Is my beer ... awesome?

Alright, I'm on batch 8 so I'm entitled to my first "is my beer ruined" question, so bear with me ...

Brewed a bitter in September using Burton Ale yeast. Through primary and a short secondary (to clarify it a bit more) the bitter had great, totally fantasic aroma and the little (warm) sips I took seemed really balanced.

Bottled with my equipment as normal and it's been conditioning almost 6 weeks now. I've opened 3 bottles over the last three weeks (one each week) and now there is a pronounced banana scent like in a Hefe and a high-alcohol flavor like in a badly made Belgian Double.

Here are my competing theories for what may have gone wrong:

- Between bottling day and week 4 of conditioning, the temperature here in SoCal fluctuated immensely and rapidly between hot and cold. I thought the threat had passed from the summer heat ... and I wasn't expecting Jan.-like temps. Understand that here in SoCal, insulation is a strange word that people from "up north" talk about, so when the temp shifts here, the temp in the place shifts along with it. I use a brewing closet with a built in cellar draft vent (which is normally great as the temp doesn't fluctuate on such a grand scale here) ... did the temp fluctuations mess with the conditioning?

- Contamination, part 1: when transferring from Boil Kettle to Primary my glasses slipped off in to the beer (hence the name "beer goggle bitter") ... when I got to bottling day without sign or smell of infection, I figured I drew a lucky straw ... now I'm thinking the bottling sugar triggered something from that moment to cause a contamination.

- Contamination, part 2: bottling equipment improperly sanitized? I know it's basic and easy to do, but I contend that my equipment was good to go. I guess if the next batch (my kolsch, which should hit the three week mark in 1.5 weeks) goes all chiquita on me, I'll know it's bottling equipment contamination, right?

- OR ... what I'm hoping ... someone is going to tell me the banana and facacta alcohol smell / flavor in the beer is a natural by-product of conditioning with Burton Ale yeast, to chill out, drink a PBR and wait for a few more weeks.

You tell me. If it's ruined, the expert that correctly identifies how I screwed this batch up can have as much of it as they want.

Too many variables, I can't confidently answer all of your questions in great detail. But yeah, big fluctuations in temp can definitely stress your yeast and cause off flavors. (In your case, the banana taste/aroma is probably iso-amyl acetate.) Which is why I invested in a cheap chest freezer (Craig's List is your friend) and Ranco controller, my ale ferments at a nice steady 64°F. I would definitely suspect this over infection.

You clearly know what to do though, just relax, drink what you've got and wait. While you drink that imperfect yet satisfying beer, think about what steps you can take to improve the next batch. This hobby is all about enjoying, and even imperfect brews are enjoyable. I do it all the time.

Where in SoCal are you?

I'd say the banana you're getting is esters. There's an exact substance, don't recall off the top of my head. Anyhow, more conditioning time, something to the tune of 3-4 weeks, might be in order for the yeast to clean up after itself. But I could be very wrong. Either way, more time certainly won't hurt.

Isoamyl acetate is an unsurprising fermentation ester, though it is considered objectionable at detection levels in most styles. It can also be - cue ominous music - the result of microbial fermentations and enzyme bioconversions.

What's weird - and what has me worried about infection - is that it showed up so long after the fact. If it formed during the ferment, it would have been detecting long before now. That it's only showing up after a month and a half in the container makes me suspect an unwanted ferment in each bottle.*

If it's the yeast, it should go away on its own. If it's from something else, you're screwed. Discard your bottling hoses and replace. Hell, I'd discard the bottling bucket and replace that, too. Twenty dollars is a small price to pay for assurance, n'est ce pas?

Bob

* That's a pleasant euphemism for "horrible infection, you careless bastard".

BobNQ3X said:

...That it's only showing up after a month and a half in the container makes me suspect an unwanted ferment in each bottle.*

* That's a pleasant euphemism for "horrible infection, you careless bastard".

Click to expand...

Nice! Sigged.

jds that just made me laugh out lout

Look at it this way, if you continue to try one per week, and it doesn't get any better, they will all be gone by early October 2009! Then you can get on with your next batch.
Sorry that I have nothing more meaningful to add.
I will say though that I have dealt with the fusel alcohol flavors before and I know that they were the result of elevated fermentation temps. But they dissipated to the point of being negligible after a few weeks in the bottle..

So, what I'm hearing is A.) the fusel / banana / (insert fancy bio-chem word here) flavors and smell may go away, but B.) because this is happening at the conditioning stage it's most likely infection caused by an as yet undetermined source.

Thus, if the next batch (which is already conditioning) comes out jacked up (thank you, "the blitz") then I have an equipment infection ... and if not, then this was some sort of infection caused by 'Qaeda to terrorize my palate.

Ci?

On a side note, I have little hope of the smell and off flavors going away at this point, being as it's around 5 weeks conditioning. I'll give it a few more weeks, because I have no other choice, but I'm more pessimistic about this than the prospects for Brittney Spears' children to come out normal.

I frequently use Burton Ale yeast and really like it. I've never had a banana flavor from it, but I have noticed subtle changes over bottle conditioning time. But they seem to be more hop-mellowing changes vs. yeast flavor changes. I'm leaning towards temperature fluctuation. So, like others have said, store at room temp. and try one every week. If it's not gone in a few weeks, do like BobNQ3X says and nuke your entire brewery.

By making mistakes we learn what not to do. Your next brew will be much better if you take steps to make it easier to brew and have a good plan. Cleaning and sanitizing should be at the top of the list.