This Sucks

Things got a little tight time and money wise. I attempted a Sierra Nevada clone that tastes like lemons. Don't know what happened, but it is barely drinkable with a squeezed orange wedge only. I have two batches in secondary now on the back porch to speed clarification in the cold. Due to a bad batch made in November getting dumped, there is nothing in reserve. I have stooped to bringing store bought beer into the house for the first time in almost 8 months. At least my taste test prior to racking had good results. Maybe it will be good and cold for the next few days.

I bring store bought beer into the house at least once a week and still managed to brew 15 times this year. You just need to up your consumption

Fermentation temps are sooooooooo critical to good beer. I would suggest investing in a ferm chamber (def in GA). Right now, I use a fridge in the summer and my house in the winter, but I'm now seriously considering a dual-stage temp controller.

Remember, the yeast makes the beer!!! (all possible interpretations included...)

Way too many great beers out there to not consume commercial beers.

But, not everyone lives in Beervana

I assume the beer you have sitting on your porch is not subject to sunlight. Good.

You appear to have had two or more batches of beer you are unsatisfied with.

The one you dumped, what did it taste like? What yeast did you use and at what temp did you ferment it at?

This SN clone, same questions. But ultimately, have you looked at sanitation issues with your equipment and processes?

There is no sun in north Ga right now.

The one I dumped tasted like a Harp Lager with Charcoal.

Everything was done at room temp with Munton's Gold yeast. No sanitary issues occurred as everything was cleaned and sanitized with iodine. The SN Clone was a prep issue using new equipment.

The stuff on the back porch is looking and tastes great.

Dannypittman said:

There is no sun in north Ga right now.

The one I dumped tasted like a Harp Lager with Charcoal.

Everything was done at room temp with Munton's Gold yeast. No sanitary issues occurred as everything was cleaned and sanitized with iodine. The SN Clone was a prep issue using new equipment.

The stuff on the back porch is looking and tastes great.

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What do you think caused the issues?

Dannypittman said:

Due to a bad batch made in November getting dumped, there is nothing in reserve. I have stooped to bringing store bought beer into the house for the first time in almost 8 months.

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Hope it was BMC you brought in to your house!

david_42 said:

Way too many great beers out there to not consume commercial beers.

But, not everyone lives in Beervana

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Is there a Willimina, OR or is that just a typo and you live in Willamina, OR? I hadn't heard of Willimina, so I was just trying to educate myself.
Thanks.

If I didn't bring storebought beer into my house at least some of the time, I'd have no empty bottles to put my homebrew into. There are only so many bottles a person can re-use before more are needed.

Dannypittman said:

There is no sun in north Ga right now.

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Light struck beer comes from exposure to UV rays - rays which make it through cloud cover quite easily.

Gammon n Beer asked what I thought went wrong.

When I started all grain 6 months ago, I heated my grains and water at the same time. Yes, that is a short cut but my reasoning was that gradually heating the water and grain over a 30 minutes would be a acceptable. For the most part it was.
Mashing in that manner and watching a 2 year old can cause issues. The temp on my mash got up to 175 degrees when measured at the midpoint in the mash. The bottom got worse I am sure. So that is the Harp story.
Bad batch number 2 was a new mash tun. I stirred the grains in the mash tun while sparging as it was not draining well. That produced excess trub. Previously, I was using a grain bag for my mash. I also used bentonite in an attempt to clarify and that batch. It was doomed from the start.
So I learned after rereading Complete Joys to not use shortcuts use foundation water intstead of stirring and be sure that I have help with the baby

Dannypittman said:

Things got a little tight time and money wise. I attempted a Sierra Nevada clone that tastes like lemons. Don't know what happened, but it is barely drinkable with a squeezed orange wedge only. I have two batches in secondary now on the back porch to speed clarification in the cold. Due to a bad batch made in November getting dumped, there is nothing in reserve. I have stooped to bringing store bought beer into the house for the first time in almost 8 months. At least my taste test prior to racking had good results. Maybe it will be good and cold for the next few days.

