yeasty aftertaste

[mrwaz]

pardon the repeat if this has been already asked. I'm new to the whole thread thing.

I'm making an Irish Red (kit) and I'm having a problem with a strong yeasty taste to it. It has been conditioning in my corni. keg for the last three weeks with no improvement. Any ideas on how I might go about fixing it? Its flavor profile does not indicate any sort of yeasty flavor to it.

mrwaz

[Tweek]

If you are conditioning it in a corny one thing that could be happening is that you are drawing yeast into each of your pints. Corny kegs have a tube that draws off the bottom of the keg, so if the yeast is still active and kicking off sediment you may be drawing some of that into your glass. If this is the case after a few beers you will have sucked all the sediment off the bottom of the keg and should be pouring clean beer.

The other option would be that somehow your yeast went dormant during a very active period of fermentation, leaving tons of little yeasties to add "flavor" to your beer. If you took gravity readings before you kegged you would be able to tell if that is what is happening (you would have very close reading to your original gravity). If so you can try to get the ferment to kick off again by raising the temp on it back to ferment temps or even by adding a enzyme or you could even wait for it to just settle out of suspension, which it should do over time. Then you will need to pour off a few pints before the sediment is gone.


Hope that helps

Cheers

[fuji6100]

I used coopers ale yeast for my first few batches and I had the same yeasty aftertaste in mine until 6-8 weeks after bottling time (when it mysteriously went away)

I use Munton & fison now and I don't get it at all. I need to progress to the liquid yeast packs but I want to perfect a few other techniques first before I start paying $4 for one pack.

[paul84043]

The liquid yeasts are well worth the extra money, they say that it is one of the single biggest things you can do to improve the quality and flavor of your beer.

I never even used dry, I just jumped right in with the liquid.

[mrwaz]

Originally posted by fuji6100
I used coopers ale yeast for my first few batches and I had the same yeasty aftertaste in mine until 6-8 weeks after bottling time (when it mysteriously went away)



Ahhhh....I don't think I've ever used this one before- but sure enough, I think that may be the problem. Maybe I'll start with just letting it hang out for a few more weeks. I usually use Wyeast as well-and I agree, well worth the extra cost. Esp. after this disaster.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

[paul84043]

I've been finding that even the "faster" maturing beers are still much better after a month or so. Unfortunately, there's typically only one or two left at that point..

[mrwaz]

Originally posted by paul84043
I've been finding that even the "faster" maturing beers are still much better after a month or so. Unfortunately, there's typically only one or two left at that point..

You know, I seem to have that same problem. I've been in charge of making the beer for our Monday night get together with some friends. Every time there is a small problem with the beer that I want see if it will "age out" my keg is pretty well dry. I'VE CREATED MONSTERS. In January none of them would have dreamed of picking up a bottle that didn't Bud or Miller. Now whenever they want beer they come to me

[paul84043]

Yeah....I'm in the same boat, we're screwed.
It's hard being a support group isn't it! I decided that I would conquer by sheer volume. It's alot of work up front, you really have to keep hopping to get a bunch of batches going, then you can sort of slow down, but not too much when you're throwing in long fermentation and aging beers like barleywines, Imperial Stouts, Belgian ales and what not.

It helps to find a couple of "old standby's" that everyone likes that ready quickly and make a bunch of those first, then start squeezing in the more complex and interesting beers.

I currently have 4 batches drinkable, about 7 that are bottled and in various stages of aging, 4 in process and one kit on order as I write.

I just went into Brewinator mode, bought a bunch of carboys kits and bottles and went to town!

I plan on basically always having at least 3 to 5 batches in process at any given time. If I have a lager going, it won't add into the count because they take so long.

Good thing the rewards are so worth the effort!!

BTW, I made an Irish red that was supposed to have an O.G. of about 1.040. I wasn't too thrilled about that, so I tossed in an extra pound of DME to kick things up a bit.

After a month, it's finally come into it's own, It's like a beer milkshake....the malt is fantastic. It's very mellow, malty, smooth with only a hint of bitterness. A very refreshing balance when you're tired of being assaulted by the stronger heavier beers.
Next time I will do the exact same thing, but I think I'll toss in just a tiny bit more hops. mmmmmmmmmmmmm....

[fuji6100]

BTW, I made an Irish red that was supposed to have an O.G. of about 1.040. I wasn't too thrilled about that, so I tossed in an extra pound of DME to kick things up a bit.

Have you got a good recipie that you'd be willing to share on this Irish Red?I'm on a quest for an excellent Irish Red recipie.

[paul84043]

It was the Red Ale kit from www.beernut.com
A basic red ale, a little more mild than the amber ale, the extra malt makes it pretty unique. It's very easy to drink and going faster than I wanted it to...

[mrwaz]

I've managed to convince most of the men in my Monday night group that I'd make more if I could afford it. This past week they passed the hat and I've got two more kits on the way. My latest was a Honey Ale. (a true transition beer) and I was hoping that the Red wasgoing to be ready by mid-May. Now I'm down to a little more than two pitchers and nothing waiting in the wings. Even the local grocery store only carries Bud and Miller.

As I've heard one microbrewer tell another, "Friends don't let friends drink swill." So I have to do some fast searching and come up with some commercial micro-brews.