Musky Taste Result from Swamp Cooler?

Hey guys,
So I just kegged my a pale ale that had been in the primary for 14 days, secondary for 4, and cold crashed for 4. I also moved an IPA to secondary after 11 days. Both of these carboys fermented in the same swamp cooler filled with water to about 1/4 way up the carboy and wrapped with a towel. When I took the gravity readings of both of these and a taste test they both tasted off. There was an off flavor to these both and the best word to describe it would be musky, almost like the smell of a wet towel left balled up on the ground. Are Better Bottles odor permiable? This really worries me that this smell wont "drop out", as I have the Pale Ale going to a charity Beer, Wine, and Food festivals a week from today!! Anyone have the same musky taste from Swamp Coolering before? I took the IPA out of the swamp cooler for the time being and a Blone Ale I had fermenting as well. Does anything else give this musky off flavor that I should be concerned about? Oxygen exposure? I know light does, but they're stored in a darked out room, inside a closet, which is wrapped with a towel.

Sounds like, and I am not tasting it so it's hard to tell, but it sounds like a brett type infection, which can be musky very early on. If the hydrometer reading was really low, that might be exactly what it is. Doesn't sound like light, and shouldn't be the swamp cooler, lots of people use them and don't think it is known for that. I would keep it in the keg in the cooler and see if it goes away as many off flavors tend to. What kind of yeast did you use?

I would say that it has nothing to do with the swamp cooler. I have done 25+ batches in Better Bottles and have had no off flavors to speak of. The water in the swamp cooler has gotten kind of rank a couple of times too!

I really don't know if I have had any off flavors in my beers. I do not have that sophisticated knowledge of flavors.

I have brewed a few styles that I had never tried before so I have no comparison. I have liked them all. Some more than others.

SteelString Will - The Pale Ale I wasn't able to get a FG reading on as I didn't pour enough in my test tube and was to frustrated to get more out. As for my IPA, the FG (after 11 days) I got was 1.022 when BeerSmith was suggesting a FG of 1.014! Both used a US-05. The air temp in the room was prolly around 70-74.

If it is that high, my only other thought would be that it is super slow fermenting and you may be tasting some suspended yeast, sometimes young beers that haven't floculated yet can have a funky, proteiny taste. But I'd stick to keeping it in the fridge a couple of weeks and tasting it. Also, have someone else do a formal tasting without telling them you think it is musky. Sometimes you can get inside your own head to much, you know? It may be a little off, but may not be perceivable to someone who doesn't have a mental picture of what it really should taste like.

Ya I have definitely syked myself out before, espcially while in my first few months of brewing. I took it out of the swamp cooler, so hopefully it will wake the yeast back up and have them finish off the job.

Another note I would like to add would be the beer is really hazy. Not as cleaned up as US-05 usually is. How do you all dry hop? I use a nylon bag that i drop in through the neck and leave some of the bag gripped to the rubber stopper that goes over the carboy neck. Some of it may be exposed to the outside elements. Is it possible that a bacteria "traveled" through the mesh from the outside and into the carboy that way? Please let me know if you dont follow.

That seems possible yes. Especially if it was in the swamp cooler, as that thing is probably ripe for mold spores. Possible, but I would still think waking the yeast back up might fix it.

I used to dry hop with a boiled and sanitized bag dropped in, but recently started just dumping the pellets or leafs in. If you cold crash, it seems to make it clearer by not being held in the bag, and reduces that risk of contamination, since those nylon bags are pretty hard to actually clean.

Chris7687 said:

Another note I would like to add would be the beer is really hazy. Not as cleaned up as US-05 usually is. How do you all dry hop? I use a nylon bag that i drop in through the neck and leave some of the bag gripped to the rubber stopper that goes over the carboy neck. Some of it may be exposed to the outside elements. Is it possible that a bacteria "traveled" through the mesh from the outside and into the carboy that way? Please let me know if you dont follow.

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No odors will permeate the Better Bottle. While bacteria might be able to grow their way down the bag, it's more likely that the bag wasn't completely sanitized to begin with. I soak mine in Star San for hours before I drop them in, and I definitely would not leave any part hanging out the neck of a carboy.

Another thing to think about is that the rubber stopper is not making a seal when you have something, like part of a bag, obstructing it. Mold/bacteria doesn't have to travel through the material of the bag, it can waft in through the small spaces around to bag to get at the wort. By doing this, you're defeating the purpose of a bubbler/blow-off tube.

Sadly, I don't think this will clear in a week for your charity event.

What is the recommended process for dry hopping? Just tying off the bag and shoving it in there?

Yup.

It's far easier with a bucket fermenter than a carboy. Some people get tired of fishing the bags out of the carboy, so they do what Will said above: dump hops directly into the carboy and filter them out later.

I've had good results with putting a few marbles in my hop bag for dry hopping. Just throw them in the bag when you boil it. I put a few in so that its submerged but still floats That way all of the hops are in contact with the beer and they don't sink to the bottom.

P.S. I've only used this with a bucket. Dunno how easy it would be to fish it out of a carboy.

hadn't thought about something like that, very innovative.

I'll have to measure the weight of the marbles in oz next time I dry hop since I'm not using the regular ones. They are like flat, artsy-fartsy ones for a planter lol. I'll keep you posted next time around.