Off flavour???

[jbunton]

I've been brewing all grain for about 6monthes now and have brewed about 14 batches. All have been drinkable some awsome some ok however I have noticed a recurring flavour in my beers. It seems to be a yeasty type of flavour that I taste sometimes but more so when belching after drinking my brews. It seems way less prevalent after 3+ weeks bottle conditioning vs 2 but is still there. None of the standard off flavours describes it. I pour carefully and don't drink the trub. I'm thinking it's yeast but I'm not certain. Any input?

 

[jdauria]

How long are you fermenting for? You should let the beer ferment at least three weeks in primary before bottling and if you can cold crash the beer drop the yeast out of suspension, even better. And two weeks is too short for carbing in bottle, you want to give it at LEAST three weeks.

 

[jbunton]

I've been doing 2-3 weeks in primary, and 2-3 weeks for conditioning.
Most on here seem to recommend 2 weeks primary. Some batches 2 weeks primary some 3. I have a saison right now that will be almost 3 weeks in primary before I bottle. Unfortunately I dont have a reliable way to cold crash right now however I have been taking advantage of these cold temps in my shop to cold crash when I can.

 

[wishingiwasfishing]

agree...be sure you're done fermenting...and bottle condition longer. Depending how large your batch is...open one bottle a week and taste, starting at the two week point. This should help you taste through the process. In short...I'd give the conditioning more time

 

[jbunton]

so would a correct assumption be that the flavour is the yeast? I have used a few different kind of yeasts but the flavour or should I say aroma when belching is the same. Other people don't seem to notice the taste/flavour it seems like I do, maybe I am just over critical sometimes due to having brewed it?

 

[macaronijones]

Time cures most thing in homebrews, particularly a yeasty flavor. You basically answered your own question saying it tastes better after three weeks than two- more yeast is dropped out of suspension. I noticed my beers started tasting cleaner a lot quicker when I started cold crashing, although I know you said you don't have a way to do that. I just move some racks around until my fermenter fits in my fridge.

 

[macaronijones]

Also, yeah you're almost definitely hyper critical of a beer you made, I'm sure we all are.

 

[jbunton]

cool, thanks allot guy for the replies. I have allot of upgrades planned to my setup in the new year starting with a keezer and kegging setup, as I am growing very tired of bottling. After that will be to upgrade my kettle and add pumps and various other things. When kegging do I need to condition as long even though I am not carbonating? And as well would it be beneficial to get some sort of filtration setup to filter into the keg?

 

[macaronijones]

In general kegging means you can drink the beer faster since you don't have to wait for it to carbonate, but it won't necessarily taste as nice as it would if you let it sit for three weeks in the keg before trying it. With either method, bottling or kegging, it's usually true that the last one tastes the best.

 

[macaronijones]

Also filtration into keg sounds like overkill. I just cold crash and fine with gelatin in my fermentor, then siphon into keg and hit it with gas. You can be drinking it the next day if it's to your standards, or let it condition for as long as you can stand.