So Ive probably broken a few rules of good practice on this one, and am wondering how to save it. I have a fastferment conical ferment system that I rarely ever make a bad brew with and a three keg keezer. My goal is to make a lawn mower (no hops added) 5 gallons of beer that the ladies will drink, and use up old ingredients. So I want a crystal clear (not concerned about color) no flavor beer - admittedly not my type of beer. First error - used an old smack pack of Wyeast 1056 yeast 8 months old. Second (maybe first) error used an old tin of Coopers DIY Cervesa extract as a base. I did add 500 grams of LME, and a cup of corn sugar to it. I created a starter and stepped up the yeast twice (over three days, swirling method - no stir plate), but it still seemed to be acting weird, No krausen on starter either time. But when I swirled it it went crazy with foam. I boiled my wort for about 20 min (no hop additions so I felt this was okay). Cooled it right away and pitch my starter within 6 hours. OG measured at 1.058. Fermentation took off fairly quickly but the krausen lasted 2 weeks and for the first week and there was very little sediment in collection ball. The krausen finally dropped 2 days ago, and the sediment in the collection ball doubled. There is small amount of krausen on top and some bubbles - and there is a strong acetaldehyde cider/vinegar smell. I have not emptied my collection ball yet (normally do this after a week) - I am coming up on three weeks now in primary. I know the acetaldehyde should clean up over time. My queston is... what to do now to try and get the cider flavor/smell out? Should i rack it to a carboy and stick it in a corner for a couple of months, or just leave it in the conical fermenter and leave the collection ball on without dumping (basically sit on yeast cake). Ive read that acetaldehyde clean up needs to happen in primary, not secondary. Comments? btw I have not taken an second hydrometer reading yet as I dont want to introduce bugs.
Acetaldehyde Clean Up Extract Brew
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VikeMan
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So, the big question here is "Do yeast that have settled out participate in Acetaldehyde cleanup?" I don't really know. I suspect the yeast at the top of the yeast cake might, in a limited way. But honestly, I've never seen anything authoritative.
The one thing I wouldn't do is rack to secondary, where you'll be picking up O2 and possibly making even more acetaldehyde. In your situation, I would probably keg this beer (as O2 free as possible) and carbonate it (at least partially, enough to keep the keg sealed) at room temp to hopefully keep the suspended yeast actively absorbing the acetaldehyde.
Also, you're at (almost) 3 weeks in the fermenter right now. Another week in primary before kegging probably wouldn't hurt much.
The one thing I wouldn't do is rack to secondary, where you'll be picking up O2 and possibly making even more acetaldehyde. In your situation, I would probably keg this beer (as O2 free as possible) and carbonate it (at least partially, enough to keep the keg sealed) at room temp to hopefully keep the suspended yeast actively absorbing the acetaldehyde.
Also, you're at (almost) 3 weeks in the fermenter right now. Another week in primary before kegging probably wouldn't hurt much.
I fermented a beer with Cooper's Dry Yeast last summer that became an acetaldehyde bomb. The yeast made it almost through fermentation then sime stopped working.... I let it sit for three weeks and thought it was finished so I kegged it. That's when I discovered the green apple flavor and aroma.
Since it was already kegged, I made a simple starter with a fresh pack of US-05 and left it sit in the keg with an airlock for 3 more weeks. The US-05 cleaned up most of what was left and ate most of the acetaldehyde. I could still tell it was there but everyone else thought it was ok...
So...if your 1056 won't give you any more performance, try pitching some fresh yeast and let it sit for a while longer. Perhaps some fresh yeast will clean up what your first batch left behind.
Since it was already kegged, I made a simple starter with a fresh pack of US-05 and left it sit in the keg with an airlock for 3 more weeks. The US-05 cleaned up most of what was left and ate most of the acetaldehyde. I could still tell it was there but everyone else thought it was ok...
So...if your 1056 won't give you any more performance, try pitching some fresh yeast and let it sit for a while longer. Perhaps some fresh yeast will clean up what your first batch left behind.
Was there a reason for waiting 6 hours before inoculation? The smell might be due to some bacterial infection.
If it's a Lactic bacterium (Lactobacillus genus) then it might give your beer an interesting twist, or you could try salvaging the batch with some product such as Lysocid SB, which I never used but discovered today. I did not know that Lactobacilly could be targeted selectively after the infection.
If it's an acetic bacterium (Acetobacterium genus) and it's at its very infancy maybe, maybe not, you could try add some sulphite to inhibit them, but the remedy can be worse than the illness. If that turns into vinegar there's no possible salvation for it, not even distilling it. But it might be good for the salad
Wish your beer well!
ya this is probably teh best approach. I will wait at least another week.
I thought of repitching. Have some west coast ipa yeast in the fridge. I will wait for another week and see what happens.
I still cold crash my boiled wort but typically wait about 6 hours after the boil to make sure the temperature of my starter and the temperature of my wort are fairly close. I have heard at temp differential stresses yeast. Also by waiting especially when I am making an ipa with lots of hop material, both the cold break and trub settle into the collection ball which I dump prior to pitching yeast. When I reopen my collection ball valve, the bubble helps aerate the wort prior to pitching yeast and im not oxidizing after fermentation starts. I don't think that a 6 hour wait is too bad since my starter usually takes off fairly quickly. If the average wait for activity is 24 hours after pitching with no starter and I get activity typically within 8, not a lot of concern about infection.Was there a reason for waiting 6 hours before inoculation? The smell might be due to some bacterial infection.
If it's a Lactic bacterium (Lactobacillus genus) then it might give your beer an interesting twist, or you could try salvaging the batch with some product such as Lysocid SB, which I never used but discovered today. I did not know that Lactobacilly could be targeted selectively after the infection.
If it's an acetic bacterium (Acetobacterium genus) and it's at its very infancy maybe, maybe not, you could try add some sulphite to inhibit them, but the remedy can be worse than the illness. If that turns into vinegar there's no possible salvation for it, not even distilling it. But it might be good for the salad
Wish your beer well!
The problem with infections is that it is like a slow-action poison.
You first let your wort exposed to the infection, and it gets infected.
Then you pitch your yeast and the yeast, being so overwhelming in sheer number, takes the place and occupy it all. The bacteria which entered your wort are left overcrowded and feel lonely and desperate. They have nobody to talk to.
Then the yeast multiply frantically, get drunk, and finally they all fall asleep and stop partying. Morning arrives and they are all asleep, laying on the ground in the most strange positions.
At this point the bacteria, which are there in great number, even though comparatively small in comparison to the yeasts, raise from the ground and begin partying themselves. They don't have problems with 5% alcohols, they have a lot of sugar left, and they say "thank Godness those idiot yeast cells fell all to the ground leaving all this bonanza for us".
The result is a beer which gets more and more and more infected. The infection happened on day 1, but it produces its effect only after the brewing ceases.
You must put some bouncers at the entrance because bacteria, even though they will certainly be overwhelmed by yeast initially, will not get drunk at usual beer alcoholic strenght. They will eat your wort later, with a revenge.
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Thanks for the comments folks! I especially like this party analogy for bacteria vs yeast.
Having said that there is a ton of of discussion elsewhere about the benefits of delayed pitching vs the risk of infection. I am not yet accepting the fact that this is an infection, but just acetaldehyde clean up. If it IS infection, I would just dump it. Like I said originally this is just some old extract and old yeast that i decided to make a beer with, that I probably won't like anyway.
just waited it out.
