Boozy, phenolic taste

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CrystalShip

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The last three brews I made have a distinctly boozy and phenolic taste and I cannot explain why this happened. The only thing I did differently was the use of Maris otter malt. I mashed correctly and hit the appropriate finishing gravity. Can anyone explain this to me?
 
I'll also add that the fermentation temperature was steady at about 62-64 degrees and I believe that my yeast pitch rate was enough for the starting gravity
 
With the limited info here about style and recipe. I would think you underpitched your yeast (did you make a starter?)
 
The first bee I noticed it in was a recipe I created, an English India brown ale, the second was a nut brown ale recipe from this site that I secondaried on some toasted coconut. I used a rehydrated pack of Nottingham dry yeast which should contain enough to get the job done correctly. I recently started using plastic buckets as primary fermenters, so maybe it is that?
 
was that ferment temp ambient or wort temp? notty can throw off some funky flavors if it gets over 70F
 
It was the reading of the stick on thermometer on the side of the bucket... I actually increased the temp in the room to that temperature because it was around 58-60 before and I was worries the yeast would go dormant
 
I think cold can stress a yeast just like heat. You also might need a little nutrient blend, maybe the nitrogen in that particular batch of malt is lower than normal.
 
I always use yeast nutrient at the end of the boil. I wasn't aware that a ferment temperature being too cool could cause off flavors. If that is true, that could have been the problem
 
What temp did you pitch? I have found (I know different strain of yeast) that if I pitch belgian ale yeast when the wort is between 70-80ºF, I get hot solventy flavors, even if I control the fermentation temp in my freezer chest at 64ºF for the rest of the fermentation. Now with all my beers I chill to at or bellow my target fermentation temperature before pitching.
 
Did you use special roast malt?

Alpha Klaus porter and a darker beer I made had a similar flavor. Maybe it's just the way the dark malts are interacting with other malts.
 
I keep the chiller running until it's about 68 degrees because that is what my hydrometer is calibrated to, then dump the entire kettle though a sanitized restaurant sized strainer into a bucket. I'm not 100% on what the temp is after that, but I do a nice, slow pour so it aerates well. I imagine that takes the temp down a few degrees, then I usually let it sit for about 20 min before pitching yeast. I assume the temp isn't too high at that point
 
GlenF said:
Did you use special roast malt?

Alpha Klaus porter and a darker beer I made had a similar flavor. Maybe it's just the way the dark malts are interacting with other malts.

No, just a bit of chocolate malt. I really don't think it is an issue of the malt, it definitely has a boozy, medicinal taste...
 
Nottingham is supposed to work well at the temps you were using. Kind of at a loss to explain, seems like you're doing things right. Maybe try US05 for your next batch.
 
Thanks for the help, I've stressed myself out over this today and the only cause I can come up with is an infection by a wild yeast strain
 
I use city water which is treated with chlorine, not Chloramine so I am assuming that the chlorine evaporates as I heat the water for the mash. I pitch one pack of rehydrated dry yeast. These beers have been in the bottle for about 3.5 weeks
 
Could be some chloramine forming from the chlorine in city water. I think it can be worse in the winter because they might be dosing higher to counter the low temps. Try adding a little kmeta or a Campden tablet, that kills chlorine instantly.
 
Yea, every book I have read that mentions phenols names wild yeast infection or chlorine as the culprit. I'll do another brew on the long weekend and fill up two buckets of water with some campden added the night before. I'll also take extra sanitizing precautions... If that doesn't fix it, I don't know what will
 
It works almost instantly so you don't have to treat too far in advance.

Good luck, it sucks when you think you're doing everything right and then all of a suddne something crops up like that. I brew mostly small batches so its generally not a big deal to pitch a brew if its off. Haven't had to do that much though, knock wood.
 
I could have wrote the same OP. I replaced my hoses and bought a more accurate thermometer. No help. Turns out the carbon in my water filter was worn out and wasn't getting all the chlorine.
 
I guess I'll start to dechlorinate my water from now on. I just don't understand why I have never had a problem until now

I think they dont always put the same amount of chlorine in the water? I "quadruple" treat my water:
1.charcole filter, 2. leave in a open bucket in the sun for a day, 3. put some peroxide in, 4. first boil mash water and let it cool to strike temp, and then the obvious, open, full volume boil.

(unfortunately not even this guarantees against phenols from other sources............."little basters")
 
I called the water dept and the guy told me that they only use chlorine and that they always use the same amount regardless of the season. I sprinkled some potassium metabisulfate in anyway and let it sit overnight as well... not taking any chances after that last batch
 
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