brewzombie
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone.
I've have a persistent off-flavor that has plagued my brewing for the last 2 years. It's intensely bitter and lingers on the tongue and throat. I've read the descriptions of off-flavor's and I can't quite fit it into any of the categories. The best description I can give is that it tastes like quinine (tonic water) and sometimes the beer is just unpleasant and sometimes undrinkable.
The most recent casualty is a 40 IBU pale ale that tasted great at bottling, but turned bad after 3-4 weeks in the bottle (conditioned at 19-22 C). This beer an all-grain batch, which mashed/sparged at regular temps. I don't check pH but do monitor temperature. It was fermented 1 week in primary and 3 weeks in secondary (dry hopped 1 week), all at 19-22 C. I try to be careful not to oxidize when autosiphoning during the transfer.
I use campden tablets in my brewing water to neutralize any chlorine/chloramine (I haven't used campden in my sugar-water or starsan solutions...hmm).
I clean my gear/bottles by soaking in PBW, rinse thoroughly and sanitize with starsan (ie there is no chlorine from cleaners etc.).
I bottle by autosiphoning from a carboy to bottles using a plastic bottling wand. The bottling sugar was poured into the carboy (maybe oxidation?) since it's hard to autosiphon 1 cup of bottling sugar.
I've done my best to account for possible culprits like green beer (too young), astringency (hot mash/over sparging), oxidation (splashing hot wort or fermented beer), and chlorophenols (chlorine in water, clearners etc). My last thought is maybe wild yeast, but I try to clean my plastic and have no obvious scratches. I can try really soaking my autosiphon and replacing the tubing and bottling wand, but that's about all I can think of.
Thoughts? Has anyone had a quinine-like off-flavor and eliminated it?
I've have a persistent off-flavor that has plagued my brewing for the last 2 years. It's intensely bitter and lingers on the tongue and throat. I've read the descriptions of off-flavor's and I can't quite fit it into any of the categories. The best description I can give is that it tastes like quinine (tonic water) and sometimes the beer is just unpleasant and sometimes undrinkable.
The most recent casualty is a 40 IBU pale ale that tasted great at bottling, but turned bad after 3-4 weeks in the bottle (conditioned at 19-22 C). This beer an all-grain batch, which mashed/sparged at regular temps. I don't check pH but do monitor temperature. It was fermented 1 week in primary and 3 weeks in secondary (dry hopped 1 week), all at 19-22 C. I try to be careful not to oxidize when autosiphoning during the transfer.
I use campden tablets in my brewing water to neutralize any chlorine/chloramine (I haven't used campden in my sugar-water or starsan solutions...hmm).
I clean my gear/bottles by soaking in PBW, rinse thoroughly and sanitize with starsan (ie there is no chlorine from cleaners etc.).
I bottle by autosiphoning from a carboy to bottles using a plastic bottling wand. The bottling sugar was poured into the carboy (maybe oxidation?) since it's hard to autosiphon 1 cup of bottling sugar.
I've done my best to account for possible culprits like green beer (too young), astringency (hot mash/over sparging), oxidation (splashing hot wort or fermented beer), and chlorophenols (chlorine in water, clearners etc). My last thought is maybe wild yeast, but I try to clean my plastic and have no obvious scratches. I can try really soaking my autosiphon and replacing the tubing and bottling wand, but that's about all I can think of.
Thoughts? Has anyone had a quinine-like off-flavor and eliminated it?