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I went back and reread your OP and realized you had not asked a question. I am not certain you seek advice so I offer the following with due respect.

Could the off tastes of the batches be green beer? I ask because sometimes I have wanted to dump a beer, did not and found out later that time has worked some magic. Another time I found that the yeast I was using provided that taste I did not like.

In another exchange you and I discussed your beer on the back porch. IMHO you should cover that beer, even though there is not a lot of direct sunlight in Georgia at this time of the year. Don't take a chance is my offering.

good luck

Lemon fresh joy flavored beer.

My guess is a sanitation issue. Cant remember if it was my first or second batch but I was using a strainer going to the carboy and it got clogged. I thought my hands would be a good tool to reach in and unclog the screen. That beer came out tasting like lemon fresh joy. It got worse as it aged. If it is even remotely drinkable now drink up or prepare to use it as a cleaning agent later. It is heartbreaking to open up bottle after bottle and dump it in the sink, when you had better plans for the contents.

Of all the contributing factors you have suggested I do not think they would produce a foul tasting beer if it weren't for sanitation issues. They may produce cloudy beers and some off flavors but not the foulness you described. I have just finished two kegs worth of stuff that had crazy fermentation occuring in the secondary and I was going to dump but ending up kegging after trying them and they were not bad.

If I had not been doing this for the past 18 years and was not up to date on sanitization issues, I may say that was a possibility. If anything, things have soaked in the iodine mix beyond recommended time frames at a concentration higher than the health dept requires. I have quite a few years of restaurant and catering experience, so I know how to sanitize my equipment.
I would say that most likely photopilot had sanitized hands when he reached in the bucket. How much trub was generated when you did this? I was stirring with a sanitized spoon, going through a sanitized siphon hose and into a sanitized carbouy.

Gammon asked about green beer.
I know about that too. Did a wheat beer 15 years ago. It was terrible after 4 weeks in the bottle. A case was left in my buddy's beer fridge and we ran out of beer on a Sunday. After 3-4 months in the cold and dark fridge, that stuff was great.

These are just my thoughts and I would like to offer my experience to prevent somebody from making my mistake. Not saying anybody's ideas are wrong so do not get offended. I also do not wish to proclaim I know everything there is to know.

Cheers,
Drinkin a Terrapin Ale,
Dannypittman

MUCH BETTER!!! Kegged and brought the other batch in. Dumped the lemonade and put the other batch in to start aging. Taste tests said thumbs up on both batches. Keg 1 is in and yum yum. Can't wait to see what it is like in a week

Dannypittman said:

If anything, things have soaked in the iodine mix beyond recommended time frames at a concentration higher than the health dept requires.

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"Concentration:

This variable can either save or cost you a lot of money. More is not better. A high concentration of cleaner, especially caustic cleaner, can create pitting in stainless steel surfaces which will drastically shorten the usable life of that piece of equipment.

Know your concentrations; measure, don't just guess or assume! Check concentration by using test strips and or pH (ask your supplier what the optimal range for your particular chemical and process). Many cleaners can be reused as long as it is still in the optimal range of pH and concentration. If it is not, often it can be made viable with a slight adjustment. "

The above quote was taken from the following: http://www.probrewer.com/resources/stupidstuff/cleaning.php

P.S. Glad the latest batch was a success. I also enjoyed your comment about sun in GA - I know the feeling...

Since I have been doing this for 18 years, have experience in sanitizing restaurant and medical equipment, I think I know how to sanitize my things. I am willing to say, accidents do happen, but I do not think that is the case here. When Gammon stirred his, that could have done it. If my batch obtained a lemon taste due to unsanitary practice, it would be due to airborne pathogens, not my utencils or practice.
I am getting tired of this thread and ready to move on to another.
Hey Grizzly, are you enjoying the snow?

Yeah. I love that Fox5 was reporting on the "snow" that is now "covering" the ground in northern parts of the city...

It's no wonder the yanks make fun of us.