 like DR. Dre is not loving police. Sadly, I also don't care for 04. That's just me though. Not into beers with a fruity finish.
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
CO2 burn??
when opening a fermenter for the first time you cant just stick your nose in, the CO2 will burn the hell out of your nose when you inhale. been there many time because i always think "well it wont happen this time."
could this bee what you mean?
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
i think you will be fine. I love s04. I think people on here just like having NO yeast character whatsoever, which is why a lot just use us-05.
I use s-04 a lot, and am planning many more brews (ipas, stouts, whatever) with it because it flocs like a mo-fo and is super fast.
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
I dont know about his answer, but I have been drinking my all grain stout out of the fermenter for the past week (it was brewed on 12/29 with s-04). Im trying not drink all of it before its bottled but i cant make any promises.
For what it's worth, I recently made a batch with s-04 (late November) and had it finished, carbed and on-tap by maybe December 10th or so. I had fermented at around 64 for the most part, sometimes dropped to 60-62'ish during the 3 days of violent fermentation.
From December 10th through maybe Jan 2nd, it was progressively getting better but overall had a taste I didn't like. Now suddenly it's wicked clear (for a brown) and this amazing malty flavor is coming out, it's ridiculously good.
Now whether this is by nature of the yeast being fully dropped out after a month of kegerator temps, and I've finally flushed most of them out into my glasses so am no longer tasting them...or if it's due to the recipe itself coming into it's own maturity, I don't know. It was a basic brown with some crystal 80 and a bit of chocolate malt for color, low on hops. But the flavor is super good, not at all like it was in the first month or so.
Give it time and all things work out....or maybe filter the yeast out once it's done, it's byproducts taste good it seems but I don't care for the taste of the actual yeasties themselves.
From December 10th through maybe Jan 2nd, it was progressively getting better but overall had a taste I didn't like. Now suddenly it's wicked clear (for a brown) and this amazing malty flavor is coming out, it's ridiculously good.
Now whether this is by nature of the yeast being fully dropped out after a month of kegerator temps, and I've finally flushed most of them out into my glasses so am no longer tasting them...or if it's due to the recipe itself coming into it's own maturity, I don't know. It was a basic brown with some crystal 80 and a bit of chocolate malt for color, low on hops. But the flavor is super good, not at all like it was in the first month or so.
Give it time and all things work out....or maybe filter the yeast out once it's done, it's byproducts taste good it seems but I don't care for the taste of the actual yeasties themselves.
alane1
Well-Known Member
I use this yeast alot.I've made some really good beers with this strain, I think the trick with this yeast is to ferment in a 5gal. carboy and use a blowoff tube.I think it's one of those strains that needs to be skimmed, kind of like ringwood.
This yeast has never been too far off from 05 for me. Pretty clean,and perhaps not estery enough or englishy enough for what I thought it would have been. I thought windsor was too clean,in my beers not that Im complaining I liked it,just none of them seemed to have very much character. I like o4, attenuates and clears well. Didnt have maybe enough character I was expecting it to have.Maybe to crisp and dry possibly. Maybe I was having issuses with my water that could be something to do with that,I havent really ruled it out completly as I was brewing all different styles as well.
ONly thing that matters is if it tastes like bannana bread. I made an ipa with bry-97 dry yeast,fermented low 60's. Blow off smelled exactly like bannanna bread. Im not scared. I know it wont taste like that,if that were the case people would be afraid of a sulfer smell some yeasts can give off or other weird smells.It doesnt mean thats how your beer will end up.
dannypo
Well-Known Member
I love English yeast character. The beer I amdrimking is an English strong ale fermented with Wyeast West Yorkshire. That or WLP007 are probably my most used yeasts. I just can't stand most of the S-04 beers I have had. There is just something off in the ester profile. I can't really describe it.
Although Crankers Brewpub in Big Rapids MI uses S-04 in my favorite IPA of all time. I have no idea what they do different that everybody else doesn't.
F250
Well-Known Member
Welp, my fingers are crossed. I've got a Best Bitter in the fermenter using S-04 yeast. I pitched at 62 degrees and put it in my 58 degree coal room. It fermented vigorously for a good 5 days and the fermometer on the carboy read 64 degrees during that. Now that it's winding down I'll pull it into the basement where it's 65 degrees. Here in another week I'll take a reading on it.
Rick
Rick
