Brew UK Forum | General Brewing Discussions
First AG Brew - Down the sink..
So over 7 weeks ago I did my first AG brew, a Hop Back Summer Lightning. After fermenting the yeast left some funky deposits on top (similar to other posts on here). Yeast used was S04. Beer tasted ok out of the FV but after a week or so it started to taste 'yeasty'. Being a patient individual I have monitored this week on week for the last 6 weeks. Just poured a glass and it tastes nasty with no sign of improvement.
Gonna have to pour the lot tonight.. On the plus side I have 20 litres of beer ready for bottling so it's out with the old in with the new. Gutted my 1st AG went bad as everyone since has been fine.
The replacement batch was S04 also but this one seems normal and tastes good. I will be keeping a close eye on these though.
Shame but happens I guess..
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Really sorry to hear this James, it's horrible when it happens.
Interesting though, that's 3 or 4 of us who have had the same thing happen with S04 - yours sounds exactly like mine - yeasty - bready. Very strange! I'm doing a 50 ltr batch split 2 ways both with S04 right after christmas, hope it's going to be ok!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Sorry to hear that James. S04 is normally really reliable, perhaps there was a bad batch although not been a problem that I've been aware of except with Nath's one.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
My current brew with S04 is absolutely fine at the moment. Will bottle tonight and see how it goes.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
OK so I spoke too early.. S04 batch is starting to stink of yeast again. I racked it off and allowed it to drop super bright before heading to the bottles which I planned to do tonight. Slight delay on original plans. I can taste the yeast again which is exactly what happened before with my Summer Lightning and time only made it worse. Debating not even hitting the bottles with this. There is so much yeast floating around in the beer.
I bought both packets of S04 at then same time and they have both done this to my beers. I've lost confidence in this yeast now as that is now 80 pints of liquid bread that I haven't drunk.
On the plus side the Ruby Ale is kegged and tasting really nice!
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Seems weird that a lot of us have had this. Time for an email to the s04 chaps me thinks.... Not good news mate, but fingers crossed eh.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Sorry to hear it again James... bad news indeed!
Well .. I split my brew yesterday - half with S04 and half with Nottingham. I will report back!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I bottled 24 bottles of it and threw the rest (24 fills a crate). I'll see how it develops but it smells and tastes like it's going the same way as the rest.
I'll give it 3 weeks.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I still haven't thrown all of mine. Opened a bottle to show the old man last week ... it smells ok(ish) which - unfortunately - led me to taste a bit. Nearly threw up. Horrible and seems to be getting worse all the time.
I might take up praying for this next batch.
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm sticking to US-05 from now on. I only used the S04 this time to see if my last experience was a one off.
It's frustrating though as this was one of my own recipes so I have now idea how it went. There is a definite nice flavour to the beer but it's overpowered by the yeast. Think I'll re make with a different yeast to see how it turns out.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
All these issues with S04 is it worth phoning/emailing/writing to them and asking whether they've had a dodgy batch?
I've had no issues before with S04 but suddenly it seems everyone is experiencing problems it just seems strange.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I think that sounds like a plan.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm brewing the Summer Lightning recipe tonight with the same yeast. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.
BTW - Did you rehydrate the yeast or pitch it dry?
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Dry pitched.
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hi Jmaes. This S-04 problem keeps coming back. I used it a couple of times and got that dreadful looking exploded-brain residue floating on the top. You should go with Liquid yeast. Wyeast is great and you can propogate it to bring the cost right down to about 40p a go. There is a massive choice and a very informative website. There is information about floculation and attenuation so you can predict the final gravity, ABV and taste of a brew with a great deal of accuracy. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I've emailed DCL ... I'll let you know if anything comes back!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
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