Wyeast 1007 German Ale - Ruined Batch?

I tried my hand at making an AG German Alt with Oktoberfest-ish ingredients and Wyeast 1007. The fermenting temp range said 55-68 with higher temps leading to a fruity flavor.

Well, I'm afraid that we had a couple hot snaps while this was fermenting and it ended up getting up to 75 or higher a couple times. I was out of town and couldn't do much about it.

All my numbers hit right on but when I bottled it, I just couldn't get past the terrible smell and taste. Burning rubber I think... I can't put my finger on it but it was so bad that it stuck with me all day. Like you put a brand new tire in your mouth...

So, it's been sitting for a couple weeks now. I'm going to give it a couple more but I don't have high hopes.

Anyone ever come across this with this yeast or others? Am I screwed or just not patient enough?

Thanks,
B

This can't be autolysis can it? It was only in the carboy for about 2-3 weeks and I don't use a secondary...

Is there any way to know for sure? If it is autolysis, I'm screwed right?

I have had a batch come out with the same off-flavors you describe. I left it in the secondary to see if it would clean up, but it stayed bad. It tasted like some kind of astringent.

Good luck. I'd be curious to see if your cleans up or remains a disappointment.

Good luck.

lieb2101 said:

This can't be autolysis can it? It was only in the carboy for about 2-3 weeks and I don't use a secondary...

Is there any way to know for sure? If it is autolysis, I'm screwed right?

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I doubt it. If you start with healthy yeast, you can go a long time on the yeast cake. I just did an Oatmeal Stout that was on the cake for 50 days. Turned out just fine.

I've had rubber/bandaid phenolics from this yeast strain. I've pretty decided to not use it again.

CaptYesterday said:

I've had rubber/bandaid phenolics from this yeast strain. I've pretty decided to not use it again.

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I've used it dozens and dozens of times with no off flavors. Are you sure it was due to the yeast?

I know this is an old topic, but I recently found my primary (with this yeast) up at an alarming 78 degrees before I blasted it with a fan to get it back down. It was probably only up that high for a day or so, but is this beer is now going to taste like goodyear tires? ...I'm very okay with some fruityness, but not so much for the horrid flavor/aroma reports above.

McHoops said:

I know this is an old topic, but I recently found my primary (with this yeast) up at an alarming 78 degrees before I blasted it with a fan to get it back down. It was probably only up that high for a day or so, but is this beer is now going to taste like goodyear tires? ...I'm very okay with some fruityness, but not so much for the horrid flavor/aroma reports above.

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It's hard to say for sure, but usually just get fruitiness at 75 degrees or so, depending on the yeast strain. Nottingham, for example, gets positively foul above 72 degrees, while Northwest ale yeast gets fruity up to 75 degrees (*maybe higher but I never tried that!)

It really depends on yeast strain, where it's at in the fermentation cycle, actual temperature inside the fermenter, and so on. That yeast strain gets fruity, for sure, at higher temperatures. Chlorinated water can make it much worse (that's probably where the band-aids came from). So it's hard to give you a prognosis at this point.

Don't blame the yeast...blame the brewer. That particular strain of yeast is not bad at all. It just needs to be cared for. I have first hand experience watching this yeast make good beer and awful beer.

It works best starting in the mid 50's and then you have to account for the aerobic activity of fermentation. Pitching this yeast at 60-68 is not good. Rubbery dreck it will produce.