So, about this band-aid smell..

My first brew has been in the bottle for 3.5 weeks (an english brown ale). I didnt do anything to control ferment temps, the beer is fantastic but the first 5 or so bottles had a strong band aid smell that strangely would go away once poured and i let it set for 15 or 20 min. I threw a couple in the fridge this am and just opened one and it has no band aid smell whatsoever?? Now im confused, I assumed the high ferm temps caused the smell but maybe its from sanitizing with bleach and not getting certain bottles rinsed well enough? Any thoughts.

And for what its worth I have switched to a no rinse sanitizer and I wish I had done this to start out..cheers!!

I had a similar thing happen on my 1st batch, when I used bleach to sanitize. Switched to idopher and haven't had the problem since. It may be that certain bottles got more than others.

Band-aid smell/flavor is usually from chlorophenols, which can come from chlorinated tap water or bleach.

Are you using Nebraska water to brew?

I used a bleach solution for a long time to sanitize my equipment, bottles, etc. and didn't have any troubles. Then one time I must have neglected to rinse something thoroughly enough, and every single bottle of a wit I had made had that nasty flavor and smell.

Ever since then, I have been a happy starsan user.

Yes I use Neb water..

Where are you located? In Omaha we have hard water that is packed full of chlorine and chloramine. I have to filter and campden my water before I use it or the beer tastes like crap.

Im in Lincoln, our tap water tastes very good..I got this info from the City website;

PH - 7.6
Calcium - 70.7
Mag - 4.7
Sodium - 29.6
Sulfate - 78.0
Chloride - 17.8

I also brewed a Bitter using the same bleach solution sanitizing and every bottle of that tastes fine so far..

Medicinal or Band-Aid aroma comes from phenols often produced by the yeast. As you did not control fermentation temperatures, that could very well be where they came from (although you ought to specify the yeast, as some yeasts are more prone to producing those phenols than others). They are volatile, so they can go away after opening the beer. Also, they may have gone away after a bit of aging due to continued yeast activity in the bottle (i.e., the yeasts cleaned up after themselves a bit), although I would not expect that so quickly. It may have been because it was so cold, right out of the fridge?

Chlorophenols really have more of a bleach or "Comet cleanser" aroma. They don't go away so easily, partly because their threshhold is so low.


TL

It was Nottingham, all the ones Ive tried have been cold right out of the fridge..just took me by surprise that this one didnt have it at all...so beats me..thanks for all the help though.