S-04 fermentis yeast help

[Sacchattack]

Hey everyone, pretty new to this site, but i have used it as my brew bible ever since i started homebrewing. Thanks in advance!

So i'm brewing a Red Ale that i have brewed with great success using the cali ale yeast US-05 from fermentis, but this time i'm using S-04 english ale yeast. My OG is 1.071 for this beer, and when i use the US-05 yeast i get a clean bodied, somewhat biscuity flavored ale.

My goal for the S-04 is to exaggerate the maltiness and make my red taste like cookies. I made a 5 gallon batch, aerated the best i could (transferred between buckets using a funnel to aerate multiple times) and got a thick foamy aerated wort. I pitched two packs of the S-04, just cuz i got them for free and figured overpitching is better than underpitching.

So i started fermentation at 64 and it took off, and about a liter of brew poured into my blowoff bucket. 4 days later the gravity is 1.020 and i taste diacetyl. From some of the reviews on this yeast i have seen, this yeast doesn't sound like the cleanest of the bunch, but should i worry about very strong esters and diacetyl? I raised the temp to 68 to hopefully get them to start cleaning, what do you all think?

 

[FuzzBeckersHB]

I would let it ride for up to 21 days in primary. This will allow the yeast time to clean up the beer. Transfer to keg, set gas and cold crash. Test in 5-7 days..
Try to avoid large swings in fermentation temp. It stresses out the troops...
Just my two cents..
Good luck..


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[Sacchattack]

Thanks Fuzzbecker, i guess all i'm really asking is has anyone gotten a Fuller's tasting beer out of this yeast without any significant off flavors. Is a clean beer possible with S-04?

 

[stratslinger]

Absolutely it's possible - don't ever panic or make judgements on a beer 4 days into fermentation! That's way too early! Step away from the fermenter, grab a homebrew, and come back in a couple weeks.

 

[catdaddy66]

Absolutely it's possible - don't ever panic or make judgements on a beer 4 days into fermentation! That's way too early! Step away from the fermenter, grab a homebrew, and come back in a couple weeks.

This^^^!

With beer, time is on your side. Must be if Mick Jagger says so!


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[DonH]

S-04 is one FUNKY BUNCH OF YEAST! seriously! Not to mention insanely overactive! I noticed when I used it once I experienced the same thing as you... but well into 5 weeks of fermentation. Cold crashed then 2 weeks later, all the off flavoring was gone and I was happy.

 

[Hammy71]

04 is a yeast you either love or hate. Depends on your own sense of taste. I can't stand it and can taste it in a beer. While a friend of mine can drink out of the same glass and not taste a thing. Don't give up on your brew. Experimentation is what home brewing is about. How else will you know what YOU like? Cheers!!

 

[Sacchattack]

Thanks everyone, i can already taste the buttery slickness going away. If possible, i like to turn out a beer every 3 weeks or so.

I know it can be detrimental to the best possible tasting brew, but sometimes i like to challenge myself on a timetable of a microbrewery. I'm going to let her ride in the primary with some slight agitation here and there for another week or so, i captured some of the yeast from the blowoff and might repitch into the secondary when i rack it.

I'm all about experimentation! I'll let you all know how this red evolves!

 

[KeninMN]

Last Sunday I brewed the Dry Dock SS Minnow Mild from Northern Brewer using S-04, which I rehydrated prior to pitching. Active fermentation began in 5 hours, with a full krausen in 7 hours, which dropped completely after 48 hours. Fermentation was done in a swamp cooler, with the wort temperature staying at a steady 70° F until Day 7, after which it finally dropped to 66° F. My guess is that primary fermentation is done. I'll hold it another 2 weeks and then bottle it. This was by far the fastest fermentation I've yet experienced.

 

[FuzzBeckersHB]

Cool , keep us posted

 

[boydster]

I like 04 if it is fermented at around 60-62. That's beer temp, not ambient. If it gets much higher, I find it starts throwing esters that I don't care for. Once fermentation slows down, I bump it up a few degrees to help keep the yeast active. It's definitely an aggressive yeast, and when it's done it drops clear fast. But when it starts, if I'm not already cooled to the lower 60's, it is almost impossible to get the temp down to where I like it without causing the yeast to stall.

 

[Sacchattack]

**Here's the official follow up**

I kegged the red into my mini kegerator and sampled it after letting the beer to lager for about a week. My friends are a fan of the red i made, which ended up being about 7.35% abv. However, after dealing with this yeast, i can't say i'm a fan. The final beer came out tasting nice and malty, but the diacetyl is still present (although dialed down). The beer tastes velvety, the nose is still nice and malty, but there is definitely some diacetyl and a some solventy nodes in the flavor. If you use this yeast, i would suggest fermenting it lower than perscribed by fermentis (60-62) and let it age for a few extra weeks in the primary.

The main drawback with this yeast is its vigorous primary fermentation (between 3-4 days for majority fermentation). Once it initially ferments, you have to spend way too much time waiting on it to clean up (~3 weeks in primary). I would just go the nottingham route if you're set on dry yeast. Just my opinion though.

 

[burninator]

A friend and I brewed a milk stout on Sunday. Pitched this yeast around 7pm, and a few hours later, it was bubbling like crazy. Took me until mid day yesterday to really get it cooled down, and now it seems to be totally still.

I figure I'll stir it up a bit at the beginning of next week and then give it until around the end of the month to finish doing its thing in primary.