Am I doing this right?

I've had about 6 extract batches with this weird off flavor that I've deduced is from fermentation. The taste/smell is not there after the boil, but is there after 2 weeks. (And no, it doesn't go away with time, it's still there 6 months after bottling) I'm hoping to brew the Two Hearted Ale clone this weekend and I wanted to make sure my steps after boil and before fermentation are correct.

During the boil, I rehydrate my yeast (it's mainly been US-05 and US-04) in a sanitized measuring cup with 1 cup boiled and cooled water (about 80*F). I cover the cup with foil.

After the boil (propane burner, 10 gallon pot, full boil), I add it to my better bottle, top it off if I need to with bottled water, then shake the hell out of it. I roll it, shake it, stick a sanitized spatula into it and try to aerate it as much as possible.

Then I dump in the rehydrated yeast, put the airlock or blowoff tube and put it in my temperature controlled fridge at 64* ambient. I have used 64* in the past but for this batch i'm going to set the ambient fridge temp at 58* just to make sure that's not the problem.

Am I doing something wrong? I'm tired of sub-par beer.

I'm a n00b so I dunno, but some missing information I see here is what temp the wort is at when you transfer it to the fermenter before top-off, and what temp is the wort when you pitch?

Ah yes I forgot that. I'm cooling the wort with a copper chiller that I put in with 15 mins left in the boil. I get it down to proper pitching temps.

I've use s-05 & 04 as my primary go to yeast.. its cheap(er) and super reliable. I think your temperature is dead on for both strains. What type of off flavor are you getting.. I think my biggest question is how long do you bulk condition in your primary? The minimum for most ales I would say would be three weeks. My first few batches had some funny flavors and I attribute this to rushing and bottling to quickly. The yeasties need time to clean up from fermentation. My .2 cents

cheers!

Also, I have never re-hydrated fermentis yeast

I'm just trying to think of all the questions more knowledgeable folks will ask you...

What sanitizer do you use? I wrecked a batch by using C-Brite and not sufficiently rinsing the bottles, d'oh...

Can you describe the off-flavor at all?

Are you doing kits or recipes, and where are you getting them?

What are your OG and FG readings typically?

How long are you fermenting in primary/secondary before you bottle. High fermentation temps will lead to esters, which is a kinda sour off flavor, but I found that about 4-5 weeks of conditioning, the ester flavor mellows out and disappers.

Are you bottle conditioning at room temp, or putting them in the fridge? Conditioning takes longer at fridge temps.

I use Star-san. Sanitize everything, clean bottles, etc.
I've had batches in primary from 2 weeks and some in for 2 months. I have used kits and built my own recipe.
OG/FG readings are good when I get proper mixing in my wort for a good OG.
Conditioning at room temp (75*)

I have a hard time explaining the off taste. It smells the same way it tastes and the smell/taste has come through in a pale ale, brown ale, amber ale, stout and hefe. I'm stumped as to what can be causing this.

You sure that off-flavor isn't "hops"?

This is a toughie. There's nothing obviously wrong with your process as you describe it, and without knowing anything about what the flavor is, I dunno...

Oh, thought of another one: You say you are using bottled water for top-off, but do you use tap for the boil? Some people find there are too many chloramines in their tap water (which, unlike straight chlorine, does not boil off), and that can give chlorophenols.

The reason I keep coming back to the chlorophenol thing is because that is something that doesn't go away no matter how long you let it age.

I use gallon jugs of bottled water for all of it.

I'm at the point where I'm literally willing to ship bottles to anyone who will help me identify the flavor and what is causing it. PM me if you're willing.

GatorBeer said:

..I have a hard time explaining the off taste. It smells the same way it tastes and the smell/taste has come through in a pale ale, brown ale, amber ale, stout and hefe. I'm stumped as to what can be causing this.

Click to expand...

Try taking a look here - and see if you can match up your off-taste to one of these descriptions.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

You might also try getting someone else with more brewing experience to taste your beer & give you some better feedback. Do you have a LHBS ? A beer club? An upcoming local brewfest or competition?

Is it bottled "drinking water"? That may be the issue, as there can be a lot of additives. I've heard that you can use distilled water for extract, since the extract should already have everything you need. I've been using straight tap water, treated with campden tablets (not even all of the time) for all of my brews, with no noticeable off flavors.

