Hi all,
I've been having a frustrating run at brewing now for a couple months and I'm not sure whats going wrong. I'd like to think my process is pretty solid. All grain brewer, RIMS system, treat water, measure pH, make starters, oxygenate wort, etc. But alot of my beers are coming out with a similar, i guess id call it a "house" taste, at this point regardless of the yeast im using. It's an off flavor that I cant quite seem to put my finger on. Maybe phenolic? I did have that identified on one scoresheet in a competition by one judge but not others.
I've had a double ipa judged and identified diacetyl but thats not really what im sensing in these brews. Maybe that one but not this consistent off flavor. In a most recent split batch where I tried Yooper's Ruination clone and split the other half into a fermenter with Conan, I got it in both. Initially, (just a couple days sitting on co2) Conan tasted great. The malt character was vibrant and full and tasted like a solid commercial double ipa. But as a week went by that went away and the two batches tasted very similar with the off flavor I mentioned. Because of this I'm starting to wonder if there's something up with my co2 transfer causing an off flavor? Kegs? I make starters so I think Im pitching enough yeast, I clean everything with PBW and sanitize with star san before racking, aerate with pure oxygen for about a minute to a minute and a half depending on the brew, control fermentation temps, etc. I also cleaned my co2 lines with pbw probably about a month ago.
One culprit I also think may be to blame if not infection somewhere in my kegging system is the oxygenation wand. I've never though much about it but after each brew i basically rinse it off with hot water and put it away. Then just sanitize it before each brew. I havent really cleaned that. So a couple days ago I soaked it in a pbw solution in prep for brewing this weekend.
Does anyone have any thoughts for me? It's really frustrating. I know it's probably difficult because Im not describing the off flavor in detail and I can try to get more specific with it but i just cant seem to put my finger on what it tastes like. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!
I've been having a frustrating run at brewing now for a couple months and I'm not sure whats going wrong. I'd like to think my process is pretty solid. All grain brewer, RIMS system, treat water, measure pH, make starters, oxygenate wort, etc. But alot of my beers are coming out with a similar, i guess id call it a "house" taste, at this point regardless of the yeast im using. It's an off flavor that I cant quite seem to put my finger on. Maybe phenolic? I did have that identified on one scoresheet in a competition by one judge but not others.
I've had a double ipa judged and identified diacetyl but thats not really what im sensing in these brews. Maybe that one but not this consistent off flavor. In a most recent split batch where I tried Yooper's Ruination clone and split the other half into a fermenter with Conan, I got it in both. Initially, (just a couple days sitting on co2) Conan tasted great. The malt character was vibrant and full and tasted like a solid commercial double ipa. But as a week went by that went away and the two batches tasted very similar with the off flavor I mentioned. Because of this I'm starting to wonder if there's something up with my co2 transfer causing an off flavor? Kegs? I make starters so I think Im pitching enough yeast, I clean everything with PBW and sanitize with star san before racking, aerate with pure oxygen for about a minute to a minute and a half depending on the brew, control fermentation temps, etc. I also cleaned my co2 lines with pbw probably about a month ago.
One culprit I also think may be to blame if not infection somewhere in my kegging system is the oxygenation wand. I've never though much about it but after each brew i basically rinse it off with hot water and put it away. Then just sanitize it before each brew. I havent really cleaned that. So a couple days ago I soaked it in a pbw solution in prep for brewing this weekend.
Does anyone have any thoughts for me? It's really frustrating. I know it's probably difficult because Im not describing the off flavor in detail and I can try to get more specific with it but i just cant seem to put my finger on what it tastes like. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!