Recultured Coopers Yeast - Smells Strong

[jacknohe]

Hi All

I'm in the process of making an All Grain Coopers Sparkling clone. I've recultured the Coopers yeast a number of times without issue. However this time the temperature got away on me and my starter fermented at high 20s. The esters smell rather strong to the nose. I'm confidient its not an infection as everything looks good.

I'm wondering if I pitch it and ferment at 18c, will it remain under control and not have any effect on the overall smell/taste of the beer?

 

[Nick JD]

You'll be fine. I had a starter done in the early 30s that smelled pretty close to a Hefeweizen in terms of banana and other fruits but a quick jack nohe and I saw it was fine.

As long as you chuck it in at 18C you'll make a great Coopers.

Pour the "beer" on top down the sink, leaving just enough to swirl the yeast up - and pitch that.

 

[brando]

You'll be fine. I had a starter done in the early 30s that smelled pretty close to a Hefeweizen in terms of banana and other fruits but a quick jack nohe and I saw it was fine.

As long as you chuck it in at 18C you'll make a great Coopers.

Pour the "beer" on top down the sink, leaving just enough to swirl the yeast up - and pitch that.

+1

Recently made a starter with CPA yeast in the early 30's.

The beer will be kegged tomorrow, and is smelling strongly of banana, pears, and other goodies :icon_drool2: . I've never tasted a Coopers beer with esters anything like this, and it does very much remind me of a Hefe. Loving it!

 

[Nick JD]

+1

Recently made a starter with CPA yeast in the early 30's.

The beer will be kegged tomorrow, and is smelling strongly of banana, pears, and other goodies :icon_drool2: . I've never tasted a Coopers beer with esters anything like this, and it does very much remind me of a Hefe. Loving it!

I reckon the Coopers Ale yeast has its origins in German Wheat beer...

 

[philmud]

Just dragging up an old topic - I have a coopers sparkling clone from here in the fermenter : http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/34356-recipedb-coopers-sparkling-ale-clone/ (with a few tweaks).

I pitched at around 20C and brought it down to 18-18.5C quite quickly. After about 14 hours it went off like a frog in a sock and now, about 60 hours later it's still going strong but has a very string banana smell. The temp has been sub 19C since pitching, so I'm surprised - has anyone had a similar experience and ended up with a clean tasting beer? Should I knock the temp down to 17C, or is it a bit late for that? I don't mind some esters, but within reason.

BTW, I haven't tasted yet, but will do so when I take a gravity reading.

 

[NewtownClown]

Check your ferment temps as coopers "banana" is well known when fermented high. Some say they detect it even at 18, personally, I don't.
After 3 days at 18, I let it rise to 20 to finish off for a couple more days (for most ales). no banana.
Dropping to 17 now probably wont make any difference.

 

[philmud]

Yeah, I'll take a gravity reading tonight & see whether my STC is measuring accurately. It's taped to the fermenter under a strip of stubby holder, so it should be getting a good reading.

 

[Arghonaut]

I find with my stc set to 18, taped to fermenter the same way as you mention, i get lots of banana. It fades out after a few weeks. I have been doing my aussie ales at 16. Could just be differences in equipment/calibration etc, i find in general i like to ferment things a bit cooler.

On a side note, a brew i have had bouncing around in the back of my mind for ages is an aussie wheat, with coopers yeast fermented at 19 - 20c and a touch of galaxy late. Banana passionfruit wheat!

 

[Diesel80]

Phil,
just brewed a CPA knockoff myself. Bananarama in the fridge, but tasted of beer and pears and a hint of banana in the keg.
Your beer will turn out great mate, I believe that what you are getting is pretty normal for this yeast.

I pitched at 26 and fermented at 17-18 with a 1.5 deg swing on the STC.

Beer was one of my finest. Did taste it's best between 3 and 6 weeks after carbing. Then faded really fast after 8 weeks.

Cheers,
D80

 

[philmud]

Phil,
just brewed a CPA knockoff myself. Bananarama in the fridge, but tasted of beer and pears and a hint of banana in the keg.
Your beer will turn out great mate, I believe that what you are getting is pretty normal for this yeast.

I pitched at 26 and fermented at 17-18 with a 1.5 deg swing on the STC.

Beer was one of my finest. Did taste it's best between 3 and 6 weeks after carbing. Then faded really fast after 8 weeks.

Cheers,
D80

Ah, that's what I was hoping to hear. Barring a dodgy temperature probe, I'm pretty confident that my temps have been good.

I also think CSA tends to be a far better beer the closer it is to the "best after" date, so that supports your observations.

 

[philmud]

I find with my stc set to 18, taped to fermenter the same way as you mention, i get lots of banana. It fades out after a few weeks. I have been doing my aussie ales at 16. Could just be differences in equipment/calibration etc, i find in general i like to ferment things a bit cooler.

On a side note, a brew i have had bouncing around in the back of my mind for ages is an aussie wheat, with coopers yeast fermented at 19 - 20c and a touch of galaxy late. Banana passionfruit wheat!

Hmm, might be an idea to start a bit cooler, as Diesel said, hopefully the smell isn't an indication of how it'll finish up. Aussie wheat sounds great BTW

 

[Diesel80]

Another thing i will add is that I did two batches.
The second was a small 500ml starter pitch, more banana smell with this one (stressed yeast?)
The first batch was 2L starter and less banana more pear smell.

Both turned out awesome. Hint of Banana in the taste, but more pear. Aroma wise, about 50/50 in both cases (from the tilted glass analysis I conducted).

Cheers,
D80

 

[philmud]

I made a starter from 2 longies and stepped it up (rather unscientifically) so I had 2 carafes with about 700ml each - no clue how many cells that translates to, but hopefully enough.
Just took a reading, SG was 1.051 and after 72 hours it's down to 1.013 and still fermenting like a motherfecker. Still smells very banana, but on tasting, there's an enormous pear quality there - yum already!
I mashed at 63, and I added some cane sugar, so I reckon I'm looking at an FG a few points south of 1.010, so pretty dry - I plan on leaving it in the fermenter for a couple of weeks, then cold crash for a couple of days, so I'm hoping for a cleaner beer than what I just tasted.

In any case, I'm impressed by this yeast, go Dr Tim!!!

 

[emnpaul]

Cooper's own website states that they pitch a very large quantity of yeast and ferment at 16 to get the clean finish to their pale ale. If you want a really clean ferment with Cooper's commercial yeast then saving a heap of yeast cake for your next brew and pitching big at a lower temperature would be the go. Getting the wort and yeast to the temperature you are going to ferment at would be the ideal way to do it. I personally wouldn't start screwing around with the temperature too much during the first 2/3rds of fermentation as this will likely increase ester production rather than decrease it.

Their Sparkling, if memory serves me correctly is fermented low 20's. If you leave your current beer on the yeast for a week or two post ferment, at ferment temperatures as you've already suggested,it should clean up the majority of the fruity esters leaving a cleaner beer not too dissimilar, ester-wise, to CSA.

 

[philmud]

Their Sparkling, if memory serves me correctly is fermented low 20's. If you leave your current beer on the yeast for a week or two post ferment, at ferment temperatures as you've already suggested,it should clean up the majority of the fruity esters leaving a cleaner beer not too dissimilar, ester-wise, to CSA.

That sounds good, I might bump it up to 20 after it hits FG. Good tip re: the yeast cake, I'll save a good amount - I have also heard its a yeast that develops after a generation or two. Cheers.