Astringent-possible high temp, fermentation

[dhoyt714]

Had a taste of a pale ale that I just bottled the other day ( I know patience is a virtue) but I like to try the beer at different stages and I noticed a real bad astringent after taste to the beer. I know the beer fermented a little hot at times, maybe 73-75 degrees when the heat got cranked up in the apartment. I know it has some dicetyl alcohol, but still wasn't that bad before the carb. I researched a little around the forums and came up with these possible reasons, but not sure where exactly it came from.

-stessed out yeast
-bad water p.h
-hops in suspension

Ill attach a water report for my town just in case its needed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[BigFloyd]

What kind of yeast did you use?

(Please don't say "Nottingham")

 

[dhoyt714]

unfortunately yes.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Notty can get a bit rough at higher temps

Definitely share the water report though- a lot of my early brew issues were astringency due to very alkaline and high ph wter

 

[dhoyt714]

couldn't upload the file because its too large, but I can link you and its the pdf at the bottom of the page.

http://www.town.exeter.nh.us/publicworks/drinking-water-water-quality-report-ccr-2012

 

[BigFloyd]

unfortunately yes.

There seems to have been a rash of this lately. Notty is a darn good dry option, but it's most certainly a low-temperature (55-68*F) ale yeast.

Please do yourself a favor and next time use another strain of yeast (like US-05 maybe) if you can't keep your ferment temps (measured on the bucket/carboy) consistently below 68*.

I'm afraid that what you are tasting, among other off-flavors, is fusel alcohol. Unfortunately, I've heard it's not likely to age way.

 

[dhoyt714]

Next investment definitely going to be a swamp cooler or a fermentation fridge. That should hopefully solve the problem.

 

[whoaru99]

The last batch I just finished was an APA that while easily drinkable had somewhat astringent flavor. Temps were OK and used S-05 yeast. I'm thinking it's my water. It's very hard around these parts, around 25 gpg. Next batch I think I'm going to try 50/50 of my filtered tap water and distilled water or maybe some RO water from work.

 

[BigFloyd]

Next investment definitely going to be a swamp cooler or a fermentation fridge. That should hopefully solve the problem.

A fermentation freezer/fridge set up with an STC-1000 dual temp controller will keep your fermentation at whatever temp you set with the buttons no matter how hot or cold it is outside.

It's a truly wonderful thing.

 

[YeastHerder]

couldn't upload the file because its too large, but I can link you and its the pdf at the bottom of the page.

http://www.town.exeter.nh.us/publicworks/drinking-water-water-quality-report-ccr-2012

Unfortunately, that water report seems to lack most of the information relevant to brewing. It sounds like you'll need to contact the person they list to find out the kind of information you really want in terms of Calcium, Magnesium, Carbonate, Sulfate, and Chloride.

I agree with what others have said about getting a handle on temperature. A swamp cooler is a cheap alternative for keeping your carboy cooler. Basically, set the carboy in a big container that has some water in it and put a wet t-shirt or some other similar material over it so that it will wick the water up onto the side of the carboy. The evaporation of the water off the t-shirt that is touching the carboy will cool it kinda like how sweating keeps you cool on a hot day. It can knock 5F off your fermentation temps. To push it down further, freeze water in some old soda bottles and rotate them into the big container. Google swamp cooler to get more ideas on this. Mine cost me $12 from target and it keeps my ales all under 70F without even fiddling with any ice.

 

[dhoyt714]

What kind of yeast did you use?

(Please don't say "Nottingham")

I used US-05, not nottingham. The temp range is 59-77.

 

[BigFloyd]

I used US-05, not nottingham. The temp range is 59-77.

That is good news. If you check this batch after 4 weeks in the bottle and it still has the off-flavors, you might want to let it sit in the dark another month and check it again. You could even try cold conditioning a few bottles for several weeks (after the month at room temp) and see if that does the trick.

Be careful about the published upper temperature range for some of these yeasts. I've never heard any of the more experienced brewers (forum or local) express a desire to ferment with US-05 at 77*F on purpose.