S-04 yeast - funky aftertaste...?

[crescent city Mike]

Keep in mind that ALL yeast strains are a bit different. If the SO-4 is producing a good beer, to your liking, is it a problem to leave it alone for a few more weeks? SO-4 has its own set of esters and if the're what you ultimately are looking for, just wait it out. US-05 is good for many styles of beer as are many of the regular dry yeasts but none of them are a panacea for every style. Experiment! Brew an identical batch with something else and do a side by side comparison to make that final analysis.

Such things take a bit of time but comparisons of this ilk are extremely valuable.

 

[foxy]

I think you've got that the song way round @foxy - M15 is repackaged London ale, and some people claim Liberty Bell is repackaged S04.

However, I just don't believe Liberty Bell is repackaged S04. It smells different when fermenting - Liberty Bell has a lovely Windsor like fruity smell, and it also doesn't have SO4s odd tartness.

The previous batch of best bitter I did, 40 litres, I split into 20 litre batches one fermented with S04 the other with Liberty Bell the S04 finished way before the LB. Though I preferred the bitter fermented with the LB, it took a few weeks for the esters to settle down and become a tasty drop.

 

[moto748]

I've done a split batch with S-04 and LB in the past too. I actually preferred the S-04, but what was clear from the fermentation is that they are clearly two different yeasts, as foxy says..

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It’s strange with all the Homebrew knowledge on social media and YouTube that we are still guessing who manufactures CML and MJ yeasts.

 

[Agentgonzo]

It’s strange with all the Homebrew knowledge on social media and YouTube that we are still guessing who manufactures CML and MJ yeasts.

Not strange at all. We know the 18 different yeasts that are identical to each and every CML and MJ yeast!

 

[Clint]

And wilko gervin.

 

[sifty]

Update:
I've recently brewed a couple of beers using Mangrove Jacks M15 Empire and M36 Liberty Bell yeasts (a sweet stout and a golden ale/white stout experimental brew).

Be interesting to see how taste testing pans out...

So an update.
The sweet stout was a recipe I'd done before, that received very good feedback. Apart from going from S-04 to M15 there were very minor changes to the grain bill, and mash temps altered as follows:
V1 - 65 degrees for 80 minutes
V2 - 67 degrees for 70 mins, plus 10 min mash out at 76 degs.
Also pitched 1 pkt S-04 dry in V1 and rehydrated 2 pkts of M15 for V2.

The taste test of V2 is a little disappointing. It fermented out in around 3 days, and tastes sort of thin, for a stout. Still ok, and has great aromas, but not as nice as the first one. I will give it more time in the bottle and let it warm up a bit before the next taste before I condemn it though. Quite a bit lower in ABV too (5.0% vs 5.4).

Not sure how much influence the mash temp had. V2 was closely monitored with a long temp probe in the mash, while V1 was only my second brew so probably was a little lower than the indicated 65 deg temp.

So I may have to reconsider my aversion to S-04, try again, pitch it better, and just give it time to condition before tasting V3...

 

[dave_77]

I have used so-4 a few teams and find it has a mild English character. When I use i start fermentation around 18c and then move it up to 20c after a couple of days and I like the character at these temps.
As mentioned previously I think if your bottle conditioning I could be just some yeast in suspension that's giving it a yeasty flavour. I recently brewed a golden ale with CML Beior and I did half on keg and half bottle conditioned. The one off the bottle at 2 weeks had unusual yeasty flavour it went after a further week and tasted exactly same as the keg version.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Not strange at all. We know the 18 different yeasts that are identical to each and every CML and MJ yeast!

Can you list the 18 please.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Can you list the 18 please.

I’d be very interested to know too

 

[man_beach]

I've never had any problems with S-04 - but it's usually at least 3 weeks between pitching and drinking, more often 4 weeks or more. Maybe that makes a difference? I also always rehydrate it as well - at around 28 degrees C as suggested on the Fermentis website SafAle™ S-04