"Off" flavor from yeast

[FlintHill]

I have read quite a few posts talking about over worked yeast and off flavors. What do these "off" flavors taste like? I always use 2-3 grams of yeast. My latest AG has been stripped and I ran my spirit run. I notice a very sweet flavor this time though. That made me wonder....what are the off flavors yeast can produce?

[still_stirrin]

Good yeast tastes like bread. Perhaps a little sweet, but usually the aroma smells like leavening bread (you know, like when your mother used to make bread).

Bad yeast tastes like cardboard. Sometimes it has a musky smell and a dirty taste.

It may be sour, but that can sometimes be the terminal end of fermentation, not necessarily a bad yeast quality.

Experience with many ferments will tell you the good from the bad. If you don't know...you haven't been there (yet). Keep practicing.
ss

[bearriver]

There are far too many yeasts with an array of flavors they produce to give a definite answer.

When I run a dirty wash with lots of yeast in it, it tastes different. Won't say better or worse but just different.

The most popular yeasts here are probably bakers and ec-1118. With either of those I wouldn't worry about the yeast adding too much flavor to the spirit, as they are known to ferment very clean.

[Dan P.]

I don't know how people know the "off" taste is coming from the yeast, or the many and various other particulates in a wash that is not crystal clear.
This was discussed recently, and I pointed out that Bourbon is distilled on the grain, Scotch is very certainly not cleared of all particulates before distillation. I personally distill on the grain, and am not plagued by the dreaded "off" tastes.

The only "off" tastes that people are likely to agree on is those that might be produced when yeast is overloaded with sugars or nutrients or heat or other environmental factors.

The ultimate arbiter is taste. Personally I don't like EC118. I think it gives a hard, kinda gacky taste like artificial sweetener. Some don't like baker's yeast. Personally I like one particular brand of baker's yeast, and am not crazy about other brands. You just have to figure out what works for you, but try not to overthink it.

[FlintHill]

I use bakers yeast most of the time, plan on switching to us-05 for my whiskey.

I have never had off tastes in my opinion, never bready, nor astringent.

[biker geek]

I think, in this context, that the off flavors referred to are in the ferment. If you use too little yeast there will be a lot of growth which lead to a sour apple taste in the beer and a lot more heads. If you stress yeast with too much sugar it will give a hot, licorice flavor in the beer with hot flavor coming over throughout the run(mostly in the heads and tails). If you ferment hotter, you get more ester production which makes for more flavorful hearts, but more heads and tails.

In the beer world the above flavors are considered defects and beers are judged poorly for having too much of any of them. The Brewstrong podcasts are a great source of info for this stuff.

[thecroweater]

Horses for courses when it comes to yeast. My go to bakers yeast is called lowens and is basically Lamands but if you use that yeast with fruit you will learn what off flavours ate all about

[bearriver]

Horses for courses when it comes to yeast. My go to bakers yeast is called lowens and is basically Lamands but if you use that yeast with fruit you will learn what off flavours ate all about

+1

I used bakers yeast on a cherry plum brandy a few weeks ago and it is funky!