banana taste in beer.

i made a light beer and let it sit a month in the primary. i used czech saaz hops for bittering, the last few minutes and dry hopping. i put two in the frig 2 days ago and opened one tonight after bottling right before thanksgiving. it had a strong banana smell and taste to it. i am going to try one a week to see how it ages.

does the czech saaz hops give the banana taste to the beer?

Banana aroma and flavor is usually attributed to ester production by yeast during fermentation. What yeast did you use? At what temperature did it ferment?

Saaz hops are almost certainly not to blame.

I completely agree with Yuri... from the yeast. Not from the hops. Post your recipe/yeast.

i used lme from mid west brewers supply as the base. it was supposed to be 80% fermentable. then i added 2 pounds of light dme. i used czech saaz pellet hps for bittering the last few minutes i added a oz of the same and i used a oz of czech leaf hops for dry hopping. the yeast was coopers in the gold package. it stayed around 65 degrees the entire time it fermented.

i use the cheaper yeast when i try something new myself. maybe my fault. will the banna taste clear out with aging or is it there for good? it has just been in the bottles for over two weeks now.

Esters fade with time, but they don't go away. Your beer is slightly flawed and will likely remain that way. Give it some time...it's possible that the flavors will meld into something a bit more palatable after a few months.

was the yeast the flaw?

It's the likely culprit, but the temp was nice and low. Brew another batch and use US-05 or S-04. See if that helps.

I'm agreeing with these guys, almost assuredly esters from the yeast, though at 65 I'm surprised you got enough to affect the flavor. I might have to find some of this stuff for the chocolate banana porter I'm planning.

it really isn't that bad and it has a kick to it. i was amazed at the smell and taste when i tried it. i have never had one do this before. i also let it sit in the primary for over 30 days before i bottled it.

i'll try different yeast in my next brews and see if i can get away from the banana taste. thanks guys.

The batch of american IPA I'm just about finishing off had banana smell/taste to it at first.. I pitched and fermented a little warm (likely cause), kegged it after two weeks, and sampled after about 5-6 days of refrigeration under pressure...

I was 'pleasantly' surprised at the banana flavor, and actually liked it.. So I was disappointed that it pretty much disappeared as the beer aged/conditioned more... Taste is totally gone now...

Now I'm planning on experimenting with real fruit to do it on purpose....

i had made the exact same beer right after bottling this beer just before thanksgiving. so i desided today to take this batch from the primary and get it off the trub and racked it to a secondary. i might let it sit in the secondary till febuary and see what happens. it was bubbling in the secondary within a hour of it sitting here so i'm geting the oxygen out of it and getting a layer of co2 to cover the brew.

what about using s-33 yeast in it next time? is 65 to low also? i can let the room get up to 70 if i need to. this is the first time i have eve had this happen(the banna taste). could putting the yeast in the wort when it is still warm cuase this? just floating questions out there to you guys.

here is the yeast i used-- http://www.midwestsupplies.com/cooper-s-ale-15-grams.html

here is what i have a few packets of laying around at the moment---- http://www.midwestsupplies.com/safbrew-s-33-10-grams.html

r8rphan said:

The batch of american IPA I'm just about finishing off had banana smell/taste to it at first.. I pitched and fermented a little warm (likely cause), kegged it after two weeks, and sampled after about 5-6 days of refrigeration under pressure...

I was 'pleasantly' surprised at the banana flavor, and actually liked it.. So I was disappointed that it pretty much disappeared as the beer aged/conditioned more... Taste is totally gone now...

Now I'm planning on experimenting with real fruit to do it on purpose....

Click to expand...

I used a T-58 yeast for one of my batches last time and it had a real strong banana smell, very different from US-05 and Nottingham. It was hard to take at first, but after a few weeks it's mellowed somewhat and was actually the preferred beer of a couple of friends. I love how US-05 has improved my American Ales. Move to that or Nottingham if you want to make sure that taste is not present in future beers.

