Bad tasting batches

Brew-Jay said:

Thank you all for helping me through this. Fingers crossed that it is solved. I will give the definitive answer in a few days.

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No prob. Glad it's showing signs of promise. I think you'll be golden. Congrats on the kegging gear. I just got 4 ventamatic faucets. Now I can finish my kegerator and portable kegerator builds!

rafaelpinto said:

Why would the counter flow chiller induce that flavors?

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It's not the chillers it's the aluminum brew kettle being cleaned with oxyclean that was the issue. Since he cleans all his gear with oxyclean, I was pointing out the need to be careful with the chiller if it was aluminum. But his chiller isn't aluminum.

High iron levels in water and poorly stored malts can contribute to a metallicy taste. Aluminmun pots usually wont cause metallic flavors unless brewing water ph is greater than 9(unlikley). Protective oxides of aluminum can be enhanced by heating the clean pot in a dry oven at 350 deg for 6 hrs.. Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals disolving into the wort. Im not shure where oxyclean fits in here. But you might need to heat the aluminum pot. Im not shure about the residue of oxyclean on it though. You may find it helpfull to read John Palmers How to brew online in section 22 Is my beer ruined? I got this info out of the book. Is it possible your tasting Medicinal -bandaid as well or instead? That can be cholorephenals its caused from cholorined based sanitizers but rinsing those with boiled water can prevent that. It could be caused by the yeast also.

I had the same issue with a California common. Very interested in the conclusion. I thought mine was from the water. But I also clean my aluminum pot with oxyclean and it has only happened once. I have 2 batches fermenting now that I have brewed since. We'll see how they turnout.

I originally thought it was water related, but I switched from filtered hose water back to water from my fridge and the problem did not go away. I suppose it could be chloramines in the local water supply, but I have had a bunch of good batches too. Why would it change all of a sudden. If this batch doesn't turn out then I may try using all distilled water.

Brew-Jay said:

I originally thought it was water related, but I switched from filtered hose water back to water from my fridge and the problem did not go away. I suppose it could be chloramines in the local water supply, but I have had a bunch of good batches too. Why would it change all of a sudden. If this batch doesn't turn out then I may try using all distilled water.

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A Campden tab will remove chloramine in 20 gal of water

three suggestions

1. water is your main ingredient. If you are on a well, boil all the water 20 min the day before. Not only will this kill any bacteria, but it will drop some of the calcium. To isolate this problem, buy spring water at the grocery store for the next batch.

2. cleanliness. Simplify your process. The chiller could certainly be an issue as could be your fermentation vessels. Both are hard to clean - especially for a newer brewer. After trying a test batch with store-bought water, don't use the chiller for the 2nd batch. Just cool it in the sink using 2-3 changes of cold water. If you have snow, add it to the water. Just keep the lid on it to maintain sterility. If you feel that you must stir the wort while chilling, only do it with a sterile metal spoon. Buy bucket-type fermentation vessels - very easy to clean.

3. chemicals. Forget the additives until you have fixed this problem. Try iodine-based sanitizers.

Good luck!
Greg

Ready for the verdict?

My APA has been kegged for a few days now, and I can confidently say that the off flavor is GONE! Really, the only thing I changed for this last brew was to boil water in the kettle for an hour to replace the oxide layer. Actually, I boiled water for an hour, then cleaned the inside of the kettle with soapy water, rinsed, then boiled again and left it. There was definitely a hazy gray layer around the inside of the kettle and I didn't touch it before brewing.

I owe a big debt of gratitude to everyone who posted suggestions, especially insanim8ter and thadass. You guys were the ones who figured out that I removed the oxide layer on my aluminum pot. PSA to all of you who use aluminum kettles. It does a fine job, but do NOT clean with oxy-clean. If you do, then you really need to heat it or boil it.