Another boogeyman: Autolysis.

On January 4 of this year, my next door neighbor and I brewed up an 11 gallon IPA. I took half, fermented it as usual, oaked it, kegged it, drank it, and enjoyed it a lot.

Today, I was brewing, and the same neighbor stopped by. "Hey," he said. "I've still got that fermenter full of beer in my basement. Should I just dump it out and give it back?"

Since I know better than to dump a batch of beer, I invited myself over for an impromptu bottling party. The bucket fermenter was dusty, and there was some mold in the water in the airlock.

So it was with some trepidation that I cracked open the lid. The first whiff had the sinus and lung burning sensation of inhaling a facefull of CO2. The second whiff was of clean, beery goodness. We took a sample, and tasted. The beer, while lacking in hop nose, was excellent. We bottled it up, and we'll open it in a few weeks to enjoy it before the nose fades any more.

That's right. Nine months after brewday, nothing but the primary fermenter, and not a hint of autolysis. Think I'll stop worrying about that one now...

is it possible that the quality of yeast is WAY better then it was 30 plus years ago?

honest question. seems like lots of myths are being proved wrong but could it have to do somewhat w/ technology, etc?

either way, cool!

I also think that some people like scaring other people's wits. It's a control thing.

i have a batch of apfelwein that sat on yeast for 11 months and no signs! Had a batch go bad in 6 months, The difference was the bad batch was around 75 most of the time, the good batch was under 75. I make no assessments from this other than to think people are just looking for a boogy man

Autolysis seems to only be a problem if the yeast are stressed or unhealthy. Otherwise, they just go dormant.

I think autolysis is like a sasquatch. Although ive heard of it ive never actually seen it myself.

It's a bigger problem when brewing lager beers (and wheats), as those are more sensitive to off flavors sometimes, and the yeast can autolyze more easily. Since the lager yeasts still work at colder temps, they don't go dormant as quickly and have more potential to autolyze.

It still isn't a big problem, and likely that most HBers will never have the unfortunate opportunity to experience autolysis as I myself have once on a Vienna lager (that started with an unhealthy pitch of yeast). Good fermentation practices will, for the most part, make autolysis something you needn't worry about.

There are so many 'brew-scares' out there. In an effort to get smarter and more informed we brewers start learning about as much as we can. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Unfortunately, new brewers, and even many experienced ones focus on the ugly. Autolysis, DMS, infections, oxidation, etc... - are all completely overblown fears amongst brewers.

The quality of yeast these days is so good that you don't need to worry about autolysis if the rest of your process is good. Wyeast and White Labs aren't running businesses that create organisms that die and ruin beer.

Again proof that Papazian owns possibly the single greatest contribution to homebrewing.

WorryWort said:

There are so many 'brew-scares' out there. In an effort to get smarter and more informed we brewers start learning about as much as we can. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Unfortunately, new brewers, and even many experienced ones focus on the ugly. Autolysis, DMS, infections, oxidation, etc... - are all completely overblown fears amongst brewers.

The quality of yeast these days is so good that you don't need to worry about autolysis if the rest of your process is good. Wyeast and White Labs aren't running businesses that create organisms that die and ruin beer.

Again proof that Papazian owns possibly the single greatest contribution to homebrewing.

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I've tasted DMS, infection and definitely oxidation in many beers entered into competitions. So someone out there is having trouble with it.

z987k said:

I've tasted DMS, infection and definitely oxidation in many beers entered into competitions. So someone out there is having trouble with it.

Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I can produce an infected beer, oxidized beer with DMS if I want to. And those flaws are all more common than autolysis.

But it's hard to accomplish any of these if you take your time and follow good procedure. Same goes for autolysis.

As opposed to worrying about the bad things that could happen, focus on the things that you should be doing correctly. That's all I meant.

I've had one batch go bad in recent memory. It was apfelwein that, after six months on the yeast, was vinegar. Guess I should have checked that airlock once in a while.