This is probably all grain brew number 25 or so for me. Mostly do ales but gave a second try to a lager. This one a German Helles. Brew day went OK, had it in the plastic fermenter for about 8 weeks. Took a little taste when bottling (yes I haven’t commissioned my keg yet) and it seemed like it might be OK. Used some bottling yeast and left for 2 weeks. One thing, when I bottled I put not yet fully cooled corn sugar solution in the bottom of the bottling bucket and then sprinkled a little dry bottling yeast on that. Then I thought as I added the beer that maybe that was too warm for the yeast - so I added a little dusting more.
Tasted my first bottle just shy of two weeks (it was an ale yeast for bottling so set bottles at room temp). First taste is yeasty - frankly reminds me of one of my first home brew kits. Drinkable, but not what I was hoping for.
No big deal, it’s all a learning game, but wondering if there is any advice on this one - will the yeast still clean it up if I leave it longer? I’ve certainly seen ales improve with age.
I am not familiar with the need for homebrewers to add yeast for bottling.
I would recommend dropping the temperature of your bottled beer as close to 32 degrees as you can, and leave it alone for a few weeks, before trying again.
One word “autolysis” One can usually get away with three, four, maybe even five weeks on the primary cake, but eight weeks is rolling the dice. Has anyone ever smelled a two month old crop, really smelled it? I have yet to smell a 2+ month old crop that did not have at least a hint of autolysis in its aroma.
I was going to mention that timeline as well. EIGHT WEEKS in the fermenter? Holy smokes. Also, in my bottling days I would gel a beer in a secondary and it would be crystal clear. Then I would bottle it… no added yeast. Even though the beer looked very clear, there was enough viable yeast in it (or I picked some up from the bottom of the vessel during transfer) to carb naturally. Honestly, I hear the “insurance” part loud and clear but it’s not necessary. I brewed with extract and bottled for FIVE YEARS. Never had a beer that wouldn’t carb. Also, 2 weeks is acceptable. I usually go 10 days for a lager and then send it to the keg. 8 weeks is really playing with fire.
Plastic fermenters are also slightly permeable to oxygen. They are fine for a couple of weeks, but beyond that you are better off with stainless or (shudder) glass.
Also, there is nothing wrong with adding a little yeast at bottling to insure consistent results, especially after a long lagering or aging. I think the 8 weeks in the plastic fermenter may have pick up some oxidation flavors that you are tasting as “yeasty”.
I have been using plastic for many years now after shattering multiple 6.5 and 5 gallon glass fermenters. As many of you know, when they break, they can break into a billion pieces. The longest I might leave a beer in the fermenter is about 14 days. Usually that’s 10 days. I think even the LO guys are okay with that timeframe in plastic and I have never noticed a flavor component from the plastic. I was going to pull the trigger on a stainless fermenter but I couldn’t tell if it would fit in my fermenting fridge.
I definitely don’t have any problems with plastic fermenters but agree that the beer can’t sit in the indefinitely. That is especially true in the case of buckets because the lid doesn’t always form a great seal. I’ve had a few times where I let a beer sit in a bucket too long and ended up having to dump it.
On the PET plastic fermenters as long as the seal is good the beer can sit in a lot longer, maybe even as long as glass.
Regardless 8 weeks in the primary fermenter is probably too long for just about any beer. As was mentioned, the problem could be autolysis or a combination of autolysis and oxidation.
Once the primary fermentation is over a week or two cold crashing should be adequate. If any more clearing is needed it can be done in the package.
I never understood leaving finished beer sit for weeks and weeks. I can let it go a few days after fermentation is complete but I want it in a package and move it along the pipeline. I guess there could be reasons but I can’t think of any.
Too many people have heard (and possibly misunderstood) the old saw about the yeast cleaning things up when fermentation is finished. Then the apply the principle of “if a little is good, more is better” and let the beer sit, thinking something magical will happen.
I am guilty of passing along the old saw for several years (back a while) and regret thinking in that way - done is pretty much done, at least as to primary fermentation. I had also always heard brewers say “drink the beer fresh” and that philosophy has won out for me at present. The yeasty-ness question can run on the other direction, too - namely moving beer out of the fermenter quickly. I now find that most of my beers are done with primary and ready to keg in under a week (Tilt hydrometer confirmed with lab grade FG scale hydrometer).
I am experimenting with pressurized fermentation at the moment to do some side by side lager ferments - if they turn out acceptable, I may move to more pressure fermentations going forward. My last batch was with 34/70 at 68F and 30 psi. The pressure ferment throws off the Tilt reading, but I use it for FG confirmation, not actual FG reading. So, I am looking forward to see if these fermentations may result in a yeasty-ness from too quick of a turn…but, as long as there is a conditioning/lagering in the keg, I suspect that the beers will be drinkable at some point and be as fresh as I can get - covering both ends of the concerns.