WTF?? Why do my beers have this taste?

I'm seriously starting to get pissed and discouraged here. I'm a diligent cleaner/sanitizer so I'm convinced this isn't a contamination thing.

4 of my last 7 beers have come out with a solvent/nail polish taste to them. They were 2 pretty big english ales, an oatmeal stout, and a porter. One of them is so bad I can't drink it, and the rest aren't super awful but I can taste it.

I know it's not from bad fermentation temperatures either because I'm crazy about monitoring it.

What could this be?? It hasn't happened in any of my recent "lighter brews" which were a pale ale, an apricot ale, and it didn't happen with my scotch ale.

Please help. For awhile I was making great beer and now they are turning out with this consistent weird taste. Thanks

Read this and you might find out what it is. Be sure to read all the pages part 2, part 3 etc see Related Articles at the bottom of the pages.

part 3: http://www.fermentarium.com/content/view/240/58/

if its a solvent taste and your temps are good my money is on under pitching yeast. strange water chemistry could also give some strange flavors but not usually solvent-ish. my experience has been that beers with more dark malts need more aging.

Man, I wait it will help you, to make again great beers!!!

From the site 'How to Brew' of John Palmer:

Solvent-like
This group of flavors is very similar to the alcohol and ester flavors, but are harsher to the tongue. These flavors often result from a combination of high fermentation temperatures and oxidation. They can also be leached from cheap plastic brewing equipment or if PVC tubing is used as a lautering manifold material. The solvents in some plastics like PVC can be leached by high temperatures.

If you know your fermentation temp is OK and you are using the same yeast procedures as your former good beers then you very well might have an infection. Some bacteria and wild yeasts can produce byproducts that will give you those nasty tastes. Have you switched yeast types or supplier? Is the product fresh and stored well? Are you repitching yeast? Are you making high gravity beers and severely underpitching? Have you thoroughly cleaned all equipment, especially hoses, valves and anything with crevices or irregular surfaces that could harbor an infection?

Do most of you use filtered tap water? Like a Brita faucet filter or what?

I have just been taking it right out of the tap. Could this be the culprit? The chlorine level of the water here is .4-.5 mg/L .

Alkilinity of the water is 190-195. I should probably be using some kind of filter for the water anyway right? X-mas present perhaps. Any filter recommendations?

How much of a difference will this really make?

The water could be a problem, have you checked to see what kind of water you have. High PH can really screw with lighter ales.

Also - we have NOTHING but software coming into our house (the town automatically softens all water) and Brita faucet filter will not help soft water at all (learned this from a chemist yesterday). It will help non-softened water but if it is soft already it's sort of crap for brewing.

NOT saying that is your problem but something to look into.

mangine77 said:

I know it's not from bad fermentation temperatures either because I'm crazy about monitoring it.

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Can you tell us what your typical fermentation temps are ?

Because low to mid 70s is too hot no matter how crazy you are about monitoring it.

Mutilated1 said:

Can you tell us what your typical fermentation temps are ?

Because low to mid 70s is too hot no matter how crazy you are about monitoring it.

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I never let my fermentations get above 68 degrees. I try to keep them between 62 and 66.

What temperature is your "most typical" temp that you pitch at???

Grinder12000 said:

The water could be a problem, have you checked to see what kind of water you have. High PH can really screw with lighter ales.

Also - we have NOTHING but software coming into our house (the town automatically softens all water) and Brita faucet filter will not help soft water at all (learned this from a chemist yesterday). It will help non-softened water but if it is soft already it's sort of crap for brewing.

NOT saying that is your problem but something to look into.

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Guessing you are an IT guy?

My town is going to start doing this in 2009, does it basically mean you have really high sodium content in your water? That would mean you need either a reverse osmosis system in your house or buy water

mangine77 said:

I never let my fermentations get above 68 degrees. I try to keep them between 62 and 66.

What temperature is your "most typical" temp that you pitch at???

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I like to pitch yeast in the 50s if I'm making Lager, and low to mid 60s for Ales.

