Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Yeast slurry problems

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Yeast slurry problems

    Ok everyone I’ve got a continuing problem with pitching slurry from other beers. Fermentation seems to go just fine, until you try the beer. The is extremely solvent like. This is only an issue in beers that I pitch yeast slurry from previously fermented beers. I’ve done this several times before with no problems. It started with my asst brewer. He would harvest into a 5l erlenmeyer that was cleaned weeks before. He would sanitize just before harvesting. I thought the problem was that he needed to clean it just before sanitizing. (That’s the way I always did it). I just recently inoculated 2 beers with harvested yeast and the issues are the same, extremely solvent like and completely undrinkable. Any help would be greatly appreciated! My process is pulling yeast from racking port after cold crash and before CO2. Everything is sanitized before hand.

  • #2
    Also I need to mention that both of these beers are IPA’s if that makes any difference.

    Comment


    • #3
      What is the lineage of the yeast... How many gens old? Has it been thru high grav brews? Once pull off the conical how long are you storing it, and at what temp? What is your ferment temp, and is it the same for the previous batches?

      Solvent like nail polish remover (acetone), medicinal/band aid, Plastic, or alcohol Fusel?

      Nail polish is usually post ferment oxygen ingress or hot fermentations. Are you using plastic fermentation vessels?

      Cheers
      Joel Halbleib
      Partner / Zymurgist
      Hive and Barrel Meadery
      6302 Old La Grange Rd
      Crestwood, KY
      www.hiveandbarrel.com

      Comment


      • #4
        Lineage is 1056, 2nd gen. No high gravity, and stored no more than a couple days. Storage temp is around 40 degrees. Ferment temp is 68 for all beers that use this yeast.i also have stainless fermenters. Ferment temp will fluctuate between 68-70 degrees. The only thing that my “problem beers” have in common is that I’m harvesting yeast.
        Last edited by Brewrench1; 08-23-2018, 02:02 PM.

        Comment


        • #5
          If I am getting the line you're having problem with re-pitched yeast, 1st generation gives you desired profile?
          68F is on high side for this strain, Wyeast suggests lower temp. profile: "Mild citrus notes develop with cooler 60-66F (15-19C) fermentations" with temp. range 60-72F, so for the first step you could try ferment cooler.

          Also, what is your yeast harvesting SOP?

          Comment


          • #6
            We used 1056 for years at 70-72F going out way too many gens with no off flavors, I do not think that is it. I would be more concerned about getting no lower than 40 for crash temp, but at 2nd gen that really should not have caused a major issue yet, just chill haze. I would look for oxygen ingress points, other possibilities... How many lbs per bbl of hops are you using. I have tasted some very green flavors in hoppy beers around 4 lbs per bbls, how long are you leaving the dry hops on? Do you think you could be letting oxygen in when dry hopping? Both IPAs have completely different hops bills? Oh and are you harvesting prior to dry hopping?
            Joel Halbleib
            Partner / Zymurgist
            Hive and Barrel Meadery
            6302 Old La Grange Rd
            Crestwood, KY
            www.hiveandbarrel.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Check your wort oxygenation is sufficient. 1056 is sufficiently high for some yeasts (I have no experience of this particular yeast, so this may not be applicable) for it to generate lots of solventy by-products. Try rousing briefly with air, or through a fishtail (spreader) through air about 12 hours after collection. This will not cause diacetyl at this stage of fermentation so no worries there. Late oxygen addition, at late stages of fermentation, or dry hopping with large amounts (if not deoxygenated first) is more likely to lead to diacetyl, noticeable at end of fermentation, and papery/cardboardy flavours later after packaging.

              I would also keep the yeast a couple of degrees colder colder, but allow it to warm up just before pitching

              Try pulling the yeast from the bottom outlet, but discard the first few litres of dark, trubby yeast. If cropping from the racking port, you may be selecting non typical yeast, which is slow to sediment, and also likely to have slightly different fermentation characteristics.

              Keep us all posted on what you do / find
              dick

              Comment


              • #8
                Yeast nutrient and oxygen, the two things you must have if you are repitching yeast. We use 001, the same as 1056 for all purposes, we harvest at 33f and get great performance thru 10 generations. I suspect a few things might be an issue, the first two are oxygenation or yeast nutrients, the other is pitch rate. Do you take a cell count before pitching? Do you pitch by weight, by volume? I can tell you it takes at least 1kg of dense slurry per bbl to get a good ferment out of this yeast. Generally speaking, the problem sounds like it is being under pitched, wouldn't be surprised if you don't attenuate as far as you could.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Seems like an awfully high fermentation temperature. You could try starting at 62 degrees and then slowly bump it up. You could be over pitching as well causing a rapid fermentation. I would start with the temperature myself


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X