Better explain the band aid taste

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ndhowlett

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
123
Reaction score
2
Location
Mountains
Can anyone better explain the band aid taste? I'm on my third AG, and bottling all my brew. The last two beers have had a "homebrew" taste. It's not necessarily a bad taste but I could possibly say a slight band aid taste. All the beers are definitely drinkable, but there's that taste in there that I can't get around. All of these beers have been light beers (wheat, pils, and pale ale). I know lighter beers are easier affected by off flavors, so.......

Is the "Band Aid" taste overwhelming? I'm referring to an infection happening and the "Band-Aid" taste that is supposed to be associated with it.

I don't want to freak out, because I've also seen threads that talk about that "homebrew" taste. Mine could be either one to be honest. Any experience, advice to get rid of the taste would be appreciated. It' pretty depressing!!
 
I think the bandaid taste is associated with both infections of things like brettanomyces and using equipment sanitized with bleach and not properly rinsed. I guess it could be tannins but I wouldnt describe that as a bandaid taste. can you describe your AG process, times, temps, volumes. efficiency that kind of stuff?
 
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

-John Palmer
 
What do you mean by "homebrew" taste? I've never seen this used as an off-flavor descriptor.
 
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=64806

This thread has a discussion on the "homebrew taste"

My procedures are typical, nothing crazy. The only thing I haven't done with these brews is incorporate a "mash out" before I do my first runnings. I mash in a rectangular cooler, I batch sparge, and I use starsan as my sanitizer, I use store bought drinking water for every beer. Never had this problem with extract brews.

One thing of note, as most new homebrewers, I'm woring on my efficiency and I've been having problems. I'd say these beers are a little on the weaker side, but it shouldn't make it taste off right????
 
One other thing I haven't been doing is cooling my priming mixture. I just tossed it right in a few minutes after boiling. I now know it's wrong, but would it affect the whole batch that drastically??
 
Ive never worried about cooling my priming solution and its never caused me any problems.

also you said this is your third AG batch but the first one was fine? what if anything has changed from the first batch? If everything is that same it could be an infection, maybe a scratch in some of the plastic equipment the beer comes into contact with.
 
The second one was fine, the first and third have that taste. I can't really tell if it's band aid or homebrewish. It's definitely noticeable though. If I compared it to a commercial brand that I would make a clone of you would definitely notice the difference, I haven't done a clone yet, maybe that would be a good measure to see if it's the recipe or beer I'm making or something in my procedures.

I'm going to take one up to the LHBS and see what they think.
 
The low 70's for fermenting temp, I used a california lager yeast for pilsner and a dry nottingham for Ed Wort's brew haus pale ale.
 
The ferment temps could be an issue. If you have mid 70's ambient then the beer ferments near 80F. You might be tasting some fusels. The other thing is that the beer might still be young and you're tasting suspended yeast. How clear is the stuff you're sampling? How long has it been in the fridge?
 
Brought it to my LHBS and they agree'd there was something up, but not band aid or infection. Both these brew went for three weeks in the primary, then into the bottle. Very clear brews, both of them, but they are somewhat young. The older one has been over 45 days in the bottle!!

I'll start with a simple recipe. Bobby, I'm using your Jamil's Blonde Ale recipe but I subed the Fuggles for Willamette because I'm partial to Willamette and they're very close in style. I'm going to extreme clean everything this time, just to make sure I'm not getting lax in my sanitization process. I'm also going to do 1 week in the primary, and 1 week in the secondary. I'm also adjusting the batch sparge temp so I get up in the 160's for at least 10 minutes before my first runnings, I've had some bad efficiency as of late.

Any issues with stirring the mash?? Should I stir the mash??? Should I do a 90 minute mash???
 
You know, the one thing I think that might be a factor is your water. You buy drinking water for brewing, correct? I wonder if the water chemistry is playing a role in this- that would explain why you have a certain "taste" in your beers that you didn't have when you did extract.

I don't really know- everything else seems ok.
 
My temp where I ferment is 65 degrees, not low 70's. Any problems there with ale yeast???
 
Im bumping this because i have the same band aid taste. Not overwhelming but its there. I was told it was chlorine in water. Could it possibly be from Idophor? I didnt rinse it REALLY good, didnt know you had to. Ill know for next time.
 
Im bumping this because i have the same band aid taste. Not overwhelming but its there. I was told it was chlorine in water. Could it possibly be from Idophor? I didnt rinse it REALLY good, didnt know you had to. Ill know for next time.

no need to rinse idophor - it's a wet contact sanitizer. Just make sure you're using the correct concentration. It seems like folks on here use WAY too much.
 
there's no such thing as 'homebrew taste'...stop using the term.

commercial breweries make beer essentially the same as an AG homebrewer.

the 'taste' the other guy's talking about had to do with his brewing practices and/or water.

are you using tap water? do you remove the chloramines from it first?

i doubt it's extract twang...some brewpubs I've been to use extract to brew and it had no 'twang' in the finished product.
 
