Extremely Frustrated - Bacteria?

I am at the end of my rope. Three kits - different brands different types same yucky smelly result. Last attempt: Irish Red remained in primary ferementer (glass carboy) in a closed closet, it did not move. It bubbled up like a charm for 7 days. I then bottled at day 10. I knew at the bottleling I was going to have problems. It has a piercing odor to it. It fermented around 72-75f. THe common component has to be the sanitizer (bleach) I am using. I am using 4tsp to 5 gallons. Please help!

Don't use bleach.

Try StarSan
http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16022

Odophore
http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16027

Get your kit from More Beer too, thery're great.

Lots of people swear by bleach, but if you use it you don't have to use very much at all and you have to rinse, rinse, rinse.

StarSan and Iodophor are much more fail-safe I think. If you use them properly they are both very effective and you don't have to rinse.

One last comment. Are you new to homebrewing? If so, you may need to just give your brews some time. I think most of us here have learned the hard way (by drinking up most of a batch of beer only to find when there were six bottles left that it was suddenly GOOD!) that it tends to get much better with age. Even though the books all say it is carbonized and drinkable in 2 weeks, it is normally nowhere near its peak flavor at that point.

mmditter said:

Lots of people swear by bleach, but if you use it you don't have to use very much at all and you have to rinse, rinse, rinse.

StarSan and Iodophor are much more fail-safe I think. If you use them properly they are both very effective and you don't have to rinse.

One last comment. Are you new to homebrewing? If so, you may need to just give your brews some time. I think most of us here have learned the hard way (by drinking up most of a batch of beer only to find when there were six bottles left that it was suddenly GOOD!) that it tends to get much better with age. Even though the books all say it is carbonized and drinkable in 2 weeks, it is normally nowhere near its peak flavor at that point.

Click to expand...

Dito. Don't listen to that Budweiser fresh beer crap, aged is so much better. I never drink less that a month from brew date as an absolute minimum.

there's nothing wrong with bleach, I've used quite a bit, but as mmditter said, you must rinse rinse rinse. he's also right when it comes to aging. Beer has what i call a "drinking window". Drink it too soon and it's not ready, too late and it's spoiled(however that can take quite a while)

Aside from bleach being a problem,which can lead to funny odors and medicinal tastes according to John Palmer

"Medicinal
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."

Your fermentations are too high, also 72-75 ambient temperature or carboy temp? Remember active fermentation is atleast 5 degrees higher than ambient in MOST cases. Fermenting into the mid 70s will lead to off flavors and odors.

According to Charlie P you can use bleach to clean in a carboy full of water and let it soak overnight and rinse rinse rinse.

I use bleach to clean amy nonmetallic items let them soak overnight and rinse with hot water and One step. Never had a problem.
The most important thing to do no matter what you use to clean is to clean your carboy right away by filling it with warm water.

Temp is definitely your main problem 75 is to high you will start to produce Fusel alcohols you dont want that.