Jakeintoledo
Well-Known Member
I'll apologize if my post is like reading War and Peace, but in the sake of leaving no stone unturned, I'm trying to identify an off-flavor I have in my beers.
I've been brewing since Christmas 2010. All throughout 2011, I brewed beers for bottling, and generally speaking, thought I was getting good at it. In early 2012, I bought a fridge and a keg setup, and started kegging. Since kegging, I can't seem to nail a beer right, without an off-flavor present in the background. it's slight, but enough to make me want to get rid of it, and it's in most of the beers i brew, with no exception that I can think of.
The off-flavor is hard to describe; I'm sitting here typing as I drink a Maibock I made in the fall of last year, and which lagered for months. It tastes malty and sort of hoppy, like I like it, but there's also a background.....'sweetness' or 'tartness' to it. It's by no means hugely apparent. it comes out more in the aftertaste of the beer, too.
My sanitation is as such: I sanitize boil keg and fittings with PBW, then follow up with Star San. I also do this with my kegs; get water as hot as I can stand it, load it with PBW, let soak and scrub, then pressurize kegs with a compressor and slowly flow it out of the fittings. then I rinse and flow out of the kegs, then sanitize and flow out of the kegs. I also sanitize all the tubing i use post-boil as well, along with the plastic carboys i use.
My suspicion is in how I handle my yeast. historically, even on high gravity beers, I wouldn't do a yeast starter. I would do a smack pack from Wyeast, let it swell on up, and pitch it. Then I'd agitate it for about 20-30 seconds. that's it.
in reading, it seems that most people do a starter even for a modest gravity beer (1.050 - 1.060). and it also seems that people really like to aerate the heck out of their beer. though I've never done this with any of my beers, the beer I brewed to be bottled never seemed to show this off flavor.
I recently brewed an Altbier that I did a starter for, and which I aerated using a filtered aquarium pump and stone for about an hour. I'm attempting to give the yeast ideal conditions in which to thrive, to see if this problem goes away.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, and likely tried, especially if this Altbier comes through with this flavor.
I've been brewing since Christmas 2010. All throughout 2011, I brewed beers for bottling, and generally speaking, thought I was getting good at it. In early 2012, I bought a fridge and a keg setup, and started kegging. Since kegging, I can't seem to nail a beer right, without an off-flavor present in the background. it's slight, but enough to make me want to get rid of it, and it's in most of the beers i brew, with no exception that I can think of.
The off-flavor is hard to describe; I'm sitting here typing as I drink a Maibock I made in the fall of last year, and which lagered for months. It tastes malty and sort of hoppy, like I like it, but there's also a background.....'sweetness' or 'tartness' to it. It's by no means hugely apparent. it comes out more in the aftertaste of the beer, too.
My sanitation is as such: I sanitize boil keg and fittings with PBW, then follow up with Star San. I also do this with my kegs; get water as hot as I can stand it, load it with PBW, let soak and scrub, then pressurize kegs with a compressor and slowly flow it out of the fittings. then I rinse and flow out of the kegs, then sanitize and flow out of the kegs. I also sanitize all the tubing i use post-boil as well, along with the plastic carboys i use.
My suspicion is in how I handle my yeast. historically, even on high gravity beers, I wouldn't do a yeast starter. I would do a smack pack from Wyeast, let it swell on up, and pitch it. Then I'd agitate it for about 20-30 seconds. that's it.
in reading, it seems that most people do a starter even for a modest gravity beer (1.050 - 1.060). and it also seems that people really like to aerate the heck out of their beer. though I've never done this with any of my beers, the beer I brewed to be bottled never seemed to show this off flavor.
I recently brewed an Altbier that I did a starter for, and which I aerated using a filtered aquarium pump and stone for about an hour. I'm attempting to give the yeast ideal conditions in which to thrive, to see if this problem goes away.
Your thoughts would be appreciated, and likely tried, especially if this Altbier comes through with this flavor.