Im bumping this because i have the same band aid taste. Not overwhelming but its there. I was told it was chlorine in water. Could it possibly be from Idophor? I didnt rinse it REALLY good, didnt know you had to. Ill know for next time.

I second the chlorine in the water problem. I had no problems for several batches, then swithced to a new filtration method. The water was running too fast through the filter and didn't have all the chlorine removed. This causes chlorophenols to form and gives off this flavor. You can add 1/2 crushed campden tablet for each 10 gallons of brewing water, and that will neutralize both chlorine and chloramines in your water. I've been doing this for the past 10-12 brews with non other changes, and have no more problems.

Oh yeah, I kept one keg of a "tainted" batch of citrus wheat for about 4 months, but dumpmed the other half of the batch. Now I wish I wouldn't have dumped it...tastes fine now, with just a hint of that flavor if you're looking for it. Many people love this beer and can't detect the off-flavor at all. So, if you've got the space and the patience don't dump the batch...just be prepared to wait for 3-4 months for the taste to go away.
 
My temp where I ferment is 65 degrees, not low 70's. Any problems there with ale yeast???

If the beer itself was 65F this wouldn't be a problem, but from my admittedly limited experience...most of my beers ferment anywhere from 8-10F higher than ambient. Even if your fermentation area is 65F, the wort could easily be as highi as 75F which can definitely lead to off-flavors. If I remember correctly, Nottingham is rated up to only 70F or so.

I had this same problem with a lot of my brews until I finally splurged and built myself a fermentation chamber. My beers taste much much better after I took control of my fermentation temps.
 
I opened a high-gravity commercial beer I had sitting for about 2 years that had the most noticeable band-aid taste I've ever tasted. Still carbed, no obvious sign of infection, but ewww- I couldn't finish it. I have another bottle that I haven't tasted from the same 4-pack.

My first guess is that the band-aid flavor was just a result of very slow secondary fermentation in the bottle. The beer (ordinarily quite clear) was pretty cloudy. Doesn't rule out chlorine compounds in the water or infection or anything else, but interesting (if sad).
 
there's no such thing as 'homebrew taste'...stop using the term.

commercial breweries make beer essentially the same as an AG homebrewer.

the 'taste' the other guy's talking about had to do with his brewing practices and/or water.

are you using tap water? do you remove the chloramines from it first?

i doubt it's extract twang...some brewpubs I've been to use extract to brew and it had no 'twang' in the finished product.

Thank you...he received a warning! "Homebrew Taste" Your making it seem like its inferior to all other beers on the market.

If my beer had a "Homebrew Taste" that i Didn't enjoy I wouldn't bother Brewing it all...and trust me when I say I have never made a beer that tasted like bandades...Not saying I haven't ever made a bad batch. Just trying to convince you there is no such thing, Unless its good. My hombrews seem allot fresher, and I have allot more control of carbonation and taste rather then buying something and having no clue if I'll like it or not.

In my extract days I have made some Salty beers due to topping off the finished product with Distilled Water. Not a good Idea.

Since moving to all grain I have made a couple bad batches but nothing that hasn't been drinkable.

hope you find the solution. Cheers
 
Good post. I just discovered this problem for the first time with my last batch (Double Blonde Ale). I can definitely say it is NOT chlorine related because I don't use the stuff at all and use well water for my brews. The problem I did have with this particular batch was that I under-pitched. Fermentation was slow as hell and took about 3 weeks in primary. Also, this was my first batch under a tight timeline, and since ferm took so long, I had to stop it short (@ 1.017) in order to have the beer ready for a party... which it wasn't anyway! The beer has been in kegs now for about 3 weeks and the taste of band-aid is there... SLIGHTLY... in fact, when I first had the beer, I missed it. I then drank a Raging ***** left over from the night before and then had my home brew where it was REALLY evident.

On a related note, nothing is more depressing than having a commercial brew, then tasting yours and getting off-flavors like that.

So...my guess is fusels from a slow or incomplete fermentation. I'll let it sit and mellow for a few months and see what happens. Any other suggestions of where I took a wrong turn?
 
I chased this "homebrew" off flavor for several years (yes, years). Took it to my LHBS and was given suggestions from sanitizers, to water, to boiling in aluminum pots, to yeast - on and on and on... I tried so many things and almost gave up the hobby from frustration of having to drink so-so brew and being ashamed to share.

I can't be for certain, because I changed a lot all at once, but when I went to all grain, full boils, star san, and a poor boys swamp cooler fermentation setup (I live in Texas and houshold temps are in the upper 70's) - my "homebrew" taste is now completely gone and my brews FINALLY taste like something I would get at a store. No water change (I use tap), no yeast change (dry most of the time) but it is great now.

