WLP080 - Cream Ale, tastes like rubbing alcohol

Brewed a Maibock+wheat recipe and pitched WLP080 about a month ago and I just kegged. I'm getting a MAJOR rubbing alcohol taste. Has anyone else experienced this? It's been fermenting between 60 and 64f.. Ohio valley spring: 17 today, 70 today LOL.

If it helps, I didn't hit my mash temp because I had the worst stuck mash I've ever had. I have a 20 gal electric HERMS system, that I turn out 12 gal batches on, and it couldn't take 15 lbs of wheat in the malt bill. I mashed at about 139ish for a good 2 hours (trying to clear the false bottom the whole time). There are off flavors from not making it to 149, but I can pick those out and am fine with them being there.

I'm going to see if everything will mellow out over the next 2-3 months. Luckily I split my 12 gal batches into 2 - 6 gal batches and the batch I pitched German Lager yeast into is fantastic (been lagering for about 15 days now).

Thanks gents! (and ladies )

sounds like fusel alcohols, so either the yeast was really stressed or you were fermenting warmer than you thought

GravityBrew said:

There are off flavors from not making it to 149, but I can pick those out and am fine with them being there.

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what off flavors are you talking about? mashing <149 wouldn't create any off-flavors

I've used this yeast routinely in cream ales and have not experienced any off-flavors. My primary is usually in the mid-60s, then I'll drop to the mid 50s for about a month. Not necessary, just my routine. Perhaps a little bit of time in the keg will clean it up?

I use this blend a lot and can also say I've never gotten any fusel out of it. I suspect the beer got a lot warmer than you expected by accident. Fermentations can get crazy hot- I've had a BDSA get 11F over ambient. It could also be chlorphenols, which I sometimes perceive similarly to hot alcohol, but it's more a plastic-y chlorine-y taste. Do you have any chlorine in your brewing water and do you treat it at all?

The warmest my basement has gotten since last summer is about 62, and the warmest temp the fermenter registered was 64. I use a submerged probe and my PC to monitor fermentation temp, I trust my logs. The off flavor I'm referring to is a grainy, slight-tannin flavor that you get when you don't get a good conversion and the recirculated wort channels through a small section of the mash. So when I said "from not making it to 149" I was more referring to my stuck mash.

Thanks for the comment CastleHollow. I've never used this strain and didn't know what to expect. I'm going to throw the keg in my lagering fridge (currently sitting at 34) and cold store it for a month.

GravityBrew said:

WLP080 - Cream Ale, tastes like rubbing alcohol

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dcp27 said:

sounds like fusel alcohols, so either the yeast was really stressed or you were fermenting warmer than you thought

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daksin said:

I use this blend a lot and can also say I've never gotten any fusel out of it. I suspect the beer got a lot warmer than you expected by accident.

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I've gotten the fusel, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover taste before with 2 batches using WLP001 and WLP090. My fermometer consistently read 58-62 F for the first 7-10 days of fermentation. I'm not sure if the solvent flavor was due to the colder ferm. temperature, a severely low amount of pitched cells (unlikely considering I was very careful), or something else entirely.

Nevertheless, this is definitely an off-flavor from the yeast, and I too am trying to understand why. A 3-4 week primary and diacetyl rest did not affect it for the better.

This website may help: http://www.bjcp.org/faults.php

GravityBrew said:

off flavor I'm referring to is a grainy, slight-tannin flavor that you get when you don't get a good conversion and the recirculated wort channels through a small section of the mash.

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Astringent Mouth-puckering, lingering harshness, husk-like graininess

Don't oversparge. Don't overcrush grain. Don't boil grain. Don't sparge with water above 170°F. Don't sparge with water with a high pH (over 6). Use water with lower sulfate content. Use less dark grains (especially black malt). Avoid excessive whole hop use. Avoid use of raw spices, fruit pith and fruit skins.

And I'll add -- Avoid excessive use of chloride. Make sure the ratio of sulfate:chloride makes sense for the style of beer you're brewing.

Agreed that this sounds like Fusel alcohols. If you're sure about your temps, you may have underpitched.

I had this happen once and unfortunately it did not improve with 2 months of aging. It was not drinkable so it became my first and only dumped batch. Hope yours ends differently.

Update: The beer has been stored in my basement at around 60F since I last posted. I tasted it last night and while it has improved, it still has that lingering taste. I am still on the fence about saving it or dumping it.. I think I'll just keep it around until I need the keg space, taking a sample every once and a while. Thanks for all of your help.

iäm planning on using this for a Anchor Steam clone? think it would work? i figured its a lager-ale blend, so why not.

Fusels take a long time to fade, and they may never go away completely. I'm with you on keeping it as long as you don't need the keg. I think WLP080 would be great for a cali common.