MattTheBlack
Member
I've been having this contamination issue on and off for several years. Essentially, I get this awful, medicinal scent/aftertaste to the beer. At least that's how I think to describe it, and the guy at my local homebrew store described it that way. I have found it more and less pronounced in different beers. Consistently I've noticed that when this contamination occurs that the krausen takes longer to form than in my clean brews (about 48 hours instead of 24 hours).
I'm fairly certain this is some form of yeast contamination, as I don't use chlorine based sanitizers anymore for my plastic primary (one step is my go to). I've done a lot to try to address this, including replacing my plastic primaries, and even having a fellow brewer who consistently makes good, clean beer come over and observe/critique my sanitation and brewing process. For the last many months (since October?) I haven't had any issues, but I just brewed a CDA 8 days ago, and racking it today the contamination issue had come back.
What am I doing wrong? Is it actually a yeast issue, or are there other things that can cause this? How do I prevent it?
I'm fairly certain this is some form of yeast contamination, as I don't use chlorine based sanitizers anymore for my plastic primary (one step is my go to). I've done a lot to try to address this, including replacing my plastic primaries, and even having a fellow brewer who consistently makes good, clean beer come over and observe/critique my sanitation and brewing process. For the last many months (since October?) I haven't had any issues, but I just brewed a CDA 8 days ago, and racking it today the contamination issue had come back.
What am I doing wrong? Is it actually a yeast issue, or are there other things that can cause this? How do I prevent it?