Anyone have any opinions on SAFALE-05? I just used it in a red ale that tastes like @$$. - it tastes like a beer I recently tasted (Hen’s Tooth, an English ale). I used a lot of hop, but you’d never know it. Some other people that tried my red ale said it tasted solvent-like. Not a glowing recommendation, but the truth is what it is. Perhaps it’s not the yeast?
What temperature did you ferment it at?
What was your ferm temp? Usually it’s on the cleaner side. Nail-polish? Maybe it fermented too warm.
I’m thinking between 68 - 70. Is this too high?
If that was your fermentation temp then it’s kinda on the borderline. If that was the ambient room temp then your fermentation temp was several degrees higher and that’s too high.
So if it were too high, then it would give the beer a solvent-like flavor? I’m not familiar with this yeast strain. I’ve got an IPA fermenting with this yeast currently at 66 degrees. I hope this tastes better.
Is it already bottled or kegged?
Yeah, it could. Higher fermentation temperatures tend to throw off more fusel alcohols which can lead to those solventy flavors.
If you don’t have one you should invest in a fermometer. They’re cheap and pretty accurate and give you a good idea what temperature your beer is actually fermenting at.
euge… already kegged. i was hoping it was going to be good, but it’s awful. no hop taste at all. would not thoroughly rinsing iodophor out of the keg cause some off flavors? I can’t imagine that being the case, but who knows.
Draw off a few more glasses and/or wait a few days. See what happens. Sometimes the “sediment” can carry off flavors.
euge,
i’ve already done that… to me it tastes like (what i would consider) to be a standard english ale. no hop… just watery malt. i’ve already poured close to a gallon. i’d think the bad taste would be gone by now if what you mention is the cause.
I’ve been using SAFALE-05 in most of the beers I make and haven’t had any problems like that. A few of the batches I brewed in the summer fermented at 78F average and still turned out pretty good.
I don’t see how the yeast would kill the hop flavor in the beer. Sounds like something very different than the yeast is going on. Could sunlight cause that to happen? Maybe fermenting in a clear carboy and maybe just a few hours of sunlight hitting it might do something like that.
My two sense,
giga… my beer fermented in a plastic bucket in my bedroom which is typically around 68 degrees. There was no light other than from my bedroom light. i must’ve done something to make it taste horrible.
SA-05 is pretty much the only yeast I use unless i am doing something non american like hef or Belgian. I have never had an issues with it and I am guessing you issue is the fermentation temps like others have said. You may want to try putting your fermentor into a bottle filled with water and a few frozen bottles of water. Cover the fermenter with a wet t-shirt and it will work like a wick drawing up the cool water keeping your temps down a few degrees. Just rotate out the frozen water bottles and you should be good to go.
Matt
According to John Palmer solvent-like flavors can be caused by high fermentation temps and oxidation. Or can be leached from cheap plastic.
When you say you “are thinking” between 68-70 that makes me believe that you don’t really give much thought at all to fermentation temps. You should know within a couple of degrees what your fermentation temp is. Fermentation temp is crucial. As is pitching temp. If you pitch too warm you can have off flavors as well.
As far as US-05 goes, it is one of the cleanest and easiest to use ale yeast out there.
+1
I use S05 for my ales from time to time and have had pretty clean and relatively dry beers with it. Controlling your ferm temps is key to making great beer. Pitching in the upper 50’s to low 60’s in most cases and allowing the beer to warm up into the mid sixties to finish is an ideal scenario. I would invest in a good thermometer if you haven’t already and monitor your pitching and fermentation temps.
Good Luck!
Another vote for fermentation temp being the potential problem… I use US-05 in a lot of my beers and it always gives a clean result. I typically pitch around 64F with this yeast and hold the temp there for the first 48-72 hours. After that I’ll bump it up 2-3 degrees. What temp was the wort when you pitched the yeast?
+1
S05 is one of my standard yeasts, when I don’t need a special yeast character.
Fermentation is when you make the beer, if you blow everything up to the fermentation and ferment well, you will make good beer, maybe not the beer you intended, but good beer nonetheless.
Keep your fermentations “cool” and pitch under (or at) your fermentation temp.
This is my standard ‘go to’ yeast for ales. I ferment at about 60-65 and it usually tastes great.