Did i ruin the beer?

[SmittyisLEGEND]

I purchased an all grain kit at my local brew store and I made it the day of. It was my first time using all of the supplies(racking cane, auto siphon, spoon, bucket, carboy, etc). I did use my faucet water which I know isn't the best, but I sanitized everything very well, with the iodine cleanser I was given. I let it sit 6 days in primary and then transferred to secondy. Was it secondary for 13 days and then boiled my corn sugar and transferred to bottling bucket which was sanitized, along with all the other objects. I let the bottles sit out for about 20 days and let refrigerate for about 8 days. I tried the beer and it has carbonation and has a good sound when opened but it tastes off like a plastic type taste and a little other off flavor. Had no signs of infection on the top of the wort so idk what happened:/ help please?

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

Recipe might help a little. Also - what process did you use to sanitize the bottles/caps..

 

[cluckk]

Chlorine is the likely culprit if your tap water is chlorinated. Chlorine gives a band-aid like flavor--plastic.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

It was an Irish red ale and it was held at 68 degrees. And I cleaned my bottle by dumping iodine in each one and a little water and scrubbing with my bottle brush for about 15 seconds each and washing out with a bottle washer and hung on a bottle drier for about 20 minutes to dry. And my water is city water and it has a little chlorine and iron in it but is quite drinkable

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

And caps I threw in a little plastic bucket with .5 ounce of iodine and let soak for 20 mins and washed off afterwards( with tap water )

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

Yeah - the post sanitation rinsing could be a problem - in general. I sanitize everything with star-san and then just leave it on there wet when I use the bottle or cap...

 

[mullenium]

I just used tap water for my first homebrew, but I live in Portland so I want to believe the water quality up here is good enough I shouldnt have to worry.

Plus I did an IPA, so maybe the hops will mask some off flavors lol

OP: you should get some starsan, and dilute it in a spray bottle next time.. spray it on everything and use it wet, no need to dry

 

[unionrdr]

If it was idophor,that's a sanitizer,not a cleaner. Starsan is a wet contact sanitizer that's also no-rinse. And I prefer PBW,it'll clean about anything. But it must be rinsed. And a 6 day primary is way to short,especially for a new/average brewer still learning the process & gaining equipment for said process. 2-3 weeks on average to get a beer to FG,& clean up/settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling.
I also use spring water for all my brews,including partial boil/partial mash BIAB. These things will help make better beer.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

Okay thank you, I now have purchased star San and some unscented dish soap to was pots and what not. For the bottle cleaning would it be better to get a tote and fill it with an ounce or two of star San and let te bottles fill up for like a half hour or so? And if I so that should I still rinse or just hang them straight from the tote to the hanger?

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

And I'm going to use bottles water from now on. What is preferred distiller or spring water. Heard beer needs certain minerals and what not. Not sure if that's true or not...

 

[IslandLizard]

Okay thank you, I now have purchased star San and some unscented dish soap to was pots and what not. For the bottle cleaning would it be better to get a tote and fill it with an ounce or two of star San and let te bottles fill up for like a half hour or so? And if I so that should I still rinse or just hang them straight from the tote to the hanger?

With bottles you got to make sure they are clean, inside and out. Once they're clean you can sanitize them. Starsan is wonderful. One ounce goes a long way.

Make sure the bottles are fairly clean already and the labels and glue residue have been removed. If not, you got to do that first.

To remove labels and gunk:
I soak them in laundry detergent and hot water for a day by submerging them in a 19 gallon tote. The labels float off. Then I scrub them inside and out to remove gunk and glue residue.

Clean bottles:
Although you could use PBW, I use regular washing soda (sodium carbonate!) not baking soda, in hot water to clean my bottles. I use a 10-12 gallon tote.

Soak for 30 minutes, then using a bottle brush give them a thorough scrub on the inside. Drain and rinse a few times with hot water. One of those push-down bottle washers that attaches to your faucet is great for that. You want to make 100% sure none of the washing soda or PBW solution remains in or on the bottle as it will deactivate your Starsan sanitizer quickly.

Sanitized bottles and caps:
Once clean and rinsed, I submerge the bottles in a StarSan solution for a few minutes. I use the same 10-12 gallon tote, well rinsed out and free of any trace of PBW or washing soda. Drain the Starsan back into the tote for the next batch. Set the bottles upside down on a clean sanitized counter top (Starsan spray) or use a sanitized bottle tree.

Dump your (clean) caps in a small container with Starsan and start bottling.

 

[unionrdr]

Dish soap has the same spot sheeting enzyme that dish washer soap does. It ruins head retention by clinging to the glass. That's why most of us either use PBW or oxyclean free. & at least rinse the trub out of the bottles & scrub with a bottle brush & rinse again. Dry upside down before storing. You can use starsan on them for about15-30 seconds before draining it out & filling them. I have a bottle tree that a vinator sits on top of for this purpose. Fast & easy sanitizing right before filling on bottling day.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

Okay perfect, so if I picked up some pbw then I could use it to clean everything or should I do the pbw and then star San to clean like pots and carbons and what not?

 

[Yooper]

Okay perfect, so if I picked up some pbw then I could use it to clean everything or should I do the pbw and then star San to clean like pots and carbons and what not?

Clean items with PBW, and then rinse well. Then use a sanitizer to sanitize the carboys and things just before using.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

Okay thank you!

 

[unionrdr]

Just keep your kettles clean,no need to sanitize them. They're gunna have boiling liquid in them anyway. Besides starsan is an acid sanitizer that might react with the metal kettle.

 

[brewinchef_fairfax]

All good advice - and I'll say it here so you don't have to look for it:
Don't worry about the Star-San bubbles or using it wet - the bottles will have bubbles in them - don't sweat it - just fill them up with a racking cane and the bubbles in the beer will push most of the Star-San bubbles out on the way up. Whatever remains in nothing to worry about. It won't harm the beer.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

Okay thank you all for the good advice

 

[grem135]

You can get a water report online from your water company. If they use use chloromine instead of chlorine using campden tablets will get rid of it. 1 tablet will treat 20 gallons so its cheap and only takes about 5 minutes to treat. They break easy for smaller volumes of water and dont worry to much if you think you used to much (within reason). I have seen Palmer use a tablet for 10 gallons and he says that it will be fine.
My beer improved big time when I started using campden.

 

[SmittyisLEGEND]

just looked up my water report and it says that for chloride it has 250ppm and 250ppm for sulfate, 1.3ppm for copper and 15ppb for lead. could this be a big reason why my beer didnt turn out right??