WenValley
Well-Known Member
Dumping out four (4) five gallon kegs of beer! That's right, twenty gallons of home brew down the drain. Two kegs of Oatmeal Stout, and two kegs of Centennial Pale Ale.
I've been brewing all grain for about five or six years, and have brewed several hundred gallons of beer. Our beer is very well received and gets high marks for flavor and quality.
My setup is all grain, ten gallon batches, and I was brewing to keg up some beer for winter. It's common to have two to four six gallon carboys of beer fermenting, or in primary at the same time. If you're brewing a lot of beer, and you have a flaw in your system, you can end up with a lot of beer that's defective in a short time.
I noticed a funky chemical taste in the stout. It was a taste that was very apparent. It was not noticeable at the front end of the taste, but jumped right out at the end of the taste. The flaw was mild at first, and increased with time.
Same issue with the Centennial Pale Ale, a very light beer that is great for finding flaws, as there's not much in the recipe to cover up mistakes.
So, I use BeerSmith and print out my brew steps for each batch. I write all of the pertinent info. on the printed sheets as I'm brewing, then I file the brew sheet for each batch.
I went back through my notes for each brew day and checked target temps vs. actual temps. I checked for any thing that could have caused this issue.
I double checked the grind settings on my Monster Mill 2. It was at .038.
I went over fermentation temps, yeast viability, was it pre-hydrated, did I use a starter or not.
I read dozens and dozens of posts on this forum that pertained to flaws, off flavors, etc. etc. etc.
Finally, I began to focus on sanitation. I "thought" my sanitation procedures was as robust as the day I started to brew all grain. But unfortunately I had taken several shortcuts over the last five years.
I had stopped using a five gallon bucket with Starsan to sanitize all of the brewing equipment before and during brew day. I was spraying Starsan from a spray bottle, but I wasn't waiting for the sanitizer to do it's job. I was using a wine thief to extract sample from the carboy without sanitizing the wine thief. I had been using scrubbie sponges that then sat next to the brew sink. These have all been tossed. I think this was a major error.
There were other shortcuts that I have now eliminated. I went through all of my gear from buckets, to hoses, to fittings, to kegs, to connectors, etc. etc. etc. and have cleaned AND sanitized in separate steps.
I recently made a five gallon batch of Centennial Ale, and I'm happy to report that the quality is back where it used to be, and this beer is very drinkable.
I've since brewed ten gallons of Red Dog IPA, and ten gallons of Oatmeal Stout.
While it hurt financially to dump out twenty gallons of beer, the biggest loss was the hours and hours of time to brew the beer, let it ferment, and then keg the beer, only to have a product that was a dumper.
So, I had to relearn what I already knew, and I wanted to share with the forum what I discovered.
When it comes to sanitation and brewing, there can be no shortcuts.
If you detect a funky "off" flavor in your beer, start thinking about sanitation and give your procedures a honest review.
I've been brewing all grain for about five or six years, and have brewed several hundred gallons of beer. Our beer is very well received and gets high marks for flavor and quality.
My setup is all grain, ten gallon batches, and I was brewing to keg up some beer for winter. It's common to have two to four six gallon carboys of beer fermenting, or in primary at the same time. If you're brewing a lot of beer, and you have a flaw in your system, you can end up with a lot of beer that's defective in a short time.
I noticed a funky chemical taste in the stout. It was a taste that was very apparent. It was not noticeable at the front end of the taste, but jumped right out at the end of the taste. The flaw was mild at first, and increased with time.
Same issue with the Centennial Pale Ale, a very light beer that is great for finding flaws, as there's not much in the recipe to cover up mistakes.
So, I use BeerSmith and print out my brew steps for each batch. I write all of the pertinent info. on the printed sheets as I'm brewing, then I file the brew sheet for each batch.
I went back through my notes for each brew day and checked target temps vs. actual temps. I checked for any thing that could have caused this issue.
I double checked the grind settings on my Monster Mill 2. It was at .038.
I went over fermentation temps, yeast viability, was it pre-hydrated, did I use a starter or not.
I read dozens and dozens of posts on this forum that pertained to flaws, off flavors, etc. etc. etc.
Finally, I began to focus on sanitation. I "thought" my sanitation procedures was as robust as the day I started to brew all grain. But unfortunately I had taken several shortcuts over the last five years.
I had stopped using a five gallon bucket with Starsan to sanitize all of the brewing equipment before and during brew day. I was spraying Starsan from a spray bottle, but I wasn't waiting for the sanitizer to do it's job. I was using a wine thief to extract sample from the carboy without sanitizing the wine thief. I had been using scrubbie sponges that then sat next to the brew sink. These have all been tossed. I think this was a major error.
There were other shortcuts that I have now eliminated. I went through all of my gear from buckets, to hoses, to fittings, to kegs, to connectors, etc. etc. etc. and have cleaned AND sanitized in separate steps.
I recently made a five gallon batch of Centennial Ale, and I'm happy to report that the quality is back where it used to be, and this beer is very drinkable.
I've since brewed ten gallons of Red Dog IPA, and ten gallons of Oatmeal Stout.
While it hurt financially to dump out twenty gallons of beer, the biggest loss was the hours and hours of time to brew the beer, let it ferment, and then keg the beer, only to have a product that was a dumper.
So, I had to relearn what I already knew, and I wanted to share with the forum what I discovered.
When it comes to sanitation and brewing, there can be no shortcuts.
If you detect a funky "off" flavor in your beer, start thinking about sanitation and give your procedures a honest review.
