Yeast Question?

I am getting ready to brew my 3rd ever batch and had a question on yeast. My first batch was the caribou slobber and second was a wheat that I added lemon zest and hallertau too and for both I used safale us-05 ale yeast. The brown ale was tasty and the wheat is too buy they have kind of a similar after taste, is this due to the yeast I used? I am brewing an extract pilsner next and was hoping for a different taste, what yeast would be best? Wyeast 2007?

Yes, yeast will impart different flavors on beer. Choosing a proper yeast to fit a style is very important. If you’re making a pilsner, do you have the ability to control your fermentation temps and lager? Wyeast 2007 (and almost all lager yeast) need to ferment at or around 50F. Then when fermentation is done you’ll need to lager the beer for another 4 to 10 weeks at about 35F.

US-05 is a clean yeast that won’t add much to the taste of a beer. The Pilsner is a lager so you’ll need to get lager yeast. If you choose liquid yeast, you will definitely need a big starter or you could use 2 packs of dry. 34/70 or S-23 are two good dry lager yeasts.

Wow ok, here is the recipe I kind of pieced together with help from this forum,
what would work best?
1lb Vienna malt steep for 30 mins @ 150 deg
6lb NB Pilsen extract
1oz. Cluster hops (60 mins)
Safale us-05 ale yeast
2 weeks primary, 2 weeks bottled

Can’t make a lager with ale yeast. You need lager yeast. And lagers take a lot more time and a lot more yeast than an ale. Do some research on making lagers before you jump in is my advice. There are pseudo lager options too, but again, you need to do some research first.

[quote=“jafstl38”]Wow ok, here is the recipe I kind of pieced together with help from this forum,
what would work best?
1lb Vienna malt steep for 30 mins @ 150 deg
6lb NB Pilsen extract
1oz. Cluster hops (60 mins)
Safale us-05 ale yeast
2 weeks primary, 2 weeks bottled[/quote]
This looks similar to NB’s Kolsch extract kit. You can ferment with 05 in the low 50’s but you will need to give it more than 2 weeks. You probably want some flavor hops in that beer, too. Maybe a 30 min or 15 minute addition. Also, it will be beneficial to give it a few weeks lagering at 35-40*.

Well the wheat beer is done and I do have to say it tastes great but it still has the same after taste as the caribou slobber I made before it. What would cause this? My guess was the yeast? I used safale us-05 for both.

There are a lot of factors that could give you an off flavor. Yeast could be one, especially if pitched or fermented to warm It could be your water, an infection etc. Can you describe the after taste?

how old is the beer? maybe you need to let it sit a little longer.

It’s kind of a bitter after taste, I use just tap water to brew with. I also fill used bottles but they have been sanitized. Hmmm I didn’t think about pitching it to warm, I usually wait til it’s around 70-80 degrees, is that to high? I let it ferment in my basement which is completely dark and about 65-68 degrees

Is it a “bite” in the back of your throat? That is what my extract beers had. Long aging seems to mellow it out. 4-6 weeks in the bottle.

If you can’t get the temp below 70 before putting in the fermenter, go ahead and transfer it and let it sit on the basement floor overnight. Add the yeast in the morning.

It is a kind of bite in the back of the throat, at first I taste the lemon and hops in my wheat and the after taste is kind of that bitter blast. I think its due to pitching the yeast early, I’m not 100% though. I will say the caribou slobber had a bigger blast of bitter than this wheat I made. Both were extracts. the Caribou has been ready to drink in bottles for about 3 weeks now and the wheat become ready today.

Does your water have chlorine in it? If so, did you do anything to remove the chlorine?

70-80 is too warm. For Safale-05 you will see improvement in your beers if you can manage to pitch the yeast at 60-65. fermentation warms up the beer, so the temperature in the fermenter will be higher than the outside temperature

I don’t think there’s any chlorine in our tap water? I’m going to make sure inlay attention to the temp I pitch the yeast at this time and see how this batch goes.

You should contact whoever you get your water from and ask about chlorine. Unless you’re on a private well, it’s likely they use it. It can produce the kind of taste you mention.

Ok thanks! Ill contact our water supplier, if they do use chlorine what would you recommend I do? Just use gallon jugs of water to brew with?

I just checked our water quality ratings on homefacts.com website and our water received a 3/10…ouch. Tested positive for chlorine, thanks Denny!

As long as it’s chlorine and not chloramine, the are a couple easy ways to get rid of it. The easiest is simply to draw all your brewing water the day before you need it and let it sit uncovered overnight.

As long as it’s chlorine and not chloramine, the are a couple easy ways to get rid of it. The easiest is simply to draw all your brewing water the day before you need it and let it sit uncovered overnight.