S04 off flavors plus yeast washing questions

[Riverevir]

Hi all!

Hoping to get some thoughts from some more experienced brewers. I've had an Oktoberfest ale in the primary for several weeks. It was my first all grain and the OG was a little low, but it all tasted fine for a few hydrometer pulls. Today when I went to bottled, I used corn sugar and mixed it and realized I didn't take a sample to make sure all was ok. I did pull one after the sugar went in, and it tasted odd.

I kept bottling but I'm curious why it tasted a bit off. Could boiled water and corn sugar cause this? Fermentation was finished during my prior hydrometer pulls so I'm really kinda confused how it would have picked up an issue between last week and today.

The second question related to this batch is I boiled some mason jars and poured off some yeast slurries of it. Yes it's just dry yeast, but I thought it would be a couple of bucks and it would also give me a chance to see what this process is all about. If I did get off flavors at some point in the process, am I wasting my time by doing the yeast washing? Will whatever (if something did) went wrong have a negative impact on this yeast moving forward?

Thanks!

 

[Burquebrewer]

First off, explain what you mean by odd? A better explanation of the odd flavor could help determine what is the cause of the flavor. Second, how were you pulling these hydrometer samples, and how many did you pull?

The addition of corn sugar is definitely going to made it taste a little sweeter, obviously. Is that what you are tasting is sweetness and a little bit of corn flavor in there? If so, that could be the answer.

As far as the yeast washing, I reuse yeast but never wash! I simply put the slurry from my previous batch into a sanitized and cooled mason jar and cap it really tight. Be sure the mason jar is cool if you've boiled it, or else the high temps could ruin the yeast. You definitely do not want to save an re-use any yeast that produced a funky tasting beer. But, as far as learning goes, the inly way to learn is to do it. Save the yeast, taste the beer when its ready. if the beer tastes good, make a starter with the slurry you've saved, then smell and taste the starter wort before pitching the starter. If it tastes and smells clean, and the batch it came from did as well, you should be good.

Good luck!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

S-O4 is an ale yeast that is not typical of Octoberfest. If you fermented it above 64 degrees it is likely that it tossed up esters that are not desired in the style. In the realm of dry yeasts, a better choice might have been W-34/70 (which oddly enough is much better behaved at high temperatures than is S-O4).

https://mashmadeeasy.yolasite.com/

 

[mulletmaster]

.

As far as the yeast washing, I reuse yeast but never wash! I simply put the slurry from my previous batch into a sanitized and cooled mason jar and cap it really tight.

I thought air tight mason jars of slurry could potentially rupture if the internal pressure builds?

 

[Riverevir]

To be honest I have trouble describing it but it was almost a touch tart, but it had a nice malt taste prior to bottling day. I have ported fermenters, and all hydrometer samples get pulled from the same place and sanitized after. I also bottle from the same type of setup (fermonsters). I pulled 3 hydrometer samples total.

I would put it more towards apple flavor than corn but I just can't figure when it would have crept in.

Do you refrigerate your slurry and Shake it up after it's at room temp to recombine everything prior to adding it to your starter? I realize this sounds silly but if you're pitching the slurry does it get tough to get the yeast out after it's separated into layers? Having not done it, some of the stuff I have read doesn't say what's OK to go into the starter.

 

[Riverevir]

S-O4 is an ale yeast that is not typical of Octoberfest. If you fermented it above 64 degrees it is likely that it tossed up esters that are not desired in the style. In the realm of dry yeasts, a better choice might have been W-34/70 (which oddly enough is much better behaved at high temperatures than is S-O4).

https://mashmadeeasy.yolasite.com/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=39021

Thanks for your comment but it's from a recipe with 90 pages. I wasn't really looking for comments about the use in the specific recipe as much as what type of esters it gives off.