i guess this is a question about sanitation....sort o

so a buddy of mine recently made his first homebrew.
it tasted a little funny.

i told him about this weird taste (almost like belgian yeast funk, but with a chalky, pepto-bismol ish finish), and he said he wondered if it was because of his tub.

see, when his boil was done, he put the brewpot in a tub full of freezing cold water to cool down....apparantly there was not enough wort to weigh the pot down, and the wort spilled into the bathwater, and the water into the pot.

so, he put it back on the stove top, boiled it down a gallon, and added a few more pounds of extract.

is there any chance that something harmful/dangerous that could not be boiled away (maybe soap scum, cleaning agents) made it into his beer from the spill? if not, is there a chance that the funky taste came from the bathwater? or would that more likely come from the yeast he used (i don't remember what yeast he used, but i know he said it was a belgian yeast)

I can't imagine it's from the bathwater, unless a considerable amount got in there. Probably just a problem with the process somewhere. Sounds like phenolics, perhaps? What temps did he ferment at?

i'd say there was roughly a gallon of liquid exchange (wort into the tub/water into the pot).
he said he kept the fermentor is his room, which he always keeps at 68 F (because that is his comfort zone)

anyone else have any ideas? we could really use some advice here (as to whether or not to drink these things).

Lesson learned - throw it out. Weird tasting funky beer is gross. If the bath water did not screw it up, sounds like some other area of poor sanitation was involved.

How clean does he keep his tub??? I seriously doubt they will do you any harm. Beer does not work that way. Pathogens don't typically take hold in beer, that is why it brewing began in ancient cultures as a source of safe potable beverages. I vote age them a bit more and taste them.

Sam C - he claimed he was careful about sanitation....but i was not there, so i guess i can't really verify that per se.

Wilserbrewer - he actually said his tub was cleaned a day, that's what i am really worried about....not necessarily pathogens, but soap scum or cleaning agents.

any thoughts?

There's so many paths of potential yukky in your story unless someone with experience were to taste it and identify it, words really aren't sufficient.

It could be just green and need more time to condition, it could be that you all don't like belgian yeast flavors and the beer is fine, it could be soap, it could be phenols...it could be something in the brewing process that you haven't even mentioned...

What we need it to find an experienced brewer (especially a bjcp certified judge who has taken the off flavors course and tasted control samples) to taste the beer and see what the issue is.....unfortunately trying to diagnose an off flavor from something written on a computer screen is sorta like a deaf guy trying to explain jazz...it's sorta difficult not being able to actually taste it.

Call it a Belgian and you're good to go! Seriously, the second boil should have killed anything that might have tried to contaminate it. The taste probably is from the Belgian yeast if that is what he used.

We have an old saying among our club members:

"Just because it's infected doesn't make it a Belgian!" lol

It's hard to guess what the problem might be or if there is actually a problem at all. In any case, it probably won't make you sick or kill you.

Revvy said:

There's so many paths of potential yukky in your story unless someone with experience were to taste it and identify it, words really aren't sufficient.

It could be just green and need more time to condition, it could be that you all don't like belgian yeast flavors and the beer is fine, it could be soap, it could be phenols...it could be something in the brewing process that you haven't even mentioned...

What we need it to find an experienced brewer (especially a bjcp certified judge who has taken the off flavors course and tasted control samples) to taste the beer and see what the issue is.....unfortunately trying to diagnose an off flavor from something written on a computer screen is sorta like a deaf guy trying to explain jazz...it's sorta difficult not being able to actually taste it.

Click to expand...

ok...first of all, thank you for responding, you are probably the most knowledgable person i have spoken with on this board'

anyway, i love belgian yeast flavors, but this flavor is unfamiliar and hard to describe.

but my biggest concern is...if the tub were cleaned that day, do you think there is any there a chance that enough soap or cleaning agents could have made their way into the batch to cause harm to anyone who drinks the brew.
enough of a chance that i'd be better to dump it than risk it?

i definately plan on aging it...
but if it could actually poison me, then why let it take up space in my aging closet, right?

Catt22 said:

Call it a Belgian and you're good to go! Seriously, the second boil should have killed anything that might have tried to contaminate it. The taste probably is from the Belgian yeast if that is what he used.

We have an old saying among our club members:

"Just because it's infected doesn't make it a Belgian!" lol

It's hard to guess what the problem might be or if there is actually a problem at all. In any case, it probably won't make you sick or kill you.

Click to expand...

haha!
brilliant.

yeah, like i said, whether or not i could get sick is my main concern, i understand pathogen's can't survive, i just imagine it may be hard/impossible to boil away certain cleaning agents

Harm...no....

not wanting to drink it, maybe....but unless someone uses some majorly caustic cleanser (like that industrial orange stuff that actually can leach fat from under our skin) I don't think anything harmful could happen....if it was just soapy and not rinsed properly you are dealing with a major dillution of the cleanser in the water...I don't think there would be enough to harm anyone...just maybe taste yukky...

Thanks for the compliment, btw!

no problem sir, and thanks again for your assistance