Diacetyl

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jzelina

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I made and Irish style ale, and while the mash steps went very well, the fermentation seamed to finish after 14 days, and as it stands now 50 days after brewing, picked up diacetyl. Not sure if it got infected, or caused by the yeast not fully cleaning up. I used S0-4 and checked gravity at 10 days 1.013 and 14 days 1.013 so I figured it was finished. Anyway any chance of the butterscotch taste fading. It's not horrible, but not what i was shooting for. By the way it is kegged and carbed and on beer gas mix.
 
Whats the recipe? It picked up this flavor after being kegged and carbonated?
 
7.25 lb American - Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 64.4%
2.75 lb Flaked Barley 32 2.2 24.4%
1.25 lb American - Roasted Barley 33 300 11.1%
11.25 lb Total

sometime after kegging and Not sure exactly when, was not there when i tasted the gravity sample
 
So it was only on the yeast cake for 14 days? the s-04 might not have had nought time to clean up after itself. I've had Diacetely show up way more pronounced after a period of time.
 
So it was only on the yeast cake for 14 days? the s-04 might not have had nought time to clean up after itself. I've had Diacetely show up way more pronounced after a period of time.

No, S04 is super quick and should be finished in a few days. the 'clean up' should take 24 hours, so 14 days for S04 is way overkill (although not harmful). A low-ish OG ale with So4 is often done in 3 days, and it's totally clear in 4-5 days.

Something else happened- probably an infection or something else.
 
It is drinkable, but I would like to figure out what happened to prevent a re occurrence. Gonna think infection get some new tubing and a good cleaning. Bummer is behind the butterscotch smell which affects the taste on top, the secondary taste of the beer is fairly good. Which is what aggravates me
 
Could just be s04. You use it much? I have a handful of times.. It has an offensive taste to it sometimes. I thought it was the munich/aromatic in the recipe, but a batch I made with s05 had none of it.
 
Could just be s04. You use it much? I have a handful of times.. It has an offensive taste to it sometimes. I thought it was the munich/aromatic in the recipe, but a batch I made with s05 had none of it.

That's odd. I find it to a pretty neutral profile yeast. Maybe a bit more ester character than 05.
 
Ever done side by side, exact same batch comparison? I thought they were similar as well, but recollecting and tasting side by side proved different outcomes for me.
 
Here is one rather ambitious possibility... Take the beer out of the keggerator, let it raise to room temperature and flatten it out as much as you possibly can. In the mean time, prepare a small yeast starter (1L is perfect) with a neutral yeast (1056, WLP001 or similar). When the starter is at high krausen, add it to the keg. The active yeast stand a good chance at gobbling up some of that diacetyl (if that is indeed the problem). Pros: reduced diacetyl. Cons: Lots of work, extra expense, time consuming, may not work all that well.
 
What temp did you ferment at? My basement in our new rental is 60 degrees and i always have to bring my beer upstairs to clean up,. If i dont i get the nasty butterscotch taste and smell you're talking about.
I let it sit upstairs for 3 days or so then i dryhop/oak/whatever, then cold crash and keg.
 
What temp did you ferment at? My basement in our new rental is 60 degrees and i always have to bring my beer upstairs to clean up,. If i dont i get the nasty butterscotch taste and smell you're talking about.
I let it sit upstairs for 3 days or so then i dryhop/oak/whatever, then cold crash and keg.

Thinking that may be it. The room I used was about 62 degrees. I did not get the bubbling I normally get during fermentation, I guess a few more degrees up would be better. I also normally keep the beer in the fermentor for three weeks, this time it was two. Also first time using S04. I am trying to warm the keg up for few days on the hope that might work. If not hey it's still beer, and not that bad. My son actually liked it. Live and learn
 
Thinking that may be it. The room I used was about 62 degrees. I did not get the bubbling I normally get during fermentation, I guess a few more degrees up would be better. I also normally keep the beer in the fermentor for three weeks, this time it was two. Also first time using S04. I am trying to warm the keg up for few days on the hope that might work. If not hey it's still beer, and not that bad. My son actually liked it. Live and learn

Yea, bring it to a warmer climate and rouse the yeast a little bit without splashing it. I just brewed yesterday and I'm trying to do my initial fermentation upstairs where it's 69-71 degrees to see if it helps. I just kegged a stout a few days ago and I can smell the buttery smell a little bit and I brought it upstairs to clean up. Like yours, it's still drinkable but I don't want any of that flavor in my beers. So maybe fermenting at 70 will get rid of it. Trial and error... I need a fermentation chamber. :tank:
 
Here is one rather ambitious possibility... Take the beer out of the keggerator, let it raise to room temperature and flatten it out as much as you possibly can. In the mean time, prepare a small yeast starter (1L is perfect) with a neutral yeast (1056, WLP001 or similar). When the starter is at high krausen, add it to the keg. The active yeast stand a good chance at gobbling up some of that diacetyl (if that is indeed the problem). Pros: reduced diacetyl. Cons: Lots of work, extra expense, time consuming, may not work all that well.

I did this with a pilsner that started showing diacetyl after lagering. It worked like a charm. It takes a little effort but its well worth it to not dump a keg.
 
I just had a pale ale that had some diacetyl after I kegged and carbonated the beer. I took the keg out and let it warm up. I took a packet of us04 rehydrated the yeast and pitched it into the keg. After about 4 days I tasted it again and the diacetyl was just about gone.
 
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