Help! Wal's (milky) Blonde

[wezz]

Hi all!

I was hoping someone could help diagnose a problem with a Wal's Blonde K&K from Country Brewer.

I put this lot down a week ago - it went ballistic for a few days bubbling away at around 30 degrees despite using almost no hot water when mixing it.

Today i went to bottle the stuff and its a very cloudy, milky colour - not what I had expected...

Has anyone ever had this happen to a brew before? I have never used this kit before so maybe it's normal?

It seems to smell OK and tastes like beer....

Any advice or previous experiences would be appreciated very much!

 

[Bobby]

what yeast was used? i am guessing k-97??

 

[wezz]

Hi I'm 90% sure it was 512 (just the one that came with the kit) but it might have been 514

 

[wezz]

Guys I am not sure if I should even bottle this stuff - I guess i'll leave it in the fermenter another few days and see what happens?

 

[Mr Bond]

- it went ballistic for a few days bubbling away at around 30 degrees

Cloudy or not,regardless of the yeast strain.Anything fermented @ this temp would be a cidery fusel laden beer anyway.
if you can't control brewing temps to 20c or under i'd be waiting until autimn and winter to brew again.

 

[PostModern]

514 should be able to ferment in the upper 20's without making too many fusels. Will still taste pretty foul tho. Is that what Wal's kits ship with?

 

[wezz]

Thanks guys for your help

Is that what Wal's kits ship with?

Wal's pale ale comes with 514 (i've still got that kit for next batch) but i think the blonde came with 512 - but now i've thrown out the packet so I dont really know....

514 should be able to ferment in the upper 20's without making too many fusels

Sorry if this is a stupid question - but I am a noob when it comes to brewing... What are fusels?

BTW many of my other brews (mostly coopers and tooheys kits) have spent most of the fermenting time at temps in the high twenties and haven't had too much problems so far..... could just be the different yeasts i spose

 

[Linz]

Sorry if this is a stupid question - but I am a noob when it comes to brewing... What are fusels?

Fusels, better known as fusel alcohols are higher order alcohols, which are the buggers that give you a very nasty hang-over if you manage to neck the beer down thru the copy fluid flavour and smell....

 

[Lactobacillus]

Wal's Blonde should come with a 514 - I have never seen a 512 designation for a yeast strain before. In my experience, brewing at 30C will create some cloudiness, particularly with this strain. I think 514 is a great generic ale strain when you don't have access to safale, but it will cloud at higher temperatures even more than other yeasts. As an earlier poster stated above, if you can't find a way to keep your brews around 20C, wait until the weather drops before brewing again.

 

[FazerPete]

I've done this brew before and found that it was quite cloudy to start with even though I brewed it at 21deg. It did settle out in the keg after a week or 2 though and was a very nice drinking beer, particularly in the warmer weather. I'd just leave it in the fermenter for a few extra days if you are bottling and it should settle out.

 

[Deanodriver]

I had a similar problem with a Brewcraft Czech Pilsener. After three weeks in the fermenter, the beer still had the consistency of orange juice. We decided against putting finings in and just bottled it, and they seem to have cleared up in the bottle (eventually), but there's a lot of sediment at the bottom of each.

The current brew (which is another Brewcraft mix, Munich Lager I believe) is doing the same thing, however since we're getting a second fermenter soon, I'm tempted to rack it and see if that clears it up.

Then again, i'm a newbie

 

[Armstrong]

514 .... Is that what Wal's kits ship with?

The Wal's range uses 3 different yeast strains depending on the style being:-

Maurivin 514 Ale Yeast
Maurivin 497 Lager Yeast
Safbrew S-33 on the Wheat

Check out following sites for specs

Mauri Yeast

Safbrew S-33

 

[PostModern]

Cheers Shawn,
I know what 514 is like. I used some in the boil of my last partial mash.