Have you tried just keeping them cooler ? There is a world of difference between 68 and 62. Maybe keep them low 60s for one beer and see if that helps ?

Did you aerate the wort before pitching and did you pitch enough yeast to begin with ?

Are the beers sour at all?

One source of a nail polish like aroma is ethyl acetate and can be produced when ethanol reacts with acetic acid (from an acetobactor infection). Also, this process must have exposure to oxygen to happen. Just a few other places to look.

does it basically mean you have really high sodium content in your water?

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+1 IT guy - you are creepy LOL

OH - I SEE THAT IS FUNNY!!! software My bad!

yea - lots of sodium - luckily water is cheap - RO system would be nice but I don't want to go there - the wife DOES like the smell of the boil but more $$ into brewing is always dicey!

I had a solvent type of issue with a beer recently. I didn't have any more airlocks or drilled bungs left so I had to cover the pail with foil and the lid. At the time we were having a fruit fly issue in our house but I had heard of others doing an open fermentation successfully. Anyway I think it was an infection and just thought I'd put that out to you. The beer, like yours, was drinkable but definately not great.

How are you oxygenating your wort? If you're using an oxygen tank, how long are you running it?

I've heard of over oxygenating causing some solvent-like flavors in the finished beer. If you're going much more than 60 seconds, you may try backing off the oxygen level.

cdburg said:

How are you oxygenating your wort? If you're using an oxygen tank, how long are you running it?

I've heard of over oxygenating causing some solvent-like flavors in the finished beer. If you're going much more than 60 seconds, you may try backing off the oxygen level.

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I'm just using one of those drill attachments to stir. I do whip it up really good but I'm guessing it would take a lot to over oxygenate doing it this way, right??

One time I used a 5 gram packet of nottingham that I thought was an 11.5 gram packet. That beer turned out too solventy for my liking but other people drank it.

mangine77 said:

I'm just using one of those drill attachments to stir. I do whip it up really good but I'm guessing it would take a lot to over oxygenate doing it this way, right??

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I doubt that you could over oxygenate with a drill attachment. You should be good there.

Sounds like your fermentation temps are better than mine.

Assuming no chemical contamination or infection, something is probably stressing the yeasties. You might try bottled drinking (not distilled) water and a yeast nutrient. I believe Palmer even recommends double pitching dry yeasts.

I'd start with the water. I had an off flavor I couldn't shake, finally figured out it was from my water. When I started mixing filtered tap with reverse osmosis water the problem went away. :rockin:

I would brew a batch of beer with store bought water and see if you find any difference.

gruversm said:

I would brew a batch of beer with store bought water and see if you find any difference.

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+1 It's an easy way to check that off the list. Use spring water for most styles.

Also, you say you are very good about sanitation, but I've read more than one post about repeating problems, and they've generally been solved by replacing one or more piece of plastic equipment. Some scratches in plastic are nearly impossible to sanitize with normal methods.

That stuff is generally cheap. At least cheaper than wasting another batch due to infection.

I had a belgian that had a bad flavor that I pretty much pinned down to solvent-like taste, but that fermented at WAY too high temps. I had to toss that stuff out. It hurt, but I could not drink it.

Grinder12000 said:

The water could be a problem, have you checked to see what kind of water you have. High PH can really screw with lighter ales.

Also - we have NOTHING but software coming into our house (the town automatically softens all water) and Brita faucet filter will not help soft water at all (learned this from a chemist yesterday). It will help non-softened water but if it is soft already it's sort of crap for brewing.

NOT saying that is your problem but something to look into.

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Wow, that royally sucks. I despise soft water.

what water are you using? i'd check out your water report and see what they are putting in it.

EDIT: oop, didn't read the whole thread

No distilled though...I was an Idiot in my extract days and use to top off all my wart before pitching with Distilled or bottled water. Almost every brew I made had a salty, calcium taste. I use to call it a sour wine taste...Anyways my guess is its your water but don't take my word for it. The only way you'll know is if you try something different. Process of elimination is key. Good Luck!