All my homebrews so far taste of yeast

[allanmb]

I am fairly new to brewing ale. I have attempted a few ales from kit so far (Festival Ales amongst others). I have been mostly very happy with the results but I have noticed that all of them have the same background taste of yeast. I have tried a few different manufacturers but they have all tasted the same. Is this a common thing in all homebrew? Or just because I have been lazy and used a kit? I have tried using finings before bottling which makes the sediment amount much less and firmer at the bottom of the bottle but there is still a taste.

The reason I ask, is that I am now tempted to try and make my own mash from scratch but I want to know if there is anything I can do to avoid this yeast taste. Either use a specific strain of yeast or other.

 

[Hopinista]

What yeasts are you using? Fermentation schedule/temp etc..

 

[allanmb]

I'm not sure what the yeast is. Here are a couple of manufacturers I have used:
http://www.festivalpremiumale.co.uk/
http://www.woodfordes.co.uk/

Fermentation schedule seems to be similar for all kits I have used so far which is approx 2 weeks at 21-22 celsius. Then I someimtse put in finings and leave for 48 hours. Then bottle and leave for 1-2 weeks at approx 20C then 2-4 weeks at 5-10C

 

[Ayuir]

Yea!! I love yeast

I typically add finings toward the end of the boil to help the cold break drop. I've never opened my fermenting beer to add it then reseal for another couple of days. This might be a part of the yeasty flavor. If you want to keg your beer you can cold crash it to stop the fermentation and many yeast strains will settle out. Check the strain of yeast with the manufacturer/breeder/packager (Wyeast and such)...some strains leave more of a yeasty impression than others.

 

[m1batt1]

I'm inclined to say you're fermenting a little too warm. If the 21-22 is your ambient temps then the fermenting beer is likely even warmer. Try 17-19c moving forward and see if that doesn't help with the taste you're experiencing.


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[JacksonE]

I was really having trouble with this but found leaving my beer to bottle condition to 3-4 weeks, rather than 10-14 days really helped. Still need to be careful not to pour out the whole bottle though. Good job practice makes perfect

 

[Yooper]

I have a feeling that the yeast you're getting with the kit is a small amount (6 grams) of poor quality yeast and fermenting at the temperature of 21-22C is really warm for good tasting beer.

I'd suggest trying a quality yeast strain (not sure what you have available to you), a better quality kit with fresh extract and grains, and fermenting at 18C at the highest.

 

[allanmb]

I'm inclined to say you're fermenting a little too warm. If the 21-22 is your ambient temps then the fermenting beer is likely even warmer. Try 17-19c moving forward and see if that doesn't help with the taste you're experiencing.


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I am using a taped thermometer on the outside of the plastic barrel which is reading 21-22. It is in a much cooler room but I use a heated pad to raise the temp to this. Do you think that could be a problem?

 

[allanmb]

I have a feeling that the yeast you're getting with the kit is a small amount (6 grams) of poor quality yeast and fermenting at the temperature of 21-22C is really warm for good tasting beer.

I'd suggest trying a quality yeast strain (not sure what you have available to you), a better quality kit with fresh extract and grains, and fermenting at 18C at the highest.

Ok, I think I will try out some alternate yeast. This is where I usually order from:
http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/yeast-c134#sort4

Are there any there you would recommend? I have been told to avoid turbo yeast like the plague!

I was thinking about this one:
http://www.home-brew-online.com/specialist-c59/safale-us-05-p1394

Thanks

 

[flars]

Great beers can be made form kits. The kit is not the problem unless your source has very old stock. These kits should be fresh from the manufacturer because they are good sellers.

Buy a premium yeast separately in 11 gram packets. Keep the wort temperature at 18°C to 20°C for the first four to five days of active fermentation. The yeast can produce a 2°C to 3°C temperature increase during active fermentation. After five days the temp could rise a degree or two to help keep the yeast active.

Keep your beer in the primary for three weeks. Let the yeast clean up natural off flavors after active fermentation is complete. The extra time will also allow the yeast to drop out and form a compact cake.

