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KuntzBrewing · 04-14-2012, 05:07 AM

Well 2 problems to be specific. First off The very first homebrew I made was an IPA, turned out decent for my first time chill hazed protien hazed, no head or retention, but tasted great. I didnt add any salts to my mash so i thought this explained the "rounded" bitterness. So months later I made an IIPA added mgso4 and caso4 as recomended by a water spreadsheet to get a Burton type water. This brew had a good malt body and decent hop aroma. went for the taste and there was some terrible off flavor. I cant describe this flavor as I have only tasted it in my brew (although I caught it slightly in a 3 Floyds Zombie Dust bottle months later) btw that batch got infected so i figured it was caused by the infection. but i also got extremely sick the next day. Now before we all comment saying no pathogen can grow in homebrew let me finish. This brew had me throwing up so bad the next day and such a splitting migrane that I wished I was hungover instead of what I had. It was like food poisoning type sickness. didnt eat for 2 days and even though i tried I just puked it up. The puking was so bad I was expecting **** to be sucked out of my intestines and back up through my mouth. The migraine was so bad i wanted to just die. and on top of that i would break out into a cold sweat each time i puked or moved. I figured it was just from that infection. So i dumped them all $60 worth of beer in the trash. So to prevent another infection to ruin my beer and waste my money i bleached everything, oxycleaned it all. Made another IPA. added my salts, smelled it and it smells wonderfull, drank it and noticed the same flavor. this time there was no infection visible. No signs of fussel alcohols either. Next day got sick as a dog again. Exact same sympotms. And trust me this was not a hang over. Now I know that pathogens cannot survive in homebrew but what is causing this. its not from other foods. its only from my homebrewed IPAs. any other beer I make turns out great and leaves no sickness.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

BTW no commercial IPAs make me sick like this
can anyone elaborate without simply saying its not the homebrew.

SwampassJ · 04-14-2012, 10:27 AM

How much of each mineral are you adding and where did you buy them from? Are you measuring it in grams, teaspoons, tablespoons? How large is the batch? What was your base water profile before adding the salts? Are you adding it during the mash and boil and possibly doubling your amount you're aiming for? Too much magnesium should just give you the ****s, but if it's high enough that your body is trying to reject it then it could explain the intense vomiting.

I would not drink another one of those beers for the time being, something is not right with them. Hopefully you're still awake so we can figure this out.

Dougie63 · 04-14-2012, 10:42 AM

brew with gallon jugs of spring water and see if it clears up also give beer to friends and see if they get sick may be your system

Veedo · 04-14-2012, 10:59 AM

Allergy?

**flananuts** · 04-14-2012, 11:06 AM

What hop varietal did you use? A good friend of mine and brewer in England is allergic to hops that are high in AA's. Post your water xls and your additions, recipe, etc so we can help you get back to brewin your own beer.

RichBenn · 04-14-2012, 11:35 PM

There could be any number of problems. Without alot of detail, it's hard to know.

For sterilization, I will say that one should NOT use bleach - it's difficult to rinse clean (and you need to sterilize your rinse water?) and is not good for stainless steel. Use Isodophor or (my favorite) StarSan. Starsan is great because it is no-rinse.

Second, Oxyclean works as a cleaner, but you need to rinse VERY well. I assume you know the difference between cleaning (soils removal) and sterilizing.

If you suspect a sterilization problem, go to the section on that and read the primer.

Spend the time to detail your process and recipe steps/ingredients/temperatures, and you may get some help here. Don't leave anything out. What you think may not be important could be the "one thing" that is causing problems.

Phyrst · 04-15-2012, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougie63

brew with gallon jugs of spring water and see if it clears up also give beer to friends and see if they get sick may be your system

Sorry, this made me laugh. I can just see that conversation.

"Hey Jim, try this beer. It gave me a massive two-day headache that made me want to die. Oh, and I puked my guts out like crazy. I want to see if it has the same affect on you."

**chickypad** · 04-15-2012, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampassJ

How much of each mineral are you adding and where did you buy them from? Are you measuring it in grams, teaspoons, tablespoons? How large is the batch? What was your base water profile before adding the salts? Are you adding it during the mash and boil and possibly doubling your amount you're aiming for?

I'm worried about this too - especially if you were shooting for Burton water which is pretty extreme. In addition to the runs mag sulfate overdose can give you vomiting, flushing, sweating, overall crap feeling. Can be pretty dangerous actually.

KuntzBrewing · 04-15-2012, 04:37 AM

Ok so I added 20g CaSO4 and 7g MgSO4 to 4.5 gallons in my mash plus 6 gal distilled water in the sparge. The 4.5 gallons was tap water with. 79ppm cal, 25ppm Mg, 19.3 Na, 57 Cl and 51 SO4

KuntzBrewing · 04-15-2012, 04:42 AM

Ended up with 6 gallons in the fermentor