My bottles don't like my beer...

[unionrdr]

I have spigots on both my fermenters. The trub never gets up to the level of the spigot. But I also pour the chilled wort & top off water through a fine mesh strainer to get a lot of trub out.

 

[je5450]

I bet the turbulence of the beer flowing through the spigot is stirring up some yeast. I always rack to a bottling bucket and leave a little bit of beer in the bottom of the fermenter to make sure I leave as much yeast behind as possible.

 

[EoinMag]

How long are you leaving it on the yeast?

 

[DocScott]

This really doesn't seem to be a bottling issue!! The OP is giving sufficient time for settling and good pours so the yeast sediment is not the problem. The yeast flavor then is most likely something related to phenols made by the yeast during fermentation at higher temps.

Does the beer smell abnormally yeasty? Any hot/medicinal flavor?

 

[thedubliner]

I had exactly this problem, first I tried with lower fermentation temperatures(from 68 to 65), it didn't work, then I changed the sanitation, the problem persisted... I tried MANY MANY things, none of them worked.

I found the solution after searching a lot on the web, do a rolling boil of an hour or more, after that I never had the problem again.

This is really interesting... although I just can't see how this can impact the amount of yeast in the bottle?

As for the other ideas, it may that the spigot in my primary is picking up some yeast, but I can't see that being the issue either. The beer was clear coming out...and I'm pretty sure it didn't smell as yeasty as it does after bottling.

I could try a more highly flocculating yeast, but again, I thought US05 would have been a fairly safe bet for that.

 

[Yooper]

S05 is a very clean yeast, particularly under 72 degrees. I've never left it sit for 4 weeks, though. I usually leave my beer in the fermenter about two weeks, three at the most.

I know a few people (like unionrdr) have had good results with coopers ingredients, but I never have made one drinkable beer with Cooper's kits. Maybe try a different kit/ingredient source for the next batch and see if it's fixed? It's hard to describe a flavor, so maybe what you feel is "yeasty" I would think is "twangy" and not yeasty. Without tasting the beer, we all have to guess the problem. Since I've never had a yeasty flavored beer with S05, it's making me think it's not an actual "yeast" flavor, if that makes sense.

I'd suggest a better quality kit, depending on what you have available in your location. Generally, dry extract, a package of hops, and some dry yeast can make an excellent beer. If you could find some dry light extract, some East Kent Golding hops, and some S04 yeast, you could make an English pale ale and see if the beer is better. If it is, you know it's the ingredients, If not, you would know it's your water or technique. Just a thought!

 

[thedubliner]

Thanks Yooper, sound advice. I'll give it another go without using coopers.

Cheers

 

[unionrdr]

Well,my basic modus operandi is a cooper's can with 3lbs of plain DME & hops to make whatever style I'm persuing. I now use the cooper's 15g ale yeast packets from Midwest or NB. I re-hydrate it for 20-30 m9nutes while I'm pouring xchilled wort & top off water,& stirring.
It starts quick & works just as vigorously as the US-05 I've added dry. But the us-05 tstes cleaner. That is to say,the same without the fruity esters like the cooper's yeast makes. That's def English when it comes to yeast esters.

 

[drew1d]

One refinement i made to my technique that has helped me with yeasty tastes, is letting stuff settle when bottling.

I've always noticed that I'm pressed for time when performing a beer procedure. What works for me is,

- I move the carboy/bucket into position, then wait 20 minutes for stuff to settle.
- I auto siphon with the tip about 2" into the top of the brew, and move down slowly as it drains splashlessly into my bottling bucket. It never touches the yeast cake.
- I move the bottling bucket into position, place lid on (not snapped down) and wait another 20 minutes for everything to settle. (usually doing a quick dunk of the bottles and getting the caps ready in star-san)

I've refined the technique by fermenting on a shelf in my basement, so when I siphon into the bottling bucket, I know the yeast hasn't been swishing around as the carboy/bucket hasn't moved.

Be sure to drink some of the non-carbed beer when bottling. I'm a big fan of tasting at every step because if/when the taste changes from something you like, to something you don't like, you need to look into your procedure and refine it.

Good Luck.

 

[EoinMag]

I think you can make perfectly good beers with Coopers kits, they are one of the most popular kits in the UK and Ireland, it's not because they don't produce good beers. With all due respect to Yooper, I don't think that's the definitive word on Coopers kits.

They are good quality, I reckon you're leaving the beer too long on underpitched yeast....just my .02c, but then again I don't remember reading how long you leave it on the yeast.

 

[1Mainebrew]

Dan said it, check your basics. Especially yeast pitching rates, O2, and proper pitching/fermenting temps. Those are some of the biggest things you can do to improve your beer's taste.

 

[Barnzy02]

bottling from a primary, this is your problem.

+1.

Rack off of yeast cake, then bottle.

 

[1Mainebrew]

+1.

Rack off of yeast cake, then bottle.

This too.