why does my s04 batch taste like apples

[morrillt]

We fermented a very basic blonde recipe with s04 as low as our fermentation "room" can go ~61 degrees. Fermented 5 days

I ended up with a very nice beer that tastes a bit like green apples, which frankly is tasty, but not what I am going for with this beer style.

We are essentially trying to get the most neutral / cream / quaffable beer possible.... I have 3 questions

1.)Is the green apple quality intrinsic to s04? does it increase or decrease with lower and higher temperatures respectively? Longer ferment time?

2.)Given that we are restricted to dry yeast, because of logistical limitations inherent to brewing in south america, what yeast / temperature would you all recommend to get the cleanest cream ale / blond possible? Would nottingham be "cleaner" than any of the safale products?

3.)How much variation in terms of yeast flavors have you all noticed between s04 and s05 with respect to age and storage of yeast packets. I am considering cutting out my middleman to shave a month off of storage time, and wondering what impact that might have on finished product, thoughts?

 

[Sourz4life]

1) Longer fermenting times. All yeast create what is called Acetaldehyde. Its produced by yeast during fermentation and is re consumed post fermentation. YOu just need to give the yeast some time to clear it up. I don't take my beers out of primary for 2-3 weeks.

2) I don't use dry yeast much so I wouldn't have a great answer for that.

3) Dry yeast has a pretty good shelf life especially when stored in the fridge. Again I don't use much dry yeast so I haven't really done many comparisons with them.

 

[crusader1612]

look at your yeast health/pitch rates.
Pitching an extra packet, and rehydrating is a good idea depending on your OG.

 

[Auger]

Saflager 34/70 fermented at ale temps will result in a pretty good blonde/kolsch style beer. You will run into the same issue jamaral mentioned though - it will take some time to clean itself up post fermentation.

 

[mongoose33]

I've used S-04 probably...15 times and I've never had that flavor.

I leave my beer in the primary at least two weeks, and have gone as long as 3-4 weeks. The yeast cleans up after itself if given a chance. Did you bottle or keg after 5 days and taste it immediately? Young beer needs time to grow up.

 

[m1k3]

acetaldehyde = green apple (off flavor is not appropriate in beer - even if it is tasty)

the fermentation was not done

You need to wait longer and if possible warm the fermentation toward the end.

 

[EDF713]

I agree with others that waiting longer before packaging should help clean up the flavors. This is likely with any yeast fermented after 5 days.

Regarding your second question, I used Nottingham for a cream ale fermented around 60 and was very happy with the results. After two weeks in primary I bottled, turned out very clean and clear. If you try S5 in the low 60s you may get peach-like flavors, more noticable in a blond or cream ale.

Also, if it's hard to get yeast where you are, I recommend saving your slurry after you package your beer. There are several forums here on harvesting yeast, but after racking you can just dump the yeast into several sanitized jars and store them in the fridge. If you're happy with the beer, use the yeast for future batches, of not dump them and try another.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, Fermentis lists the S04 fermentation temperature range as 15C – 24C.
I run it at 66°F (just shy of the center) usually for 7-8 days, then a couple/few days at ~68-69°F.
Never get green apple...

Cheers!