Most kits have generic instructions designed to produce a beer fast. For a good beer they need to be tweaked a bit.

A forum that may have some answers also. http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

 

[Yooper]

Go to the Danstar/Fermentis pages, and choose S04 for English style beers, and S05 for American style beers.

If you use S04, ferment at 16-17C. If you use S05, ferment at 18-19C.

Those are quality yeast strains, in 11 gram packages, and holding them at a proper temperature (generally below 20C for both!) will make a huge difference in the beer.

 

[allanmb]

Thanks for the info guys. Since I was diverting away from the yeast in the kits I thought I would go the whole hog and come up with a completely non-kit recipe. Below is what I cooked up.

So far, I am 3 days in and things are fermenting away nicely. OG was measured at 1052, and my hops I ordered turned out to be slightly higher acidity than calculated so my IBU is going to be closer to 67!

Ingredients:
2 x 1.5Kg Coopers Light LME
500g Extra Light DME
250g Brewers Sugar (plus additional 75g for bottle conditioning)
11.5g packet of Safale US-05 yeast
20g Citra hop leaves (plus extra for dry-hopping)
20g Simcoe hop leaves (plus extra for dry-hopping)
20g Apollo hop leaves
20g Kohatu hop leaves (plus extra for dry-hopping)
Whirlfloc tablet and/or beer finings

60 mins:
20g Citra
10g Apollo

30 mins:
10g Apollo

10 mins:
10g Simcoe
10g Kohatu

0 mins:
10g Simcoe
10g Kohatu

Target IBU: 60
Target ABV: 5.4%
Estimated OG: 1051
Estimated FG: 1009
Estimated Colour: EBC 8

- Add the 500g DME to a large stock pot with water, bring to boil and let froth clear (hot break) making sure not to let anything stick to the bottom of the pot
- Add the hops in bags in stages as listed above
- Sparge the hop bags by pouring additional boiling water over the bags and then add the rest of the fermentables (LME and brewing sugar)
- Bring back to the boil past the hot break, constantly stirring.
- Once at a rolling boil remove from heat and cool quickly in a sink of very cold water or use immersion chiller
- Add a whirlfloc tablet if using
- Top up to 23L with cold tap water
- Once temp is below 20C, pitch the yeast
- Leave to ferment at 18C with an airlock for 10-14 days or until fermentation is very slow
- Transfer to secondary fermentation vessel and taste to see if dry-hopping is necessary. If dry-hopping add the hop leaves in bags (don't use Apollo to dry-hop)
- Add finings at this stage if using them
- Leave for 7 days with airlock
- Syphon into another fermentation vessel and add 75g of brewers sugar. Gently stir then bottle.
- Leave in a warm dark place to carbonate for 14 days
- Leave in a cool dark place to settle and clear for 21-28 days
- Enjoy!

 

[gregfreemyer]

I'm not sure what the yeast is. Here are a couple of manufacturers I have used:
http://www.festivalpremiumale.co.uk/
http://www.woodfordes.co.uk/

Fermentation schedule seems to be similar for all kits I have used so far which is approx 2 weeks at 21-22 celsius. Then I someimtse put in finings and leave for 48 hours. Then bottle and leave for 1-2 weeks at approx 20C then 2-4 weeks at 5-10C

I keep my beer at cool room temp for at least 5 weeks before lagering in the fridge. I think it tastes even better if I wait up to 10 weeks before lagering. From what I read here it takes that long because my temps/process isn't perfect so some off-flavors get in to my beer. Giving it longer to condition gives the beer time to clear the off-flavors.

If you have a perfect process/temps you can in theory get it down to 4 weeks from brew day to drinkable. Most kits have you rush the process so you won't be put off by how long it takes.

Also, there is yeast in the bottom of the bottle after carbing/lagering. Be sure to pour your beer into a glass and leave the yeast in the bottle. If you treat the bottle gingerly that should not be hard. If you are rough with the bottle all the yeast will come up from the bottom. Also be sure and store your bottles vertical after bottling all the way to pouring.