I heard Charlie Bamforth mention on a podcast that some commercial brewers where asking him how to maximize shelf life of their beers. He said first and foremost that the industry should look into using potassium metabisulfite, Campden, to help with preserving beer as does the wine industry. Because of the labeling laws, beer makers in general don't want that dirty little sticker that says their product contains sulfites so they've avoided this technique.
He then went on to give several other bits of advice on preserving your beer, such as keeping it cold, in the dark , etc.
This use of Campden piqued my interest. One Campden tablet provides around 67ppm per gallon which is below the 100ppm threshold for having to disclose that information on a bottling label.
So... why not crush a Campden tab and throw it in my keg and rack my beer on top? One tab in 5 gals isn't much but if it provides a bit of protection then I'm game.
Sad news, after a week of force carbing in the fridge I pull a test glass and I get the dreaded sulfury rotten eggs smell! UGH!
My brain is racing to think of what caused this?! This is my "A Blonde Moment" ale that I've made several times. What did I do different this time?
I go through my notes and see that I used Nottingham for the first time instead of White Labs... could that be it? I rehydrated two packs of yeast as instructed on the label, and it DID rocket off extremely quickly. Maybe it got too hot? Time for me to bite the bullet and get a fermentation temperature control apparatus ie, spare fridge in the garage??!
Then after some googling I see someone mention sulfur aroma coming from too much use of Campden... AH HA!!! Now I remember adding Campden to the keg!!
****. Oh well, I think I can repeatedly vent the CO2 and this should solve my problem. But I still wasn't 100% convinced that this is what caused the offending odor.
Then I remembered, when I was racking into the keg I filled a few bottles to try bottle conditioning this brew just for fun. Another AH HA!!! I bolted to my spare room aka "The Brewery", nabbed one of the bottles and, knowing full well it was only a week old and still warm, cracked that sucker open and poured the still yeast-infused liquid into my glass. Sniff sniff... perfect! No sulfur aroma! Lesson learned. :rockin:
To lengthen my beer's shelf life I will implement as many techniques as I reasonably can, including just drinking it as fast as possible, but I will leave the sulfites to my wines.
Hope this saves a novice like me some frustration someday.
He then went on to give several other bits of advice on preserving your beer, such as keeping it cold, in the dark , etc.
This use of Campden piqued my interest. One Campden tablet provides around 67ppm per gallon which is below the 100ppm threshold for having to disclose that information on a bottling label.
So... why not crush a Campden tab and throw it in my keg and rack my beer on top? One tab in 5 gals isn't much but if it provides a bit of protection then I'm game.
Sad news, after a week of force carbing in the fridge I pull a test glass and I get the dreaded sulfury rotten eggs smell! UGH!
My brain is racing to think of what caused this?! This is my "A Blonde Moment" ale that I've made several times. What did I do different this time?
I go through my notes and see that I used Nottingham for the first time instead of White Labs... could that be it? I rehydrated two packs of yeast as instructed on the label, and it DID rocket off extremely quickly. Maybe it got too hot? Time for me to bite the bullet and get a fermentation temperature control apparatus ie, spare fridge in the garage??!
Then after some googling I see someone mention sulfur aroma coming from too much use of Campden... AH HA!!! Now I remember adding Campden to the keg!!
****. Oh well, I think I can repeatedly vent the CO2 and this should solve my problem. But I still wasn't 100% convinced that this is what caused the offending odor.
Then I remembered, when I was racking into the keg I filled a few bottles to try bottle conditioning this brew just for fun. Another AH HA!!! I bolted to my spare room aka "The Brewery", nabbed one of the bottles and, knowing full well it was only a week old and still warm, cracked that sucker open and poured the still yeast-infused liquid into my glass. Sniff sniff... perfect! No sulfur aroma! Lesson learned. :rockin:
To lengthen my beer's shelf life I will implement as many techniques as I reasonably can, including just drinking it as fast as possible, but I will leave the sulfites to my wines.
Hope this saves a novice like me some frustration someday.
