Soulive
Well-Known Member
I've had a batch in primary for 30 days. When am I screwed?
When does autolysis begin?
- Thread starter Soulive
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
Catfish
Art by David Shrigley
A lot of it depends on the health of the yeast at the beginning. Did you pitch in a bunch of happy, health, sugar chomping monsters, or were they flacid, half dead, trub-encrused bug food? A month is fine if you have happy yeast at the beginning. Pitching crapped out yeast is asking for problems.
I've never seen autolysis except when trub is left sitting for a couple months. If the brew is left in the fermenter, it doesn't seem to happen. I've left a melomel in the fermenter for 18 months & it still smells fine. One of those factoids that will never die.
OP
OP
Soulive
Well-Known Member
My pitching was healthy. I'm glad to hear that I'm not screwed 
I'm not an expert in off flavors at all but I think my last batch of pale ale has a yeast autolysis aroma. It tastes fine, just has a bad yeast smell. I have a feeling I overstressed the yeast. I took a slurry from my blonde, kept it in the fridge for 10 days, pitched into 10 gallons of amber, then racked 10 gallons of pale directly onto the cake. I just think the number of dead cells crept up on me which is why yeast washing is important. So. I agree that it's not how long it sits.
