Help there's Banana in my Bo-Pils

[elproducto]

Brewed my first Pilsner on Jan. 28th and it's been lagering for 3 weeks.

Recipe was simple

12 lbs Pilsner
12 oz. Cara Pils

1.5 oz. Cz Saaz 60 min.
2 oz. Cz Saaz 30 min.
1 oz. Cz Saaz 10 min.
1 oz. Cz Saaz 0 min.

2 packs of w34/70 pitched at about 40 degrees. Ambient temp in the basement was between 10 and 12 degrees.

Pulled my first pint after 3 weeks carbing and lagering in my kegerator which is at about 40 degrees. Aroma is classic pilsner, and it tastes really clean... except for the banana on the finish. Almost tastes like a hefeweizen when you get it, but the banana is slight and not on every sip.

I'm assuming this is an off product of fermentation, likely that my ambient temps weren't cold enough.

Will this clean up with extended lagering in the fridge? It's not at all unpleasant, would just be much more at home in a hefe.

 

[msmith92]

This just happened to my British Bitter. From what I've been told and read it won't go away.

I'm just going to carb and chill more so that it hopefully masks it but I'll be serving a "different" beer at that point.

 

[jchawk]

I tasted the same thing in my Pils that I just put in the keg to force carb...

I always like to try a little bit un-carbinated to see how it is coming along...

I taste a slight banana flavor at the end. I lagered in a freezer with a temperature controller. I'm wondering if maybe I didn't lager too long? Or perhaps my temps fluctuated?

 

[pjj2ba]

Banana ad bubblegum in lagers are flavors that are typically associated with fermentation being a bit warmer than ideal.

 

[jchawk]

I have my temp probe taped to the wall of the freezer, I wonder if I would be better to put into a bowl of water. Do you think that will yield more consistent temperature control?

 

[Homercidal]

I thought I was getting some banana in my wheat lager. Fermentation was at 50F...

 

[pjj2ba]

I have my temp probe taped to the wall of the freezer, I wonder if I would be better to put into a bowl of water. Do you think that will yield more consistent temperature control?

I "strap" mine to the side of the carboy, and then add some bubble wrap outside of that to insulate it from the chamber air. I want it to monitor the temperature of the fermenter not the chamber. The fermenter can be several degrees warmer than the chamber. It takes a while for the heat generated by the yeast to pass through the walls of the carboy/bucket and to finally equilibrate with air in the chamber so there can be quite a lag before the cooling turns on so the beer will be above what the chamber air is reading - plus then the air may cool down to the set point and shut off, but the fermenter may still be warm as that takes longer to cool. The net result is it take longer to cool the wort back down.

A fan is a good idea too. Even with my probe attached to the carboy, the first time I used my chamber, I thought the system was not responsive enough to keep the temperature really stable. I added a fan that turns on whenever the compressor turns on. That helped quite a bit

 

[aubiecat]

I "strap" mine to the side of the carboy, and then add some bubble wrap outside of that to insulate it from the chamber air. I want it to monitor the temperature of the fermenter not the chamber. The fermenter can be several degrees warmer than the chamber. It takes a while for the heat generated by the yeast to pass through the walls of the carboy/bucket and to finally equilibrate with air in the chamber so there can be quite a lag before the cooling turns on so the beer will be above what the chamber air is reading - plus then the air may cool down to the set point and shut off, but the fermenter may still be warm as that takes longer to cool. The net result is it take longer to cool the wort back down.

A fan is a good idea too. Even with my probe attached to the carboy, the first time I used my chamber, I thought the system was not responsive enough to keep the temperature really stable. I added a fan that turns on whenever the compressor turns on. That helped quite a bit

We think a lot alike on this. I do the same thing with putting the temp probe on the carboy and a fan in the fermentation chest. The fan helps keep the temperature consistent throughout.