Dumped my whole pipeline tonight...

[kaiser423]

For a total of 3 5 gallon batches.

BM's Porter, JZ's Amber and an AHS Brown.

The finish just had this massive smoky, phenolic flavor on all of them.

I had aged the brown 2.5 months, and the porter about 3 weeks after bottling and the taste just kept the same. I could taste it in the amber, which I left in the fermenter ~2 months hoping that it might clean up somehow. It always seemed a bit worse after bottling, but didn't get worse with time.

Right now I'm blaming it on my water source; they switched us over in the Spring, and I think that the levels are off/chlorine way up.

I have the grains stout and cream ale hanging around, but they're about 2-3 weeks old now since I've been scared to brew anything as I tried to give the beer I had time to finish off and diagnose what's going wrong. I'm hoping that the grains haven't gone stale.

I'm still trying to truck along, but man is it rough to dump 3 full batches, the whole pipeline, like $75 down the drain.

*sigh*. My previous two batches were meh since my thermometer was off (mashed high) and so they ended up sweet. Not batting so good lately, but I gotta keep on trying!

Maybe I should just make an extract brew or something.

 

[bull8042]

Ouch!!!

8,9,10

 

[InfernoBrews]

That makes you feel sick when you dump something... Been there Done that...My sympathy..

 

[chefchris]

Dude, that sucks. Maybe try some store bought water or get your water tested. Someone posted a neat thread today about cheap water testing.

 

[giligson]

That's the time that you wish you at least had a distillation setup.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I feel for you loss. Time heals all wounds.

 

[user 22118]

You know, you can get 10 gallons of water at the grocery store for about $15 and that would make your batch cost go up, but you would be able to at least cross out one thing. I have a problem with Chloromine in my water, so good luck. And by the by, you could always just hold onto it for a couple of months longer so that you could see if it were really bad. I am sure you already dumped but...

 

[svudah]

Just bring a couple of empty carboys and fill them up at the water stations outside of most supermarkets these days. 25 cents per gallon.

 

[mudog]

Man sorry to hear that. I agree get some water for a supermarket.

 

[Poindexter]

When I was travelling full time I switched to store bought RO just to remove a variable. It's a few bones, every batch, but I too had to dump a couple batches once upon a time.

I still hate it, so I guess I am not over it; butit doen's hurt so much anymore. get soem gypsum at the LHBS, some calcium carbonate at the health food co-op, and carry on.

 

[rico567]

+1 on the RO water. 33 cents a gallon, $1.67 with tax for a 5 gallon carboy. Cheap brewing insurance, and I've never used anything else. Of course, our well water is so completely loaded with iron and calcium there's no way to use it without a treatment system.

 

[yeoldebrewer]

Very sorry to hear that. I've heard that some water systems periodically switch between chlorine and chloramines.

As for thermometers, you are not alone there either. I just calibrated my dial thermometers against a lab standard and found the dials to be 2-4 degrees off.

Hang in and better luck in the future.

 

[EoinMag]

Can't you treat the water with Campden tablets to take out the chlorine/chloramine variables?

 

[flyangler18]

Can't you treat the water with Campden tablets to take out the chlorine/chloramine variables?

Yes, and that is exactly what I do. My local company is switching to chloramines (at some undetermined point in the future), so I've been proactively treating my water with Campden for the past 9 months.

 

[yeoldebrewer]

If you have RO water in your home, should you assume the chloramine monster is gone? Or should you treat the RO water with Campden?

 

[MajorTom]

I dumped batch after batch after batch due to phenolic, medicinal, taste and plastic burps! Does your beer have burnt rubber burps. I dumped out so much I was about to quit trying. Then, with the help of someone on this board, we narrowed it down to wild yeast. I finally narrowed it down to my two carboys, I had cleaned and cleaned them to no avail. Switched back to my plastic buckets and poof, problem solved! I guess they are in my carboys and somehow impossible to clean out. So, that might be an avenue to consider if you are trying to figure out the culprit. Good luck from someone that has been there.

 

[EoinMag]

If you have RO water in your home, should you assume the chloramine monster is gone? Or should you treat the RO water with Campden?