Not sure if this helps you, but I can at least appreciate your frustration.
 
I can't be for certain, because I changed a lot all at once, but when I went to all grain, full boils, star san, and a poor boys swamp cooler fermentation setup (I live in Texas and houshold temps are in the upper 70's) - my "homebrew" taste is now completely gone

Not sure if this helps you, but I can at least appreciate your frustration.

Did you change hoses or do/did you use rubber or garden hosing? I read on another board that this could contribute to the problem.

Now... I use well water but I don't use it from a hose. HOWEVER, I do use a garden hose for cleaning and final rinse. THIS may be the culprit. I am going to replace it with the the white RV food grade hose and see if that helps... though it is strange that I would get taint from just a small amount of residual water.
 
Did you change hoses or do/did you use rubber or garden hosing? I read on another board that this could contribute to the problem.

Now... I use well water but I don't use it from a hose. HOWEVER, I do use a garden hose for cleaning and final rinse. THIS may be the culprit. I am going to replace it with the the white RV food grade hose and see if that helps... though it is strange that I would get taint from just a small amount of residual water.

I have always used a food grade (white) hose and an attachment to my inside sink faucet to get my water. before and after this taste.
 
My votes go for two things: fermentation temp and water.

I had this same off flavor for my first few batches and, after adjusting my water (RO that I build up) and, now, controlling fermentation temps, the flavor is gone. Bottled water is often simply water from another tap, so watch out for that.

That said, as one poster mentioned, this could be phenols, so make a starter and give the yeast the environment and time they need.
 
I would worry a bit more about infection than is being brought up here. There are specific phenols produced by wild yeast that can cause a pronounced band-aid aroma -- I noticed it early on the life of one of my beers brewed with Wyeast's Lambic blend. It settled out over time as whatever microorganism responsible was replaced by others producing different flavor profiles. I'm at work and don't have Wild Brews with me, but I think there was some information about it there.

If these off tastes are new, but persist accross several batches, I take a look at the fermenters to make sure they're not infected.
 
Always boil tap water for 10-15 minutes before usining it for brewing to remove chlorine. Once I was too lazy to boil it and thought that "it will boil on the boil anyway" and I made a nice band aid beer !
 
I use a dual stage water filter for all my brewing, it removes chlorine and a ton of other volatile organic compounds, lead, cysts, mercury, etc..

watfiltr.jpg


I have been using this filtered water to top off my fermenters without boiling it first and the beers have always been great.
 
As already mentioned, wild yeast/infections can produce the band aid effect. Do you sanitize all your tubing when you're done with it?

Everyone is saying chlorine, but I didn't see chloramine mentioned. I usually remove the two with Campden. I wouldn't think these would give you band aid taste though. You might want to brew a batch from spring water to rule it out if it concerns you.
 
As an update to this problem I had with my Blonde... I guess time heals all, including the band-aid taste I had in there. Just tapped the keg again and it tastes great... Too bad too, I dumped one of the kegs already (I brew in 10gal batches). Lesson learned.
 
i don't understand where some of the descriptions for off flavors come from. who here has ever tasted a band aid?
 
damn, i just brewed up a t-58 1.050 amber ale and it has a strong band-aid, medicinal taste, similar to but actually stronger than the taste in a previous batch

there seems to be no concensus on a single cause here but the info is helpful.

for me, it might be this city's water supply which i honestly dont know about. chloramine? ive heard it doesnt dissipate even sitting overnight (which i do)

i use a food grade tube for transferring the 80degree wort into a plastic no name PET carboy, but used an unlabeled plastic tube for bottling... could room temp wort in contact with some kind of plastic really get an off taste in just a few seconds?

also use only iodophor and probably use more rather than less in concentration but not too much more (maybe 150% of recommended dosage?)
 
Just to throw in my $0.02 !

I used to have the same problem and now don't.
I don't know how I fixed it but I now add a campden tab to the strike/sparge water, and let the beer relax in the ferm chamber overnight before pitching because I felt I was pitching too warm as soon as it came out of the CFC.

Taste is gone, and I've nailed head retention, my next trick is increasing body.
 
Just to throw in my $0.02 !

I used to have the same problem and now don't.
I don't know how I fixed it but I now add a campden tab to the strike/sparge water, and let the beer relax in the ferm chamber overnight before pitching because I felt I was pitching too warm as soon as it came out of the CFC.

Taste is gone, and I've nailed head retention, my next trick is increasing body.

How quickly do you lauter? When we first started we just opened the valve up and beers were coming out very thin/watery with minimum body. Slowing our run-off fixed that right quick and improved efficiency as well.
 
oh and just one more thing to add, i moved to a different city and country, but also bought new equipment. so i believe it is one of the causes i listed before as ive never had this problem before... but maybe a high start temp, though i thought i was sorta careful about that.. but maybe
 
Back
Top