Bubble gum in Irish Ale

Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:46 pm

I need help figuring out what my problem is and if it will go away....
I started with a 1000 ml Irish Ale yeast starter, boosted it to 1 gl. After I brewed my irish ale, I noticed bubble gum aroma from the wort that I poured off of the starter. I added only the yeast to the brewed wort. When I took a sample today, I has a very sweet/bubble gum-ish flavor. Is this a contamination or a temp issue? Will this flavo remain once the beer has finished fermenting? It's @ 1.023 right now. I had my stater and my fermentation at 68 F. Any help is appreciated. I can try to provide more details if necessary.

Thanks,
Clowder
clowder
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:46 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO

Re: Bubble gum in Irish Ale

Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:05 pm

clowder wrote:I need help figuring out what my problem is and if it will go away....
I started with a 1000 ml Irish Ale yeast starter, boosted it to 1 gl. After I brewed my irish ale, I noticed bubble gum aroma from the wort that I poured off of the starter. I added only the yeast to the brewed wort. When I took a sample today, I has a very sweet/bubble gum-ish flavor. Is this a contamination or a temp issue? Will this flavo remain once the beer has finished fermenting? It's @ 1.023 right now. I had my stater and my fermentation at 68 F. Any help is appreciated. I can try to provide more details if necessary.

Thanks,
Clowder


Trying to understand - you brewed a 1 L starter with Irish Ale yeast, then stepped it up to 1 gallons worth? 1 gallon is a VERY large starter size for a typical irish ale. What was your OG? How many gallons of finished wort? If it was just a 5-6 gallon batch of typical irish ale gravity (1.050-1.058) then a 1 L starter probably would've been sufficient enough with 1 gallon being overkill and overpitching. If you did overpitch this could be the cause of your bubble gum off aroma. Did you taste the starter wort at all?

Irish Ale yeast is notorious for producing diacetyl which smells and tastes like buttered popcorn or butterscotch. Could that be the aroma that you were smelling? Just trying to help out.
"A bad man is a good man's job, while a good man is a bad man's teacher."
brewinhard
Global Moderator
 
Posts: 4060
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:41 am
Location: Fredonia, NY

Return to Fermentation

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

A BIT ABOUT US

The Brewing Network is a multimedia resource for brewers and beer lovers. Since 2005, we have been the leader in craft beer entertainment and information with live beer radio, podcasts, video, events and more.