kyle6286
Well-Known Member
Hello,
I've been brewing a little less than a year now. I've made a little less than 10 batches, but a good portion of them have been great. Lately, though, my last three batches have had the same off flavor that I can not identify. I even brought it to a LHBS and they couldn't identify it.
It started in the summer when I bought a nice kegerator system. The first batch had a weird taste that I never experienced. I attributed it to the high fermentation temps (maybe mid 70's). I decided to go with the swamp cooler method for the next batch to prevent the fluctuation of ferm temps. The swamp cooler worked well, but when I kegged it, it had the same taste. I then thought it was a flavor coming from either the keg (picked up from a local soda distributor) or the Co2 tank. I asked a bunch of people for any solutions and they all said the same thing - it's either a root beer keg or the Co2 gas isn't food-grade or something like that. Instead of spending more time and money trying to diagnose the problem, I impulsively sold everything for about what I paid. My reasoning behind this was that I was making great beer before the whole kegging system, so I assumed it was something in the kegging process that was the catalyst.
Fast forward a month, and I made a new batch and bottled it. I was very excited for this one. Finally, a drinkable beer. All my other bottled beers have been great, so I was really hoping to redeem myself for the previous two batches. I just opened my first bottle two weeks ago, after three weeks carbonating, and a few days in the fridge, and it has the same damn tatse. WTF!
I can't exactly describe the taste, but when I brought it to my LHBS, I was given the taste of metallic/band-aid. I looked through Palmer's description of off flavors, and these don't seem to fit. From looking on this forum at pictures of infections, I'm fairly confident that an infection isn't my issue. My sanitation process is very good, and I've never noticed anything odd during my fermentation. What's more confusing to me is I don't recall this taste at any off the kegging/bottling times. It's almost as if something is happening after leaving the primary. What I've also discovered is whatever is happening is masking my hop flavor significantly. My second to last batch, a Centennial Blonde, and my most recent, an Amarillo Pale, should definitely have a noticeable hop flavor. However, I can hardly detect it.
To hopefully answer some questions, all of my batches have been extract with speciality grains. I plain to go AG next summer, but if I can't figure out what's wrong, forget that idea. I've used tap water for all of my batches (even the good ones). I use oxiclean free for cleaning my equipment and then star san to sanitize. Thinking back, I really haven't changed my process much, if at all, when brewing. I wish this were an easy fix, but I just can't nail it down. I am probably going to bring a bottle to another LHBS this weekend (I'm told this guy is incredible and knows a ton about homebrewing).
Sorry for such a long post. I really would appreciate any ideas as to how to resolve this.
I've been brewing a little less than a year now. I've made a little less than 10 batches, but a good portion of them have been great. Lately, though, my last three batches have had the same off flavor that I can not identify. I even brought it to a LHBS and they couldn't identify it.
It started in the summer when I bought a nice kegerator system. The first batch had a weird taste that I never experienced. I attributed it to the high fermentation temps (maybe mid 70's). I decided to go with the swamp cooler method for the next batch to prevent the fluctuation of ferm temps. The swamp cooler worked well, but when I kegged it, it had the same taste. I then thought it was a flavor coming from either the keg (picked up from a local soda distributor) or the Co2 tank. I asked a bunch of people for any solutions and they all said the same thing - it's either a root beer keg or the Co2 gas isn't food-grade or something like that. Instead of spending more time and money trying to diagnose the problem, I impulsively sold everything for about what I paid. My reasoning behind this was that I was making great beer before the whole kegging system, so I assumed it was something in the kegging process that was the catalyst.
Fast forward a month, and I made a new batch and bottled it. I was very excited for this one. Finally, a drinkable beer. All my other bottled beers have been great, so I was really hoping to redeem myself for the previous two batches. I just opened my first bottle two weeks ago, after three weeks carbonating, and a few days in the fridge, and it has the same damn tatse. WTF!
I can't exactly describe the taste, but when I brought it to my LHBS, I was given the taste of metallic/band-aid. I looked through Palmer's description of off flavors, and these don't seem to fit. From looking on this forum at pictures of infections, I'm fairly confident that an infection isn't my issue. My sanitation process is very good, and I've never noticed anything odd during my fermentation. What's more confusing to me is I don't recall this taste at any off the kegging/bottling times. It's almost as if something is happening after leaving the primary. What I've also discovered is whatever is happening is masking my hop flavor significantly. My second to last batch, a Centennial Blonde, and my most recent, an Amarillo Pale, should definitely have a noticeable hop flavor. However, I can hardly detect it.
To hopefully answer some questions, all of my batches have been extract with speciality grains. I plain to go AG next summer, but if I can't figure out what's wrong, forget that idea. I've used tap water for all of my batches (even the good ones). I use oxiclean free for cleaning my equipment and then star san to sanitize. Thinking back, I really haven't changed my process much, if at all, when brewing. I wish this were an easy fix, but I just can't nail it down. I am probably going to bring a bottle to another LHBS this weekend (I'm told this guy is incredible and knows a ton about homebrewing).
Sorry for such a long post. I really would appreciate any ideas as to how to resolve this.
Oh well. 
