Is it my yeast... or ME?

[Laikacosmonaut]

So yeah,

I ordered my yeast mail order in the dead of summer and, silly me, forgot to order a ice pack. Of course, it was probably one of the hottest weeks of the year and by the time I got it...it wasn't pretty.

The Wyeast 1450 smack pack had swollen up to the point of bursting (i.e. two days after smacking) yet I could distinctly hear the nutrient pack swishing around unruptured. It was also way above blood temperature, felt like at least 90-100*. Naturally, I was distraught and ran straight to the INTARNETS and searched homebrewtalk for an answer.

What I generally got was "it may decrease viability" yada yada, so I just huffed and puffed and made a stepped up starter, and eventually got a healthy yeast count and figured I just saved my $ on what I thought was busted yeast. Brewed my Wee Heavy, pitched, and watched a healthy, vigorous fermentation ensue...

I let it rest on the cake for about 2 months, and to my surprise, the yeast still hadn't flocc'ed. I cold crashed it, it slowly went out of suspension, but my samples were all hazy and murky! On top of that, I was getting a pretty nasty smell out of the carboy, almost burnt rubber which I assume was autolysis, and the taste was just horrid.

I sadly sacrificed that batch to the lawn gods...

However, I assumed it was just something I boned up, so I washed the yeast (washed it damn clean, as I didn't want any nasties getting over) and decided to pitch it into my Pumpkin Ale since it used the same yeast (again, me being cheap and stupid). By that point, I completely forgot about the whole overheated yeast smack pack. Needless to say, everything went well during fermentation, but after the kruesen died down, the aromatics changed for the worst. Again, very off smell, yeast will not flocc, and now I'm getting a faint soapy flavor (again, autolysis) and a almost soap-like film on the top of the beer... And this only a week and a half in the primary.

Which brings me to my TL;DR question...

Was the smack pack overstressed to the point of a kamikaze yeast strain due to the ridiculous heat, or am I just F'ing up like a madman? I just got a new system, everything was going right, had the best brew session, and now this... Really a shot to the ego...

Thanks, and Cheers!
-Laika!

 

[AmandaK]

First off, I love that yeast. It's a great one and a mainstay in my pumpkin beers. Wonderful, silky mouthfeel that just can't be beat.

On the other hand, I know you forgot, but why would you wash yeast that gave you terrible off flavors? The only time I use the yeast I wash (I wash every batch) is after I pour a cool, carbonated pint of excellent beer. I want to make sure that the yeast did it's job like I wanted before I hire it again for another batch of wort. There is no sense in wasting $30-$50 and a day of your time brewing a beer and then pitching sub-par yeast, thereby ruining your batch.

In short, I would say that it's your yeast. I would have never used it in the first place as the online retailers I go to are more than willing to replace a smack pack for no charge.

So try again! (But with different yeast.)

 

[Laikacosmonaut]

On the other hand, I know you forgot, but why would you wash yeast that gave you terrible off flavors? The only time I use the yeast I wash (I wash every batch) is after I pour a cool, carbonated pint of excellent beer. I want to make sure that the yeast did it's job like I wanted before I hire it again for another batch of wort. There is no sense in wasting $30-$50 and a day of your time brewing a beer and then pitching sub-par yeast, thereby ruining your batch.

Ok, I was hoping this would be the answer... Why did I do it? Because I'm cheap as hell, and stupid to boot. Guess I learned my lesson with $60 of brew (not to mention a lot of time!) down the drain.

So try again! (But with different yeast.)

I'm on it!