Issues off tastes

[kasimirogrady]

Hey guys.

I'm very new to the forum and brewing game. I've been brewing mainly from prepared mash tins at the moment, so no proper brewing but somehow my last German Lager has a very strange stale off taste. It is a bit young and strictly speaking I should leave it until June to complete maturation but I was cheeky and curious, and wanted to to taste the young beer to get an idea but it tasted very off. I've been super careful trying to keep things sterile though. Is it because I tried it far to early or have I messed up the batch? I don't want to wait until June just to find out it never tasted well in the first place. So do the beers really do taste this off until they fully mature or have I messed up?

TIA, Kas

 

[VikeMan]

I'm very new to the forum and brewing game. I've been brewing mainly from prepared mash tins at the moment, so no proper brewing but somehow my last German Lager has a very strange stale off taste.

If it tastes stale, it could be from using extract that was already stale. Or it could be from oxidation, caused by oxygen introduced somewhere in the brewing process (other than at yeast pitch).
One thing is for sure... it's not going to get less stale with aging.

Perhaps you could discuss further what you mean by "stale off taste."

It is a bit young and strictly speaking I should leave it until June to complete maturation but I was cheeky and curious, and wanted to to taste the young beer to get an idea but it tasted very off.

Generally speaking, lagers should be lagered until they are as clear as the brewer wants. In most cases, that's not as long as you seem to be thinking is necessary. After that, there's not much happening other than staling reactions.

 

[kasimirogrady]

If it tastes stale, it could be from using extract that was already stale. Or it could be from oxidation, caused by oxygen introduced somewhere in the brewing process (other than at yeast pitch).
One thing is for sure... it's not going to get less stale with aging.

Perhaps you could discuss further what you mean by "stale off taste."



Generally speaking, lagers should be lagered until they are as clear as the brewer wants. In most cases, that's not as long as you seem to be thinking is necessary. After that, there's not much happening other than staling reactions.

Ah thank you! Well the Lager already does look very clear because I left it nearly 4 weeks in the primary fermenter. Partially because it was fermenting quite slowly as it was a bit colder than I would have liked. Maybe I left it in there too long. the stale off taste was somewhat sweetish. I'm wondering if something was off with the fermentation process and the yeast.

 

[VikeMan]

Ah thank you! Well the Lager already does look very clear because I left it nearly 4 weeks in the primary fermenter. Partially because it was fermenting quite slowly as it was a bit colder than I would have liked. Maybe I left it in there too long. the stale off taste was somewhat sweetish. I'm wondering if something was off with the fermentation process and the yeast.

Well, if it's actually sweet, it may be that attenuation wasn't complete. But oxidation can also taste sweetish. There's a presentation on "Beer (In)Stability, Oxidation, and Freshness Presentation" on my club's web site library here:

http://sonsofalchemy.org/library/

 

[kasimirogrady]

Well, if it's actually sweet, it may be that attenuation wasn't complete. But oxidation can also taste sweetish. There's a presentation on "Beer (In)Stability, Oxidation, and Freshness Presentation" on my club's web site library here:

http://sonsofalchemy.org/library/

Awesome! Thank you. I will read through that. I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of it. Gotta start somewhere

 

[kasimirogrady]

It's banana! I've tried it again and it really brings a banana flavour. I read this usually occurs when yeast is stressed but, if anything, I fermented slightly too cold. So how did this happen?

 

[VikeMan]

It's banana! I've tried it again and it really brings a banana flavour. I read this usually occurs when yeast is stressed but, if anything, I fermented slightly too cold. So how did this happen?

What yeast strain did you use?

 

[kasimirogrady]

What yeast strain did you use?

Oh it came with the brew kit. I don't remember are there specific ones to look out for? The weird thing is I thought the banana flavour comes from when the temp is too high. If anything, mine was actually a bit too low

 

[VikeMan]

Oh it came with the brew kit. I don't remember are there specific ones to look out for? The weird thing is I thought the banana flavour comes from when the temp is too high. If anything, mine was actually a bit too low

Noticeable banana (i.e. Isoamyl Acetate) comes from yeast strains that are prone to making it, particularly Hefeweizen strains. You can squeeze a little more out of these strains with higher temps, but you can't squeeze blood from a turnip, i.e. most strains are not going to make noticeable banana esters no matter how high the fermentation temperature. They will predominantly make other esters instead.

 

[kasimirogrady]

Noticeable banana (i.e. Isoamyl Acetate) comes from yeast strains that are prone to making it, particularly Hefeweizen strains. You can squeeze a little more out of these strains with higher temps, but you can't squeeze blood from a turnip, i.e. most strains are not going to make noticeable banana esters no matter how high the fermentation temperature. They will predominantly make other esters instead.

Ah okay. So different yeast next time might solve the problem?