Apparently RO removes chloramines
Removing Chloramines from Water

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I get chloramine-ated water and every year for a couple of months they switch to chlorinated water and it seems that when they do this the chlorine smell is extra strong. Maybe your water is similar?

In any case, my water still doesn't taste very good so I just use bottled water.

 

[kaiser423]

Yea, I bought some Campden tablets, and I'm thinking of a carbon filter that I attach to my sink...trickle through that and then treat with campden for all my water; sanitizing, rinsing, everything.

I'm also giving my equipment a good soaking and cleaning. I don't imagine that its wild yeast or an infection, but you might as well reboot as much of the system as you can!

I'm also taking extra precautions to ensure that my fermentation is nice and cold now that it's getting so hot here. Hopefully I'll brew this week and in another week when I pull a hydro sample, I won't have that lingering after taste!

 

[Tonedef131]

Yea, I bought some Campden tablets, and I'm thinking of a carbon filter that I attach to my sink...trickle through that and then treat with campden for all my water; sanitizing, rinsing, everything.

The campden is unnecessary if you are carbon filtering, carbon filtration will remove chloramines.

 

[Synovia]

You know, you can get 10 gallons of water at the grocery store for about $15 and that would make your batch cost go up, but you would be able to at least cross out one thing. I have a problem with Chloromine in my water, so good luck. And by the by, you could always just hold onto it for a couple of months longer so that you could see if it were really bad. I am sure you already dumped but...

Or you can buy a cheap RO setup off of ebay for $60, and a rain barrel off of CL for $10, and never wonder about it again.

 

[Synovia]

When I was travelling full time I switched to store bought RO just to remove a variable.

I just want to warn people about this: Store bought RO (from the culligans type machines) is completely dependent on how well the store maintains its machines. I'm in the Reef tank hobby and we warn people off of these things because often, they're worse than tapwater because the filters and membranes haven't been cleaned or replaced in years.

Apparently RO removes chloramines
Removing Chloramines from Water

Carbon removes chloramine. If you've got carbon, great, but the RO process itself does not. I don't think theres enough carbon/contact time in a britta filter or other on sink filter to do much.

And, contrary to another widely promoted myth, reverse osmosis units do remove chloramine. In fact, they do it well, because any good RO unit contains a couple of carbon filters and the water gets an extra slow pass through the first one.

 

[user 22118]

Make up a small 3 gallon test batch to make sure that you are not still having the problem. Sanitation plays a huge roll and like I said before and like mentioned above, you might need to invest $5 in a new bucket or something of that sort. Maybe the bottles weren't cleaned enough, use the super hot setting in the dishwasher or boil them like you do for canning. Change one thing at a time so that you know where the problem is. So first change your water, then do the bucket, then do the bottles. I know this sounds like a pain in the ass since you have to brew three beers, but if you don't do it that way then you might well spend $100 on new gear when all that it was was your water at $.33/gallon

Or you can buy a cheap RO setup off of ebay for $60, and a rain barrel off of CL for $10, and never wonder about it again.

There is that, I was just trying to prove that for a test batch, if you spend $15 and don't dump it then it is worth finding a way to use different water. Also, he lives in NM. I don't know if they get 6" of rain all year

 

[humann_brewing]

If it makes you feel any better, I shattered my brand new, never been used 6.5 Gallon carboy on saturday before I could fill it up for the first time

Never trust a dog with a powerful tail around a glass carboy.

 

[user 22118]

Laborador Retreiver will do that to you

 

[humann_brewing]

Laborador Retreiver will do that to you

Yep, at least she loves the water now. Until like 2 weeks ago, she was scared to get in the pool. Now I can't get her out!

 

[purechaos]

i read this thread yesterday, today i read this.... interesting

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/filtering-water-may-ruin-beer-129710/#post1454802

 

[Brewin_CRAZY]

Dude, I have dumped one batch in my brewing history and that hurt. I cant imagine the pain 3 batched dealt you... My sympathy goes out to the lost suds down the drain

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Kaiser, sorry about the problems, that really sucks.
Please keep us posted if you slay this dragon.