Good day, fellow brewers. Based on my mixed bag of experiences, I think I’m done using US-05. I have fermented a number of different ales and at temperatures ranging from the low 60’s to the low 70’s and, regardless of temperature, there seems to be what I’ll refer to as “US-05 funk”. It’s hard for me to describe, but whatever I brew I seem to get this nominally dirty/foreign character that sits in the background. It turns an otherwise good beer into an average one that you might see with an inexperienced brewer.
My sanitation and other processes are refined and consistent. I generally have not had these issues with other yeasts, lager or ale. So I’m just going to focus on other yeasts and do what works for me.
I’d be curious if anyone else has the same experience/viewpoint (or disagrees).
While I’ve never had any negative experiences with US-05, I agree with your approach to stick with whatever yeast strains work for your brewery/palate. Cheers!
Agreed. Yeast character is somewhat reproducible across differing processes but not 100% uniform. There may be a better yeast that suits your individual situation. US 05 has been a reliable performer here, but it is more of a blank palette for other characteristics to shine.
I really like Denny’s favorite 50/Wyeast 1450 but I can’t get liquid yeast here reliably. I used it for a number of generations before it timed out.
US 05 was my “don’t want to taste the yeast” strain for years. I find now that Kveik strains finish clean even under really high fermentation temps so it is my go to.
Well agree if you’re getting something from the yeast move on. But like @loopie_beer says many of the manufacturers package the Chico strain under different names. Would also be curious if you get it from other packages. As far as something going “wonky” probably not and even so it would probably be a one off. The other thing I’m wondering is it a repitch? I can say I’ve had yeast change on repitches
Waay back when I was on the Australian Ale yeast, I thought I got to 8(?) before I noticed a flavor profile shift… BUT, that was with a vigilante eye on sanitation… I still think even the lab could accidentally let some “aged” yeast out via, a new lab tech just getting their hands dirty …… (:
Sneezles61
That was my approach as well, but I’ve had for sure two cases where it didn’t ferment clean. Maybe I did something both times in my process, but I’m pretty careful about sanitation and temperature control. I might try Kveik next time I want something neutral.
Not a repitch. Just a cheap pack of dry Safale 05 in both instances where I wasn’t happy with it. It’s ironic because I steered clear of lagers and lager yeast because of unfounded intimidation and yet, every one of my 8-10 lagers have been clean as a whistle with no flaws that I can detect.
No, I’ve never brewed an IPL. Sounds like an interesting future project. Early on I was hop-centric, but I’m now pretty much stuck on German/Czech/English beers. For lagers, I have a beverage fridge and can maintain temp control pretty well or at least good enough for my standards. Maybe my problem is that I’m comparing the crispness of my lagers with the sometimes unrefined character of some of my ales. I’m sure like a lot of others, I tend to be my own worst critic.
