scottfro
Well-Known Member
So recently I've noticed an off flavor in my pale ale (and potentially in my ESB) and I can't seem to put my finger on it based on all the guidelines I've read on the net for off flavors. I know this is hard to trouble shoot without actually tasting the beer but let me run down the scenario...
I brewed this pale ale Jan 19th. Half of it (10 gal batch) went into a keg somewhere around Feb 1st. Wasn't the greatest but okay, so I dry hopped it and it turned into a wonderful beer in the keg. We drank off this keg for a good month and it was great the whole time. The other half of it stayed in the carboy and was dry hopped there. Upon bottling (Mid-Late Feb.) the carboy beer didn't taste as amazing as the keg (probably since the fresh hop flavor from dry hopping faded) but still a tasty pale ale. The bottles carbonated within a week of bottling and were tasty for about another week. From that point on every bottle I've open has not been too good. It hardly tastes like a pale ale at all and has lost all its hop character. The best way I can describe the flavor is homebrewy and possibly slightly syrupy. I know homebrewy isn't the best term but its just a strange taste. The really odd part is it almost appears that the beer has changed color slightly. It appears to be a bit darker than I remember it when it was coming from the keg. I can't say for sure so thats not a major component of the diagnosis.
What I'm wondering is if my sanitizer might be causing a problem. I use Oxysan which is hydrogen peroxide and epsom salt based. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down to H2O and O2 when it degrades so I'm wondering (since this is a no rinse and my bottles usually have a little wet sanitizer residue in them when I bottle) if I might be oxidizing my beer in the bottles with my sanitizer. This hasn't been a problem lately until these last few batches but it was an issue I had when I first started brewing about 2 years ago (I've used the same sanitizer all along).
After that long winded post does anyone have any answers, suggestions or thoughts?
I brewed this pale ale Jan 19th. Half of it (10 gal batch) went into a keg somewhere around Feb 1st. Wasn't the greatest but okay, so I dry hopped it and it turned into a wonderful beer in the keg. We drank off this keg for a good month and it was great the whole time. The other half of it stayed in the carboy and was dry hopped there. Upon bottling (Mid-Late Feb.) the carboy beer didn't taste as amazing as the keg (probably since the fresh hop flavor from dry hopping faded) but still a tasty pale ale. The bottles carbonated within a week of bottling and were tasty for about another week. From that point on every bottle I've open has not been too good. It hardly tastes like a pale ale at all and has lost all its hop character. The best way I can describe the flavor is homebrewy and possibly slightly syrupy. I know homebrewy isn't the best term but its just a strange taste. The really odd part is it almost appears that the beer has changed color slightly. It appears to be a bit darker than I remember it when it was coming from the keg. I can't say for sure so thats not a major component of the diagnosis.
What I'm wondering is if my sanitizer might be causing a problem. I use Oxysan which is hydrogen peroxide and epsom salt based. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down to H2O and O2 when it degrades so I'm wondering (since this is a no rinse and my bottles usually have a little wet sanitizer residue in them when I bottle) if I might be oxidizing my beer in the bottles with my sanitizer. This hasn't been a problem lately until these last few batches but it was an issue I had when I first started brewing about 2 years ago (I've used the same sanitizer all along).
After that long winded post does anyone have any answers, suggestions or thoughts?