Safale US-04 yeast = funky flavor?

[pvtpublic]

Check this out. It's an off flavor troubleshooting guide.

 

[Protos]

I think, your packs might be a special batch or something like this, because it never gave me lactic acid. I've had relatively clean beers and best flocculation ever from it. But you are certainly not the first person reporting this behaviour of s04, so there must be something to it somehow. When did you try it and how old are the packs?

I haven't been brewing with S-04 for 2 years. The sachets are still not expired, I bought them very fresh.
Sometimes I'm thinking of trying it again, after multiplying in a starter... but then I feel pity for my potentially wasted grains and efforts and take M36 instead.

 

[Miraculix]

I haven't been brewing with S-04 for 2 years. The sachets are still not expired, I bought them very fresh.
Sometimes I'm thinking of trying it again, after multiplying in a starter... but then I feel pity for my potentially wasted grains and efforts and take M36 instead.

OK, then it might be a case of old batch problems. Not "expired" old, but "old version s04 strain" old. They have changed something with this yeast, as it looks like. The new version does not do the strange stuff any more. Maybe safe the old version for cider or throw it away. If you try this yeast again, make sure it is a brand new pack. It behaves just like you are describing m36, which I finally managed to brew with again. It looks like it is a very nice bitter, not much yeast derived flavour but still a nice bitter.

 

[Bobby_M]

Add me to the list of people who get a tart, almost metallic effect from S-04. I can be relatively sure the yeast is the variable because this was a split batch that was also fermented separately with WLP002. The White Labs version of the beer is delicious and took a bronze metal recently.

 

[Miraculix]

Add me to the list of people who get a tart, almost metallic effect from S-04. I can be relatively sure the yeast is the variable because this was a split batch that was also fermented separately with WLP002. The White Labs version of the beer is delicious and took a bronze metal recently.

When was the pack manufactured?

 

[HM-2]

I'm a very regular S-04 user (basically, 90% of my British beers contain it as one element to a copitch and a still regularly brew beers exclusively with it) and I've never had a "tart" or "metallic" taste from it. It can sometimes push a bit of apple or pear IME, especially if it's fermented a bit on the warm side, but I've never had that lactic twang you sometimes get with Kveik, or metallic.

 

[aceluby]

S04 is my goto ale yeast and I’ve never gotten that flavor either. Probably because when I do there are so many flavors that I never really get any yeast flavors. I prefer it to the US05 lately, just because I’ve gotten a couple of duds that didn’t ferment at all.

 

[Bobby_M]

When was the pack manufactured?

It can't be too old because I sell a case a week and I don't buy a huge quantity at a time.