Can I save my ESB from WY1968?

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DonutBrew

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Hello all,
I've been brewing awhile, but I'm new to the forum, so any help you can give me would be great.

I have tried brewing two ESBs, both using Wyeast 1968. The first was a partial mash recipe, and it turned out kinda gross. At the time I blamed it on the LME.

Fast forward many delicious ales. Now I now better. Several weeks ago, I brewed an all-grain ESB, deciding to try again, and I pitched some 1968. I live in an apartment, so I kept the fermenter cool using the tshirt/water bath method to ward off some of the diacetyl that may have killed my first ESB. The yeast was still very active, attenuation was on the high side according to my calculations, but after resting in a secondary for a couple of weeks, the flat beer tasted nice so I primed (dextrose) and bottled it. Now, about six weeks after bottling, it has that same funny taste, which I assume is diacetyl. I think it's kind of a sweet, funky flavor, not necessarilly "buttery," but maybe--I'm not an expert on this flavor, as none of my other beers have had it (save the other esb).

I did not keep the bottles extra cool, so I may have gone wrong there. My apartment stays around 75-78 F during the day in the summer. Is there anything I can do to save the flavor of this beer? Do you guys think that taste is diacetyl? Should I just skip making anything else with 1968 until I have a basement/large cooling system?

Thanks for any advice!
DF
 
Now, about six weeks after bottling, it has that same funny taste, which I assume is diacetyl. I think it's kind of a sweet, funky flavor, not necessarilly "buttery," but maybe--I'm not an expert on this flavor, as none of my other beers have had it (save the other esb).

I did not keep the bottles extra cool, so I may have gone wrong there. My apartment stays around 75-78 F during the day in the summer. Is there anything I can do to save the flavor of this beer? Do you guys think that taste is diacetyl? Should I just skip making anything else with 1968 until I have a basement/large cooling system?

1968 works fine for me at 65*F. This yeast strain can get pretty estery, I am wondering if you were still too warm and you just have too many esters and that is what you don't like. It does produce some diacetyl, but as long as you don't rack to secondary too early (it likes 2 weeks in primary) or ferment too cool diacetyl is unlikely to be a big problem. Priming 75-80 is not a problem.

See my cooling system in my sig...
 
Possibly estery, but it's not really fruity or banana-y. The strange thing was I did try it before I bottled, and it was tasty. Maybe I should have just enjoyed it flat :)
 
Some of the English strains I find the esters are mineral-like and can be harsh or metallic tasting to me at excess levels. As you said diacetyl is buttery, that doesn't sound like your issue to me... but without tasting your beer I can't be sure. :)
 
I think you may be right... harsh/metallic is a pretty good description, but it's not one that I would have thought of myself. I guess I need to get better control over the temperature before I go try this again.

Is there a food or something that might complement a highly-ester-y beer? What about another suggestion about how to still enjoy the other 4 3/4 gal? :)
 
Which of the other English yeasts might be good to try for a bitter that may be fermented on the higher end and not have as much off flavor?
 
Fermentis S04 - try to brew in the cooler months and stockpile until you can control your temps.
 
WLP023 Burton Ale. I use the same cooling methods as you and have similar interior apartment conditions (though I also use ice packs int he water and you didn't mention that). The bottle aging temp shouldn't matter as long as it's not super high. I have mine at room temp.

The Burton Ale has made me a nice ESB and Irish Red, and though it IS estery, it's not over the top IMO. Definitely not the taste you are describing.
 
How about WY1028 London Ale? Would there be any advantage, ester-production-wise, to switching to it?
 
The London Ale is awesome..... ferments in 48-72 hours. Beer is crystal clear in like a week. Got a batch of winter warmer in bottles now.
 
Hi;

I'd just like to add that I've been having the exact same problem re: priming + diacetyl. Tried the beer from the secondary and it tasted amazing flat; was a butter bomb a week after priming + bottling. I've ruled out infection as a cause through some over-the-top sanitisation, and have narrowed down the cause of problem to one of two things:

1. Primary time insufficient, leaving abundance of diacetyl precursor which is spontaneously converted to diacetyl when exposed to oxygen at bottling.
2. Bottle conditioning time insufficient. Was trying the beer and experiencing this diacetyl note at only a week after bottling.

I have one batch on the go to test (1), and another to test (2). Both are being left for 4 weeks in their respective stages before I bother moving them on this time. I'm also skipping the secondary for these batches because I'm not adding fruit or woodchips.

Will probably report back with results.
 
I'd just like to add that I've been having the exact same problem re: priming + diacetyl. Tried the beer from the secondary and it tasted amazing flat; was a butter bomb a week after priming + bottling.

I struggled with this yeast for a long time before I finally got the results I wanted out of it. Now it's pretty much my favorite yeast for all things English and I use it all the time. Here is my advice:

- Take EXTRA care to keep fermentation temperatures regulated. Start the beer out low (65-68F) for at least one week and then bring the temp up to 69-73F for at least another week (2 weeks is better). NO SECONDARY! Also, during fermentation give the carboy/bucket a gently swirl every other day. This will keep the yeast from flocculating too early and keep fermentation going. I constantly hear people say they never get this yeast to attenuate far enough...! Mash below 155, pitch healthy amounts of yeast, give the fermentor a swirl once in a while, and you can get 75+% attenuation out of this yeast with no problems.

- This yeast can produce lots of diacetyl if you don't pitch enough yeast (make a starter please) and/or ferment high and don't let it sit on the yeast cake long enough. Give it two weeks on the yeast cake minimum and watch your ferment temps.

- Most importantly, I have screwed up so many batches of beer using this yeast by doing one little thing: OVER CARBONATING. Beer tastes amazing at bottling/kegging time and then a week later tastes like buttery, cidery crap. Carbonate to 2.2 volumes at the most.

Hope that helps. :D
 
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