Having issues with Esters

Anything and everything about beer and brewing it.
Post Reply
Phick Brewing
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:18 am

Having issues with Esters

Post by Phick Brewing »

Morning all,

I've been brewing for a few months now and my brews seem to have improved from sugary swill to drinkable but "Estery" beer.

The first time these estery flavours popped up I knew I had pitched the yeast without actually checking the temp of the wort before and when I had looked a few hours later it was still over 34c in the fv so I assumed that was the issue.

My last couple of brews though have had yeast pitched at 20c and 21c respectively and temperatures have stayed around 20-22 during fermentation and have still come out with these esters. The kits (Wilko) say to ferment between 20-25.

These are the larger and pilsner kits. I assume they contain Ale yeast though?

Do I need to go lower with the temperatures?

Are these flavours always present and I just need some additions to balance them out a bit?

Any other suggestions? My wife thinks its great because she loves a wheat beer and this is right up her street but I'm loosing faith!

Cheers

Phil
User avatar
steve crawshaw
Posts: 856
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by steve crawshaw »

Hi Phil
esters arise when yeast is stressed. temperature is one factor, but so is under pitching and lack of wort oxygenation. If using dry yeast, always rehydrate in warm (~30C) water for 15 minutes before pitching. I make a starter from this rehydrated yeast just to be sure I have enough healthy cells. Also oxygenate your wort by shaking vigourously or using a filtered air supply and airstone. the yeast needs oxygen to get a healthy start. I think these things will help.
steve
I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.
User avatar
Taz Ales
Site Admin
Posts: 467
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:07 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by Taz Ales »

Generally the yeast that comes with kit beers is poor. I'd recommend chucking away the yeast sachet and using a better quality yeast.
Fermentis S-04 is a clean ale yeast which you can find in most homebrew shops, or they do a lager yeast S-23. The Lallemand/Danstar yeasts are also excellent and widely available.

Also I'd say that fermenting above 20 degrees is generally too high when aiming for low esters. I think that the manufacturers of kit beers often have that in the instructions to cover their own backs... if you ferment warm you're less likely to get a stuck fermentation, but unfortunately you're more likely to get esters and hot alcohol. Stick to 18-20 degrees for most styles. You should only be ramping up temperatures for some Belgian styles, etc.

How are you measuring the temperature of the beer during fermentation? If it's a liquid crystal stick-on thermometer on the side of the FV, bear in mind that the temperature inside the vessel is likely to be a couple of degrees higher.
Taz... or Chris. It's up to you.
Phick Brewing
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:18 am

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by Phick Brewing »

Thanks for the replies gents!!
I'll use a starter on the next brew and make sure the wort gets more of a shake!
I don't have any way to drop the temperature but ambient temperatures are dropping, so that should be a bit lower for the next brews.
I will also look at some better quality yeast.

Any other advice is welcomed, but I'll monitor for the next couple of brews and feedback!

Cheers
Phil
User avatar
Taz Ales
Site Admin
Posts: 467
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:07 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by Taz Ales »

You can do lo-fi cooling by standing the FV inside a builders trug. Fill the trug with cold water to bring the FV temperature down.
Simple, but effective.
Taz... or Chris. It's up to you.
PMowdes
Posts: 489
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:29 pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by PMowdes »

^^^if you do what Taz says you can get the water colder with ice and / freezer packs. And regulate the temp with a fish tank heater.
60 percent of the time it works every time.
User avatar
I_used_to_brew
Posts: 2356
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 1:06 pm

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by I_used_to_brew »

For a replacement yeast, take a look at the 'Mauribrew' range (497 for lager and 514 for ale I think) as they are commonly used in Australia etc where high temperatures prevail and apparently produce good beer despite that problem. They are available in repackaged form in the UK. I've used the ale yeast and it's very rapid and I was pleased with the beer.

For cooling, think low tech, enclosed fermenter (Wilko's http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessori ... =fermenter ) in a large bucket of water, put an old cotton Tee-shirt over it with the bottom in the water. The evaporative cooling should work, add in a cheap fan and it works even better.
mrlard
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:40 am

Re: Having issues with Esters

Post by mrlard »

steve crawshaw wrote:Hi Phil
esters arise when yeast is stressed. temperature is one factor, but so is under pitching and lack of wort oxygenation. If using dry yeast, always rehydrate in warm (~30C) water for 15 minutes before pitching. I make a starter from this rehydrated yeast just to be sure I have enough healthy cells. Also oxygenate your wort by shaking vigourously or using a filtered air supply and airstone. the yeast needs oxygen to get a healthy start. I think these things will help.
steve

what that man said
Post Reply