I use the term characteristic because I have never tasted a bad beer, just different ones…js
I appreciate them all. Not that picky
A good friend in the club did this with a Blonde Ale (I think, or was it an APA). He is one of the most meticulous brewers I know, and has many many BoS in comps, and several medals at the NHC. I would say this experience was not due to sloppy technique. He split a 10 gallon batch 3 ways with 1056/001/US-05.
US-05 was sharper and finished a little “tart” not bad. 001 was more nuetral and better than US-05 in peoples opinion. 1056 was the favorite, as it seemed to have the best flavor and a “rounded” finish. The taste difference was not large in the 3, and it was smallest between 001 and 1056.
Hey guys - this would be a great thing for a club to do for Club Night. It would give people a chance to see for themselves, and make their own decissions.
Blande Ale? Doesn’t sound very interesting. Is it a Coors clone?
Didn’t say it was bad, just not as good. And I own a brewery - I have to picky. You can brew a pretty darn good alt with WLP001 (or actually, in my case I use Wyeast - so 1056) but you can’t brew the exact same beer with US-05. It’s just not as good. IPA and IIPA the difference is not nearly as apparent.
Thanks for the correction. Can’t type very well this AM.
I agree, you have to be extremely picky about the product from your brewery. Customers are cruel judges when their expectations are not met.
Understand though, I’m certainly not saying you can’t make great beer with US-05. I’m a big fan on that yeast and it’s convenience alone makes it worth pitching in many, many styles that work well with a clean yeast flavor. I’m just saying I have noticed differences between it and the liquid strain, and that IME the liquid strain is more “clean”.
Yes, sharp or tart, not exactly sour, though it could be mistaken for that. I’m pretty fussy about sanitizing, so I doubt that it’s bugs. And like I said the lagers made from the same wort have no recognizable faults. I am drinking a beer at the moment that was fermented using Danstar Windsor, and it has a clean, malty palate. My IPAs and DIPAs are pretty well hopped and I believe that may mask the tartness from S-05. And, for sure, I haven’t noticed it with WLP-001. I must say, I have better results using liquid strains.
I had some tart taste in a Mocktoberfest brewed a little too warm (65F or so). I blamed it on the fermentation temperature, because I will use US-05 in cream ales all the time (at about 58-59F or lower) without that sharp finish.
I did as well. It was a split batch 1/2 S-05, the other WLP833. The lager half turned out great, the ale half had some tartness. I’m thinking it may be related to sparge pH and the attenuation of the yeast making that fault more noticeable. I too, ferment S-05 at 65-70F (beer temp) most of the time.
cool it down a bit and I think you will notice it much less. I pitch at 58-60 and ferment at 64 ramping it up only after the krausen starts to fall.
Since there is this other thread (http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=11730.msg146908#msg146908) discussing a tart finish using Nottingham, I’m just curious if this could be related somehow to dry yeast.
I’ve also gotten tartness from Windsor.
My repertoire of dry yeast is not so broad, but there’s three right there that have finished tart.
I wouldn’t have thought of this if these two threads weren’t going simultaneously…
I know lots of people have good results with dry yeast and I don’t mean to crap all over dry yeast, but…
+1
I think Keith is on point here. Give it a shot in your chiller just below 60F next time…Jim.
I will try that with my IPA this weekend. Not that I would notice any tartness in that hop bomb 
I have an APA with some crystal malt (another discussion) going right now at 58F using rehydrated US-05. I am expecting it to be on the sweet side. It has been going since Saturday, so I will let it free rise later this weekend or sometime next week when it looks closer to being finished in the primary. Hopefully it will be tart-free.
Something is definitely up. I split a 10 gallon batch between US05 and WY1450 in a session rye pale ale and the US05 definitely has a tang that I’ve never tasted before. I don’t get infections. EVER. I’d be shocked if that was the case. There was never any evidence of infection, the fermentation was normal and I kept both beers under identical conditions. I thought maybe it was just my perception but my friend agreed it tastes twangy. I wish I’d saved the pack to identity the lot. It is dry, as expected, but has a tang that the WY1450 does not.
Dee - what temp ate you fermenting the us-05 and what temp did you start it out?
I pitched at 64 in a water bath and let it free rise to about 70 over the course of 5 days. This was a small beer (1.040) so it was a really quick fermentation with the WY1450 finishing at 1.010 in 3 days. I haven’t brewed this recipe before with the same yeast but the US05 batch had a slight sourness that was not present in the WY1450 batch. I would not attribute that flavor to the rye although it is possible. I’m brewing an IPA this week with US05 and I’ll definitely be interested to see if I encounter this flavor again.
I actually went back and checked my brew log. I have notes of “tart” or “sour” for Saflager US-56 (S-50), Windsor, and Nottingham going back for years.
I never would have noticed the correlation but for the recent threads.
I also poured a glass of my Nottingham London Pride clone for my wife this weekend. She liked it and called it nice and tart.
I think I’m done with dry yeast but for emergencies. At least for a while.