Now, some people complain of an "extract twang" -- maybe the OP just has a really sensitive palette? I dunno...

I think at this point you're going to have to get samples to somebody like you said, whether it's at the LHBS, a homebrew club, or through the mail.

The bottled water is gallon jugs of spring or purified water.

Any takers on me shipping beer?

GatorBeer said:

I've had about 6 extract batches with this weird off flavor that I've deduced is from fermentation. The taste/smell is not there after the boil, but is there after 2 weeks. (And no, it doesn't go away with time, it's still there 6 months after bottling)

Click to expand...

OHHHH , No !!!

I know exactly how you feel !

I have had 4 Batches with such off flavors .

Our Procedures are very similar . The only difference is that I use distilled Water for brewing and an Ice-Water bath for cooling the Wort .

I also used light DME and Safale-S04 .

My last Batch was in the Primary for 3 Weeks and then for 3 Weeks at 70F in Bottles , but at the End it was totally undrinkable .

It tasted exactly as it smelled , just like yours . Although , I had cleaned and sanitized everything carefully and the Beer had a moderate O.G.

I've brewed a new Batch using another brand of DME and it is in the Primary at 65F . I will bottle it next Week .

"jsweet" already knows what I'm talking about .

Hector

GatorBeer said:

The bottled water is gallon jugs of spring or purified water.

Any takers on me shipping beer?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's permissable; is there a local resource you can leverage (as a previous poster suggested -- LHBS, homebrewing club, etc.)?

I thought about that. I hope I'm not violating Terms of Service for asking that. If I am, please delete my previous posts. If it is permissible I'd love to send some to somebody. If not, I guess I have to find someone local or send in to a competition.

I'm pretty sure people have done it, and discussed it on this site. I think it varies depending on the state?

I'm not volunteering because I am waaaaay too inexperienced to be able to tell.

Looks like the answer is: It's illegal to use USPS, but you can use UPS or FedEx and it is totally legit -- in most states.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/can-you-ship-beer-friend-another-state-403/

All I'm shipping is "yeast samples"

Or returning the same original ingredients the HBS shipped to him, just "recombined and hydrated."

Are you bottle priming? With corn sugar, or table sugar?

Is it possible that your Better Bottle is scratched & somethings living in it?

Priming with corn sugar as per How to Brew. The thing is, before I bottle, the beer already smells 'off'.

GatorBeer said:

The thing is, before I bottle, the beer already smells 'off'.

Click to expand...

As I said , my Situation is exactly the same .

Imagine an off-flavor Scale between 0 and 100 . By the bottling day , it is 30 and 3 Weeks later , it is 100 !

If only I could send a Bottle of mine !

I'm looking forward to hear what they would say about your Beer after tasting .

Hector

To you ferment in buckets, carboys, or better bottles?

sfrisby said:

To you ferment in buckets, carboys, or better bottles?

Click to expand...

My Fermenter is a plastic Water Jug .

Hector

Maybe it's some of your equipment, old brew kettle maybe releasing something? Try switching to RO water.

hector said:

My Fermenter is a plastic Water Jug .

Hector

Click to expand...

If you can get your hands on some glass, a growler maybe if your batches are that small, I might experiment with that. It is very easy to get a small scratch in plastic where bad things can live.

GatorBeer said:

I've had about 6 extract batches with this weird off flavor that I've deduced is from fermentation. The taste/smell is not there after the boil, but is there after 2 weeks. (And no, it doesn't go away with time, it's still there 6 months after bottling) I'm hoping to brew the Two Hearted Ale clone this weekend and I wanted to make sure my steps after boil and before fermentation are correct.

Click to expand...

I started brewing in January and have done 12 extract/partial mash batches and all but the couple of stouts have had the same "different" flavor/smell to them. I want to say that it is the extract "twang" that people talk about. My buddies extract brews also have the same twang to them, but more so because he uses very little grains in his batches. I recently purchased a couple of glass carboys (been using a plastic bucket primary) and my last two batches of light beer have tasted better. Wouldn't hurt to try glass carboys (unless you drop it!). You can always use more fermentors!