Can you recover from stressed yeast?

[jrrenola]

I have a separate thread about how I might have brewed "apple juice" when I was trying to brew an ESB. For clarity, there was NO apple product involved.

In researching, I found that I had been misusing dry yeast. Specifically, I had not rehydrated Safale-04 in the "bad" batch and added it directly to 58*F wort. Presumably, this stressed the yeast. The wort has fermented and was bottled already, so I assume it may just be a lost cause.

Right now, I have a variation of None More Black Stout going in the primary (been in for about a week), where I pitched Safale-04 directly into 69*F wort. In the interest of avoiding a repeat of the "apple" problem, should I rehydrate another packet of Safale-04 and add it to the fermenter to try to help perform some proactive cleanup? The beer fermented @ 60*F for about 7 days and I'm now gradually raising the temp toward ambient (68*F). It's currently about 62*F and I'm still seeing bubbles in the airlock.

Any help avoiding another bad batch would be greatly appreciated!

 

[grem135]

primary fermentation is probably done already. the bubbles you see are from pressure change as it warms up. Just let beer sit in the primary so the yeasties can clean up and settle out. I usually leave mine in primary for 3-4 weeks unless it needs aging or life gets in the way.

 

[jrrenola]

Just to clarify, I'm worried that having pitched the Safale-04 dry might be creating unnecessary off-flavors. So, would it help to hydrate another package and add it to bolster the original yeast and help the acetaldehyde (and other by-product) clean-up?

 

[boydster]

I would take a gravity reading and taste the sample. A fresh packet of yeast probably isn't going to help, but if you taste the same flavor or the gravity is still high you can bump the temp up to 68 and rouse the yeast to try and encourage it to finish.

 

[DocScott]

Pitching dry, although not optimal, should not produce off flavors. The yeast will hydrate in the wort and get to work. I see no need to repitch.

As far as "apple" flavor. That is most likely just young or green beer. As the flavors develop and blend, this should fade. Sometimes it takes 2 weeks, other times several months.

As far as the future, hydrate your dry yeasts prior to pitching and try to pitch into wort at the temp you hope to ferment at. You'll be fine with this batch!

 

[jrrenola]

Thanks for the responses. I'm hopeful that the stout comes out well. I would rather not have another 5 gallons of gnarly beer!

 

[JimRausch]

Pitching dry, although not optimal, should not produce off flavors. The yeast will hydrate in the wort and get to work. I see no need to repitch.

As far as "apple" flavor. That is most likely just young or green beer. As the flavors develop and blend, this should fade. Sometimes it takes 2 weeks, other times several months.

As far as the future, hydrate your dry yeasts prior to pitching and try to pitch into wort at the temp you hope to ferment at. You'll be fine with this batch!

I agree with Doc- pitching dry yeast directly may result in some of them dying, but the surviving ones will ferment normally. The apple flavor may be 'green' flavor which will fade, or could be a result of too high fermenting temperatures early during your fermentation. Old thought used to be pitch warm to stimulate increased yeast growth, but higher temps in the 1st 12-24 hours is more likely to lead to off flavors. So, current best practice is to pitch on the cool side of your yeast range and warm it up, if necessary, toward the end of fermentation to help clean up any off-flavor compounds that may have been produced.
I also agree that pitching more yeast on your stout after a week is a waste of time. Take a SG and I'll bet you'll see it's close to predicted FG.

 

[jrrenola]

OK. I guess I'm just gunshy after I thought I had done well on this prior batch. So far, my only semi-clean beer has been using White Labs WLP009 in an ESB. My other attempts have either been kits (Mr. Beer and Brewers Best) where I used the supplied dry yeast or Safale-04 pitched "dry".

The same off-flavor has haunted me so far through my short career, even across changes in equipment. As such, I'm trying to focus in on my process as it's the common thread through all the batches. This off-flavor is best described as cidery/apple-y and completely overpowers any other flavor in the beer. In fact, the Brewers Best Milk Stout kit result was renamed "Sphincter Stout" b/c it tasted like a**, even after 6 months of bottle conditioning!

Thanks!

 

[BigFloyd]

Are you picking up any vinegar sort of taste with any of those beers. An ongoing problem like that makes me suspicious of an infection, possibly acetobacter.

 

[jrrenola]

Are you picking up any vinegar sort of taste with any of those beers. An ongoing problem like that makes me suspicious of an infection, possibly acetobacter.

No, it hasn't been vinegary, per se. When I brought in a sample of the Sphincter Stout to the LHBS, they noted the fruity nature and some astringency. I'm at a loss to explain the taste well enough beyond apple-y/cidery. Sorry!