Yeast Cake Looks Like...Brains?!

[bredle]

Just brewed my second all grain version of Bee Cave Brewery Robust Porter with a hydrated pack of Nottingham. The feementation was very active (lots of blowoff through the blowoff tube and some leaking of beer under the sealed bucket lid). When I popped the top I noticed a bit off an off smell to the beer, and after siphoning to the keg (quietly), I saw a yeast cake with a texture I had not seen before. I'm now getting some off tastes in the finish of the beer.

Here's a photo of the yeast cake, have you guys seen this before?

 

[mrduna01]

That is kind of different looking but I wouldn't think much of it until you said that about the smell/flavor. Can you describe the smell and off flavor? Like is it sour, sweaty, soapy or something different? What temp did you ferment at? Notty gets pretty funky above 70. I'd guess at this point the yeast cake is normal and something else in your process needs work.

So many beers... so little time.

 

[eastoak]

that is totally normal, just some CO2 bubbling up making those holes. had you racked the beer right after cold crashing it the cake would be flat then it would form those bubbles as it warms up.

 

[bredle]

The off taste/smell is kind of hard to describe, but it almost tastes a little soapy in the finish. Primary was between 68-70 (no attempt this time at temp control).

You're right about too many beers and not enough time - and this brew (the first time around), was one of the better ones. I will definitely let it sit to see if the nose/taste mellows. I was hoping I didn't have an infected yeast cake based on the looks, but maybe an infected beer based on the smell/taste is what I'm dealing with instead.

 

[passedpawn]

This was a kiwi wit I made. The krausen was sorta brain-like. I have to say your's is really odd.

 

[eastoak]

his is a yeast cake.

 

[passedpawn]

his is a yeast cake.

Oops. I mistook it as the top of the fermentation. I have to stop skimming posts.

 

[DSorenson]

Man, you really got some brains for beer. ...er.... beer for brains. ... screw it... brrrrraaaaaiiiiiins. -drool-

The yeast cake looks funky, I know, but in my recollection (and I almost use notty exclusively) I have seen things equally disgusting looking and the beer was great. 70 is on the ridged high side, but provided enough time notty seems to clean up well. Also refridgerating the bottles for at least a week will help the character of any beer immensely.

 

[mrduna01]

The off taste/smell is kind of hard to describe, but it almost tastes a little soapy in the finish. Primary was between 68-70 (no attempt this time at temp control).

You're right about too many beers and not enough time - and this brew (the first time around), was one of the better ones. I will definitely let it sit to see if the nose/taste mellows. I was hoping I didn't have an infected yeast cake based on the looks, but maybe an infected beer based on the smell/taste is what I'm dealing with instead.

Was that ambient temp? Im guessing you just fermented too warm. Notty is an excellent yeast but like I said it gets really really funky at 70 and above. If you fermented at 68 ambient, the wort temp was well above 70 and probably closer to 78.

So many beers... so little time.

 

[BigFloyd]

Mmmmmmmm..........brains............

Without knowing more about your pitch/ferment temps and how long the beer has been bottle conditioning, it's pretty impossible to identify the cause of any off flavors.

 

[davekippen]

I have seen many different patterns in the yeast cake after racking. Your pic is cool, but not worrisome at all.

I would attribute your off flavor to some other issue like temp control or maybe just something different this time - different water? Different ingredients?

 

[DSorenson]

Note: dammit. That'd have been the perfect time for

IT'S ALIIIIIIVE!

 

[bredle]

Pitch was right around 67, and ambient temp was around 68 for several weeks, so your right, the actual liquid temp during fermentation may have been the culprit (I didn't think about that). It has only been in the keg for a week, so I'm hoping that there still may be hope.

These are always tough lessons to learn (or be reminded of) after the fact!

 

[mrduna01]

Pitch was right around 67, and ambient temp was around 68 for several weeks, so your right, the actual liquid temp during fermentation may have been the culprit (I didn't think about that). It has only been in the keg for a week, so I'm hoping that there still may be hope.

These are always tough lessons to learn (or be reminded of) after the fact!

At fridge temps your yeast has settled out and most likely won't help toward cleaning this brew up. But hey every brew is a new lesson learned! I actually have recently dealt with the same temperature woes... got a notty brew at day 4 right now and have tried to keep it in the low 60s with frozen water bottles. We shall see.... if you don't want to mess with temp control plan your brews accordingly. I am planning a saison next which likes upper 70's but it's not the style for everyone. I'm also taking advantage of cold weather right now by cold crashing on the apartment balcony which is so convenient

Sent from my KFSOWI using Home Brew mobile app

 

[BigFloyd]

Pitch was right around 67, and ambient temp was around 68 for several weeks, so your right, the actual liquid temp during fermentation may have been the culprit

Yep. The Notty funk begins at 68*F and gets worse the warmer the beer temp during the crucial first 2-5 days of fermentation. In your case, it probably peaked at around 72-74*F inside the fermenter.

It's my favorite dry yeast (my LHBS owner is not a fan and frowns at me when I buy it), but I always have started it off at 55-57*F in a regulated fridge and bring it up later to finish and clean up around 65-66*F. If you can't control temps like that, US-05 would be a better choice.