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Date: 11 Oct 2006 23:28:32
From: David M. Taylor
Subject: Sob Story of the Day
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Seven days ago I brewed my first Dortmunder (all-grain). To my amazement,
the entire brew session went perfectly -- I hit my mash temperature spot on,
sparge went nicely, the wort tasted great, I hit my original gravity and
volume exactly on the mark. I was so proud of myself. :) I cooled,
pitched the dregs from a 3-quart yeast starter, fermentation started within
a few hours, and was basically finished up a couple of days ago at an
average fermentation temperature of about 55 F.
Tonight I was looking forward to racking the Dort and simultaneously brewing
a new doppelbock that I could pour onto the huge yeast cake from the Dort.
So I cracked all my grains and got them into the mash tun. Then I figured,
well I'd better check on the Dort before I mash the doppelbock, just to make
sure the yeast cake is okay and everything, no big whoop. Good thing I did.
Tasted the Dort, and....... oh my God, astringent beyond belief, with a
medicinal character as well. Had to spit it out, it was so bad. My worst
fears were confirmed. I had absolutely no choice but to dump the whole
batch on my back lawn. It was horrible. There was no way this beer was
ever going to taste good, no way at all.
I feel so.... betrayed. I can't blame myself, because I know in my heart
that I did everything right, at least mash-wise and all that. So, I've
decided to blame my yeast. There is a little more to the story below.
Needless to say, the doppelbock is now going to have to wait until I can buy
some fresh yeast and get a big starter going again.
You see, the story REALLY all began eleven days ago when I made a starter,
and pitched some old yeast I'd had dating from January 2006. I figured
there might be a chance it's still alive, try making a starter and see what
happens. Well, after about 48 hours, nothing had happened, so I went to the
store. They didn't have much selection for lager yeasts, so I settled for
an old pack of Munich lager yeast, manufacture date February 2006. It was
discounted, only $3, due to its age, so I figured, what the heck, it's cheap
and it's worth a shot. I pitched that stuff, and within about 24 hours, I
was seeing fermentation activity in my starter. I figured, oh good, I
lucked out, the stuff worked.
The next day, I brewed up my Dortmunder. As I said earlier, yum, and
everything went great. Then, at pitching time, for the heck of it I tasted
the yeast starter. Well, it smelled of sulfur something fierce, and tasted
pretty nasty as well, but I figured, it's a yeast starter, it's not really
supposed to taste all that good anyway. So I went ahead and pitched it.
(Dammit, I should have known, right there.) But sure enough, fermentation
started right up within a few hours. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of
fermentation that I thought it was.
The problem most certainly was, both the January AND February yeasts were
basically all dead, and with all that time that the starter sat around for
about 3 or 4 days without a good batch of yeast, there was plenty of time
for something wild, either yeast or bacteria or God knows what else, to get
in there and take over. Dammit dammit dammit. I was so looking forward to
both the Dort and the doppelbock. Not sure if I'll make the Dort again for
a while. I'll at least make the doppelbock soon since all the grains are in
the tun ready to go.
Bottom line is, just like the rule of thumb says, if your fermentation
doesn't start up within 36 hours, for God's sake, get some GOOD, FRESH YEAST
in there IMMEDIATELY. Don't put more poor old yeast in and think that's
going to work. I should have known better. I could have used a fresher
yeast. I could have gone to a different LBHS (there are two within driving
distance). I accepted certain risks, I cut a corner or two, and now I've
had to pay for it. I've been reminded, the hard way, that fresh yeast is
essential to making good beer. It's just very frustrating when your perfect
wort ends up being fermented by some alien organism that makes it taste like
a medicine cabinet.
By the way, that January yeast that I pitched at first in the starter was
used back in January to make a delicious German pils that won a 2nd. I do
know how to successfully make a pilsner type lager. So, I really have a
hard time believing this might have been due to bad pH or overcrush or
oversparge. It's possible, I suppose, but I'd really rather blame the
yeast, it's the most likely culprit in this case. I think I've finally
learned my lesson about yeast, hopefully for the last time.
Just thought I'd share, hope you learn something from the experience. If
you have anything to add or ask, please, be my guest.
--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish
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Date: 12 Oct 2006 05:49:17
From: MarkMc
Subject: Re: Sob Story of the Day
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Hi David.
If you could spare the space/kegs, I would have kept it around for a
few months to see if it improved. It's quite possible that the "yeast"
was the culprit, but possibly not.
I had a very astringent pale ale a while back that I almost dumped (I
either sparged too hot, or too long or had a problem mashing some black
malt, still not sure). It was pretty well undrinkable. After about 3
months I tried it again, and whilst it was not fabulous, it was
certainly drinkable.
Did you taste the wort out of the mash tun and before pitching? In the
same way the top chefs tell us to taste the food we're cooking as we
go, we should taste the beer/wort as it goes through different stages
to learn when it's good and when it isn't.
Regards,
Mark
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Date: 12 Oct 2006 17:53:12
From: David M. Taylor
Subject: Re: Sob Story of the Day
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"MarkMc" <mmcnospam@yahoo.co.uk > wrote in message
news:1160657357.860863.98260@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi David.
>
> If you could spare the space/kegs, I would have kept it around for a
> few months to see if it improved. It's quite possible that the "yeast"
> was the culprit, but possibly not.
>
> I had a very astringent pale ale a while back that I almost dumped (I
> either sparged too hot, or too long or had a problem mashing some black
> malt, still not sure). It was pretty well undrinkable. After about 3
> months I tried it again, and whilst it was not fabulous, it was
> certainly drinkable.
>
> Did you taste the wort out of the mash tun and before pitching? In the
> same way the top chefs tell us to taste the food we're cooking as we
> go, we should taste the beer/wort as it goes through different stages
> to learn when it's good and when it isn't.
Too late, I already dumped it. I was pretty sure it was not going to turn
out. I suppose it wouldn't have hurt to leave it lager for a couple of
months, just to see what happens. The truth is, I was so frustrated that I
couldn't use the yeast for the doppelbock I was making that I was a bit
irrational. I had high hopes, and they were shattered.
I did taste the mash, it was delicious. I did not taste immediately prior
to pitching, maybe I should have. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. At
that point usually all I get is a blast of hop bitterness (which of course
mellows during fermentation), which might have blocked my perceptions of
astringency anyway. But, tasting it might have provided a more definitive
answer as to whether it truly was a yeast problem. But I'm fairly certain
it was the yeast, given that I used ancient yeast and the starter was 3 days
old before it began fermenting. I probably should have boiled the starter
wort again immediately prior to adding more yeast. Oh well. It's a mistake
I won't make again.
--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish
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Date: 12 Oct 2006 18:28:58
From: JS
Subject: Re: Sob Story of the Day
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On Wed, 11 2006 23:28:32 -0500, "David M. Taylor"
<dmtaylor@SPAM.geocities.SUCKS.com > wrote:
>
>Just thought I'd share, hope you learn something from the experience. If
>you have anything to add or ask, please, be my guest.
I can relate. Last year I cultured up some yeast from some bottles I
made of Baltic Porter. My starter too smelled of sulphur. I went
ahead and brewed a new batch of Baltic, and even after months of
aging, after a long, drawn-out fermetnation, I had to dump it. Bad
starter=bad brew. Well, we will not likely repeat our mistake, and
perhaps have saved a few others from a similar fate.
Brew wisely,
John S.
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