Estery flavor/aroma with S-04...

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Beavdowg

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A buddy of mine and I cooked up Ed Wort's IPA about 4 weeks ago. We ended up using S-04 instead of -05 because my friend had some already. Anyway, he made a starter of the S-04 and we pitched it. It fermented for about 10-14 days at an ambient temp of approx. 65-66 *F. Then we dry hopped with Centennial for 2 weeks and tried a sample last night out of the secondary. There is a subtle bubblegummy, clovery, estery aroma and flavor. My friend read somewhere that this is common with S-04. Will this go away with time, and if so how much time is needed? I don't like that characteristic at all. We racked it to a tertiary to let it age for a little, hoping we can rid it of that flavor/aroma.

What's going on here?:mug:
 
Well, -04 is a british ale yeast, so you're going to get esters. Bubblegummy sounds like your yeasties were a little stressed out though.
 
Well, -04 is a british ale yeast, so you're going to get esters. Bubblegummy sounds like your yeasties were a little stressed out though.


I forgot to mention that my friend made a starter out of the dry S-04. Our original gravity was 1.061. What could of stressed out our yeast? Too high a temp definitely couldn't of been the problem. We aerated the wort by shaking the bajeesus out of the carboy. No, we didn't add any sugars.
 
You also might have stressed them by making a starter from dry yeast. Dry yeast are at their peak of health, so to speak, and only need rehydrated before use.

dry yeast need to be rehydrated. even if the package says to just toss it into the wart. dry yeast will have a hard time drawing in the water with all the sugar dissolved in it.

with a wart of that gravity you need more than 1 packet of dry yeast. so making a starter was a good idea. its possible the gravity was to high for the yeast. but i agree just let it sit for a few more weeks then taste it again.
 
Dragon are you tipsy or have just not done your homework? Where did you conceive I advocate not rehydrating? Dry yeast are in better health without making a starter, so the logical thing to do would to pitch additional rehydrated packet(s) VS. making a starter from a single packet. Oh and it's wort not wart. ;)
 
starter S04 = NO and from my experience I have achieved good results with just a dry pitch although I try to rehydrate most of the time.

aerate wort S04= NO, you can but it is not needed as the required acids/sterols are present already unlike with a liquid yeast. This info is available from Fermentis & Danstar.

Basically S-04 does not fit with an IPA for me, unless you want to introduce those flavors. I much prefer 05.
 
S-04 will give you some bubblegummy/bready flavors. That's just it's nature... ...if the flavors you detect are from something else they should mellow out in 3-4 weeks. ;0)
 
I don't get bubblegum notes from S-04 in my beers and I just finished off an IPA made with that yeast. I'm going to agree with other here and go with the theory that the starter stressed the yeast somehow.
 
I stopped using S-04 because of the bready/estery notes. Yes, it's appropriate for a British style beer, but no matter how I brew with S-04 I still get too many. Hate 'em. And - I don't think they ever go away. At least not in my experience.

I like WLP002 for all my British beers. It's got enough bready notes to it without the esters.
 
I don't get bubblegum notes from S-04 in my beers and I just finished off an IPA made with that yeast. I'm going to agree with other here and go with the theory that the starter stressed the yeast somehow.

I'll third that. It's estery, but I've never tasted bubblegum.
 
I used it for the first time on my last batch, an oatmeal stout. I absolutely hate it. Way over the top estery. I had high hopes for it too. :mad:
 
I've had really good luck with S-04. Brewed a great American-English Pale Ale (Great Lakes Burning River recipe) this summer, and Orfy's Boddington's Bitter with great success.

Just tasted a porter I brewed with it - it's only 3.5 weeks old, and fermented around 65*F. Fermented fast, cleared fast. Yes, it has English character but not over the top esters due to keeping it in it's lower temp range.

Definitely a "go-to" yeast for my quick turnaround brews.
 
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