Same Flavor in every batch - Yeast?

[DHill]

I have been brewing for about 4 years now. Seems like no matter what I do or how long I wait, I always have the same yeasty flavor in my beer. I usually use the little yellow packs of Muntons active brewing yeast that are sold at my local brew store.

I've tried lots of different fermenting variations. I am now doing primary in a glass carboy for 2-2.5 weeks, secondary in a second glass carboy for 2-2.5 weeks. Usually by then it is pretty clear. Then I transfer to the keg and wait about 1 week before I it starts serving duty.

It's always got the same hint of flavor, even if I make a flavored beer. So the next question is even if I try a different yeast, will it still be there, and should I adopt a decent filter system? I've seen some adaptations from whole house water filters. Is there a low maintenance way to filter, or am I just stuck with this same yeasty flavor forever?

 

[danielinva]

I wouldn't spend any money on filtration until I had made the easier adjustment and just switched out the yeast. I've never used muntons myself, but I haven't really heard or read good things about it. If you want to stick with dry I would look into these two brands of yeast:
Fermintis
Danstar

 

[Yooper]

I'd try switching the yeast first. I'd consider water second. Are you using tap water? I wonder about chlorine or chloramines in your water, which can have a distinctive taste in the finished beer.

 

[Pappers_]

Two thoughts:

1. Try different yeasts. What style of beer do you make? For a clean, crisp, highly attenuated beer, try using a packet of Fermentis' Safale US-05 and see if that makes a difference. Or look at the White Labs website and pick another variety or two that appeals to you.

2. Try to really identify the flavor you are describing. When you say "yeasty" do you mean like fresh baked bread? Or do you mean it tastes sour? Or tangy like tart fruit?

If you always use Mouton's yeast, though, try some other varities and strains.

 

[Brew-boy]

Simple test, try a liquid yeast and buy RO water and see if the off flavor is still there.

 

[DHill]

Thanks for the responses.

I always use filtered or bottled water for brewing. The yeasty flavor is kind of a sour-ish sweetish taste. Kind of hard to describe. For my lighter recipes they often come out pretty sour and then they slowly mellow over a month or so after the initial 6 weeks of fermentation steps. One recipe was declared "Sour Ale" by a friend and he says it's pretty Belgian. Since a lot of Belgian beers are open fermented I wondered if I was doing something weird with the yeast.

Sometimes it gives me a different kind of light headed buzz that is distinctly different than any commercial beer. Sometimes I wonder if I have some sensitivity to yeast. It's not because it's strong - it's a weird reaction to the taste that I feel immediately upon tasting.

My father in law recently made some root beer and the sweetness in that root beer tasted a lot like the flavor in my beer. He attributed it to yeast. Tastes great in root beer but not so much in homebrew, in my opinion.

I typically brew in 5 gallon batches and I use 1 packet per batch. I've never tried to calculate if there is an optimum yeast g/gallon ratio. Is there such a thing or a guideline for this purpose?

Cheers.

 

[uncleben113]

I have been having this same problem! I just finished my 2nd batch and both of them have had a weird sour taste. Its not terrible but it definitely interferes with the flavor.

I'm pretty sure we use Muntons dry yeast but we use tap water.

I am about to start a porter in a few days and maybe I'll use RO water and some different yeast.

Our first batch was a Fattire clone and this last one was a hefeweizen. But there was a noticeable difference in amount of rise in fermentation with the 2nd batch.

The first bubbled out of the airlock but the hefeweizen barely broke 2 or 3 inches in height in a 7 gal bucket.

Also, could this be because I cook in an aluminum pot?

 

[bdleedahl]

I noticed this used to happen to me as well using coopers ale yeast, and then i switched it up and learned the massive difference in taste the type of yeast you use can make.

 

[uncleben113]

which yeast did you switch to?

 

[HSM]

Muntons and Coopers.... always leave me with a yeasty taste. If you are going dry go Nottingham.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Or Safale-05. Great clean yeast. Make sure your temps are under control too. It will attenuate like crazy.

 

[uncleben113]

I have some Safale-04 for the porter I'm about to brew. Will that work?

 

[bdleedahl]

I started using Wyeast and it made i big difference in my opinion, i will probably never go back to coopers or muntons again

 

[Doc Robinson]

I describe the taste of yeast as "musty...moldy bread". I am VERY sensitive to it. The only beers I have ever brewed that don't have those hints are my dark beers and those that I use Notty in. Notty is highly flocculant. When I use Wyeast 1056 or 1010 (per the website, these are medium-low flocculation), I get the same musty aftertaste that makes me just want to dump the batch. I am currently in an experimentation mode...I have been cold crashing my beers to try and drop the yeast out, but I have been doing it at 38 degrees.

On a Brew Strong podcast with Dr. Charles Bamforth of the UC Davis Brewing Science Program, he was saying that it is the temperature, not the time, of cold crashing that determines the effectiveness. Dr. Bamforth was saying that cold crashing should be done at or slightly below freezing (32F / 0C)...further, he said that 1 day at 32F is more effective than 3 weeks at 36F.

I currently have a batch in the regulated chest freezer at 30 degrees...I plan on leaving it in there for 3 days.