EDIT: T-58 is also suppose to produce a fruity finish, but that was all banana in my case. Try US-05

nobody said:

i had made the exact same beer right after bottling this beer just before thanksgiving. so i desided today to take this batch from the primary and get it off the trub and racked it to a secondary. i might let it sit in the secondary till febuary and see what happens. it was bubbling in the secondary within a hour of it sitting here so i'm geting the oxygen out of it and getting a layer of co2 to cover the brew.

what about using s-33 yeast in it next time? is 65 to low also? i can let the room get up to 70 if i need to. this is the first time i have eve had this happen(the banna taste). could putting the yeast in the wort when it is still warm cuase this? just floating questions out there to you guys.

here is the yeast i used-- http://www.midwestsupplies.com/cooper-s-ale-15-grams.html

here is what i have a few packets of laying around at the moment---- http://www.midwestsupplies.com/safbrew-s-33-10-grams.html

Click to expand...

Ususally a lower temperature reduces ester production. I wouldn't raise the temp to 70F. I'm guessing when you say your beer was at 65F, you mean the ambient temp in the room was 65F. If this is the case, the beer during fermentation was more like 70F. If you raise the ambient temp higher, you are only going to encourage more ester production. I agree with the above. Use something like US-05. It's cheap and it ferments pretty clean. And keep the beer temp between 65F and 68F. That should help reduce ester production.

JJL said:

Ususally a lower temperature reduces ester production. I wouldn't raise the temp to 70F. I'm guessing when you say your beer was at 65F, you mean the ambient temp in the room was 65F. If this is the case, the beer during fermentation was more like 70F. If you raise the ambient temp higher, you are only going to encourage more ester production. I agree with the above. Use something like US-05. It's cheap and it ferments pretty clean. And keep the beer temp between 65F and 68F. That should help reduce ester production.

Click to expand...

Agree on all points.

Ambient room temp doesn't necessarily mean fermentation temp. Ambient room temp in my apartment was/is about 63-64°F when the brown ale I have going was in primary. The temp strip on the carboy indicated 67-68° through the better part of primary fermentation.

In terms of aging for the yeast to clean up after themselves... I still have a few bottles of the first ale I did lying around that I drink when I want to remember what esters taste like. Not knowing any better, I let that beer ferment way high (in the mid 70's). It's going on 7 months in the bottles and the esters are better than they were, but still very much there...

Timboosh said:

Agree on all points.

Ambient room temp doesn't necessarily mean fermentation temp. Ambient room temp in my apartment was/is about 63-64°F when the brown ale I have going was in primary. The temp strip on the carboy indicated 67-68° through the better part of primary fermentation.

In terms of aging for the yeast to clean up after themselves... I still have a few bottles of the first ale I did lying around that I drink when I want to remember what esters taste like. Not knowing any better, I let that beer ferment way high (in the mid 70's). It's going on 7 months in the bottles and the esters are better than they were, but still very much there...

Click to expand...

A simple swamp cooler seems to fix that misleading ambient temp.

Thank GOD!!!! I was about to just reply OP "You FERMENTED TOO WARM"

But the whole first page was so nice and careful and diligent, that I was beginning to believe the yeast might really be at fault!

NO WAY.

You are at fault.

A basement floor is priceless for cool fermentation. Short of that, swamp cooling or other are NECESSARY.

My one Banana beer DID in fact clear up entirely after 8 months in the bottle.

8 MONTHS. Find a cool place to store it (but not below 55F or so)

starrfish said:

A simple swamp cooler seems to fix that misleading ambient temp.

Click to expand...

Oh Absolutely... I just kinda assumed that the OP wasn't using any type of temp control yet. I've actually since started a "cube" cooler that's about a perfect size for a carboy & throwing in frozen watter bottles as necessary to hold/control temp... works like a champ near as I can tell.

i don't have or want a swamp cooler. i have a room in my basement that stays at 65 year round. i have fermented beer in that room for at least two years and have never had any come out like this one did. this was the first time i made this beer and i made another batch the exact same way the day after i bottled it. when i pulled the airlock out of it today i got the exact same smell out of it. i went ahead and moved it to a secondary for maybe two more monthes to see what happens.

i believe it was the yeast becuase this has never happened before and hopefully won't ever happen again because i will be using a different yeast.

the fermenters always sit on the floor and it is normally pretty cold. i figure i'll try this brew one more time with the s-33 i have on hand. i'll order they yest everybody has told me to use on my next order in a month or so.

Basement floor,as I prescribed.......but it isn't fool proof.

If you pitch vigorous yeast on "warm" (80F) wort, It could cool to 75F but stay there through the critical part of fermentation. LEAVING BANANA.......

Take it or leave it, lager yeast at 65F is the only other possibility I think I know about.