Diacetyl bad?

Can't say I've ever detected that specific mouthfeel either. I'm blessed!

 

So, to clarify, does Ringwood always produce at least some diacetyl? Only Sometimes? No connection between the yeast and the flavour at all?

A long standing local brewery that has used a Ringwood set-up for 28 years makes what I think are pretty good beers in English styles. I don’t get a buttery note from them at all. I’ve only ever got this from Bohemian Pilsners. I don’t like it in those. I’m curious as to whether or not I’m just not able to pick it up in small quantities.


Parenthetically, the brewery in question put in a closed fermenter this summer and has begun making beers not using Ringwood for the first time.


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/816/

 

Arcadia Brewing (which closed permanently today because of financial issues) was a Ringwood yeast user, and I never detected diacetyl in any of their beers, and I can spot that flavor easily. More than anything else. I think the skill and patience of the brewer is the key to keeping that defect out of the beers.

 

Many I know did not like Arcadia due to the Diacetyl years ago. Maybe 20, or so. One their Brewers learned how to tame it. Pitch rate, O2 at the right time, rousing it as it dropped too early, top cropping at the right time, and so on. Someone who worked there said it was a needy bitch.

All yeast produce the precursor to Diacetyl. It is a question of how much, and do they stay around to clean it up.

One of the mind boggling things coming out of the yeast Genome project is that Ringwood is a Zlager strain!

 

I am enjoying a Scottish Ale from Belhaven Brewing Co. and there's that artificial butter taste, faint yet supportive of the body. Now does it really taste like popcorn butter??

The first time I tried a Weihenstephaner beer I enjoyed it, reviewed it favorably, then read some of the other reviews and noticed that most people smell banana and clove. I smelled fruit and spice, not well defined as anything in particular. The next time I drank the same beer..now I get banana and clove...but not really.

I have a jar of cloves and usually have bananas on hand, I know what the smell is like. The smell and taste from some German beer is as close as it gets to older banana and spicy clove, but not exactly.

My point is it may take more than one try at a beer or style to get the faint nuances and acceptable imperfections. And some of the tastes we perceive are just close approximations to what we are used to from foods.

 

I just posted the below in a Lager thread (my experiences yesterday in Prague) and since it is diacetyl related:

"The Pilsner Urquell at Plzeňský Anděl had a notable flavor of diacetyl to it. My wife did not finish her 0.5 liter pour while I did. I was not a fan of this notable diacetyl aspect but it was not horrible.

In contrast the aspect of diacetyl in the Budweiser Budvar was of a very low level. I drank three 0.5 liter glasses of that beer."

Cheers!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-in-the-u-s-anyway.622389/page-6#post-6633274

 

Fixed that for ya...

 

To be honest ive actually never had it. I just always read about that beers and it’s association to diacytal.

Did they change their yeast and/or procedures to eliminate that?

 

The other night I had a Koutská 12° Dvanáctka, a Bohemian Pilsener from the Czech Republic, and it had a delicious buttered-popcorn flavor. I shared it with three others who were turned off by the flavor.

 

Buttery flavor in many Chardonnays is indeed primarily from diacetyl created during malolactic conversion. There are other grapes that tend to be more fruity yet aren't known for buttery character because perceptible levels of diacetyl in other white grapes are usually avoided in the winemaking process.

 

I like ESB now days. Back in the late 1980’s I hated them as they tasted like buttered beer. I just figured that was their taste. I did not like it.

I had an ESB a few years ago and it was quite nice and non buttery. Who knew.

Enjoy

 

I don't mind a bit of diacetyl in my bitter, particularly when in the UK. I haven't noticed it in my Czech pilsners but then I generally don't like them anyway so rarely consume them. I've had a few US beers of various styles that would have been improved (IMHO) by diacetyl.

 

Ringwood yeast update: I went to Gritty McDuff’s in Portland, I was told that they are no longer bottling their beer. They were contract brewed and they say that they were losing money packaging their beer.

Bummer. A sign of the times. Everyone wants hop tea, pastry stouts and sours. Gritty’s has never played those games very well. I had some Halloween ale on cask as well as their English pale. Both were delicious, not even a hint of buttery diacetyl. Ringwood yeast ester-y flavors abound though so there’s nothing really there to change the haters minds. I hope they can keep it together, I had a fun time drinking their beer.