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Slight underpitch WLP090, estery? Fusels?

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BrewinBrian44

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I recently brewed an IPA that was supposed to come in at 1.058 OG but instead came in at 1.067! The beer was brewed at a sponsored event where all the grain and hops were provided, but their crush was EXTREMELY fine, therefore bumping up my efficiency from 65% to 76%.

I built, crashed and decanted a 1L starter of WLP090 that was intended for my 1.058 wort. I used the homebrew dad calculater (.75 million/ml) and pitched 216 billion cells. I just entered in my actual OG of 1.067 and it says I needed 232 billion cells, so I'm 16 billion short :mad:

I oxygenated my wort with pure O2 for 60 seconds and pitched the yeast at 70 degrees. The fermentation went very strong 12 hours post pitch.

Temp Schedule:
66deg day 1-4
67deg day 5 "appeared pretty much done, barely any airlock activity"
Day 6+ free rise to 75deg

Pulled a gravity/taste sample day 7 and reached my target FG of 1.013. The flavor was pretty fruity/estery and smooth, no diacetyl, but I noticed a kind of alcohol nose...

From what I've read about this yeast, I expected a very clean flavor profile. The fruity esters are actually kind of nice, but I'm a little concerned the ethanol nose might be some fusels... Could this be due to the 7.2%ABV and 75deg warm taste sample?

Is this a pretty bad under pitch? Anyone else kick these kind of esters out of this yeast?
 
I have used this yeast for 3+ years and I never encountered what you describe. 16B short should not adversely affect your beer. It is still young and a week of conditioning should bring you to where you expect.
 
I have also used WLP090 extensively and have not seen such an outcome. In fact, I will probably switch because it is so clean that I find it lacking any yeast-produced character at all.

I agree on the pitch rate comment above.

Check it after a week of cold storage post-packaging and see if you still get this unanticipated flavour.
 
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