Off flavors

[Waitro_Brew]

Hi,

I'm a new brewer. I have brewed 4 batches of beer and all 4 have experienced a similar problem. I'm hoping that one of you will have the answer to my dilemma.

My beer gains off flavors over time. It's hard to describe, but I think the best way to describe it would be "spoiling." The beers doesn't taste as crisp and refereshing as it did when it was immediately done carbonating. For example, I have an IPA that tasted good and it was bitter but now I can barely taste the hops and it doesn't really taste like beer anymore. Any ideas where I might have made a mistake in my brewing procedure?

 

[peanasky]

We'll need a bit more information about your beers before getting too detailed. Were all 4 IPAs? Are you bottling your beers?

If they were IPA's, hop flavor and aroma will deteriorate over time. If you're bottling, make sure that your bottles are clean when you bottle to prevent infection, which may cause "spoilage" over time.

Check out http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html and see if you can get more specific.

 

[PIGMAN]

The hop character in IPAs mellows over time.

 

[axivanax]

Yeah, most low ABV'ed homebrews will lose their crispiness and hop profile over time, no worries, just drink up : D!

 

[Waitro_Brew]

We'll need a bit more information about your beers before getting too detailed. Were all 4 IPAs? Are you bottling your beers?

If they were IPA's, hop flavor and aroma will deteriorate over time. If you're bottling, make sure that your bottles are clean when you bottle to prevent infection, which may cause "spoilage" over time.

Check out http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html and see if you can get more specific.

Thanks for the help.

No, all four were not IPA's. My first brew was a blonde ale, my second brew was a hoppy stout, my third brew was the IPA, and my 4th brew was a red ale.

Yes, I bottle all my beers. I suspect that my bottling process is off. I soak my bottles in a warm bleach solution for 30-45min, scrub them, and rinse them the day before I bottle. The morning (or several hours before) I bottle I submerse them in sanitizing solution and let them drain before I bottle the beer.

Something that happened with both my IPA and red ale while transfering the beers is that I lost sucion while siphoning (which I had to do with just a tube and my mouth). It seems silly to ask, but could that have contributed to my off flavors?

 

[CTR08]

You could have possibly introduced oxygen if you had to pump the auto siphon excessively. Would you describe the off flavors as 'cardboard' or 'stale' (oxidation)? Was all equipment that touched the beer during bottling properly sanitized? Beers loose their hop flavor over time, but this doesn't cause a 'spoiled' flavor in my experience.

EDIT- avoid using your mouth when siphoning when at all possible. I wonder if this could have been part of the culprit. Mouth= all sorts of bacteria... No need to risk exposing your beer to this.

Did you sample on bottle day? Off flavors only emerged after some time?

 

[Waitro_Brew]

You could have possibly introduced oxygen if you had to pump the auto siphon excessively. Would you describe the off flavors as 'cardboard' or 'stale' (oxidation)? Was all equipment that touched the beer during bottling properly sanitized? Beers loose their hop flavor over time, but this doesn't cause a 'spoiled' flavor in my experience.

EDIT- avoid using your mouth when siphoning when at all possible. I wonder if this could have been part of the culprit.

I would like to think so. I keep a bucket of about 2 gallons of sanitizing solution and run everything through it. Just out of curiosity, how do you define properly sanitized? I'm always looking for good tips.

Ps. Since my siphoning incident, I have purchased an autosiphone.

 

[Paully]

I wouldn't use your mouth to start a syphon. Your mouth contains any number of bacteria and yeast strains that can be very detrimental to your beer. One easy way to start a syphon is by submerging it totally in sanitizing solution and filling the syphon full with the solution. Plug the and with your sanitized thumb, drop the other end (the cane) into the beer, then the syphon is primed. Then just let the sani solution run out until you have beer coming through, and there you have it. Otherwise, just use an auto-syphon, that is what I do. They are relatively hastle-free.

One other thing to consider when bottling is temp. Beers age best at around cellar temp, between 50 and 55 degrees F. Good luck!

 

[unionrdr]

Also,waiting till bottling day to sanitize after letting the bleach solution dry on them will make off flavors as well. I use PBW to clean,& starsan to sanitize,both by five star & available just about everywhere. Starsan is a wet, no rinse sanitizer. PBW in the right dilution will clean just about anything off your stuff. PBW must be rinsed,but starsan doesn't. I'll never brew without either of them. Great stuff that,properly used,doesn't make off flavors like bleach,etc.

 

[BrewerBear]

One other thing to consider when bottling is temp. Beers age best at around cellar temp, between 50 and 55 degrees F. Good luck!

They should be stored around 70 to carb for 2 or 3 weeks first. I was thinking the same as uniondr about the use of bleach possibly being the problem.

 

[Waitro_Brew]

Thank you everyone who responded! I appreciate the help. I feel better informed and now more confident to brew my next brew.

 

[progmac]

the most important factors in crisp beer are pitching lots of yeast and maintaining low fermentation temperatures.