I used Wyeast’s Pacman strain to make an IPA with an all grain recipe. OG: 1.064 FG 1.016. Tasted real fine before I pitched yeast, but after 1 and half weeks in the fermenter at 62-64 degrees F it turned out with an overpowering diacetyl taste. I’m puzzeled because Wyeast says this strain does not produce any to little diacetyl. I’m going to bring the temp up to mid to upper 60s and hope the residual yeast wipe out the butter flavor. Has anyone else encountered this problem with Pacman?
I’ve used Pacman many times and never gotten diacetyl form it. Maybe you didn’t give the yeast enough time to consume it? Also, diacetyl can be caused by an infection, but let’s not go there for now!
I used that yeast exclusively over a few months last year(or was it the year before)…anyway…at the end…I decided I didn’t like it…just seemed IMHO that it wasn’t neutral enough…the first few beers were ok but after awhile it got kinda weird and fruity-yeasty kinda…maybe it was just my palate or crappy process…whatever the case I have stayed away from it.
I was fermenting in the mid 60’s with it.
That’s interesting, Bud. Living in OR, I’m sure you’ve had as much Rogue beer as I have, and I’ve never noticed that in any of their beers. Have you?
I’ve been really lucky with yeast lately. I used Denny’s favorite 50 for 5 batches, and they all turned out great. Now I’m using Pac-man, and it’s so awesome. I made a Porter at pretty low temps (59 degrees ambiant temp) and it turned out great, no diacetyl.
I used PacMan in eight or ten pales, browns and IPAs last year, and found it to be very well behaved. I never had any off flavors or problems of any type with it. In fact, the reason I moved away from it (and WLP-001) is its low ester character.
Charlie (currently evaluating WY-1272)
I haven’t used Pacman since I switched to temp-controlling, kegging and all-grain, but I will probably try it again, soon. One thing I noticed, though, was that it was very dry and very flocculant - making it less than ideal for bottling. No diacetyl, though. My guess is that the yeast hadn’t finished fermenting. Did you pitch enough?
I’m pretty sure the batch wasn’t finished fermenting yet, because I’m drinking a pint of it now and its real good. Diacetyl’s all gone.