Off Flavors?

[Nicknack]

I bottled my second batch of brew a couple of weeks ago. It was a clone Sierra Nevada extract kit from NB. That being the case, I decided a couple days ago to try some. It was very good so I had another. The next night I had a third from the batch. All three tasted about the same and were enjoyable to drink. The following night I had one and was hit by a flavor that reminded me of my last batch. An off-flavor perhaps... definitely not a desirable one.

Last night I decided to try another and I was happy to return to good tasting beer. Later in the evening, I decided to have a second and this one was just not good. Those off-flavors (or whatever they are) were even more distinct than before. I didn't even finish the beer, which is saying something for me. Now I was worried so I opened another to see if it tasted bad too. This beer wasn't carbonated! I tossed it and didn't even try it. This was the first beer that I have opened without carbonation.

Some background info...

- Brown bottles were used except for two (green) Stella bottles. I just read in another thread how these don't tend to seal very well. At any rate, the beer that I had which was really bad and the beer that didn't carbonate were in the Stella bottles. However, it can't be all due to Stella bottles because the first one that I had in which I noticed an off taste, was in a brown bottle.

- All of my bottles are stored in my closet, around 72 degrees. They were cleaned well, washed in the dishwasher (water only) and then sanitized right before bottling.

- Fermentation is temperature controlled at 64-67 degrees in my chest freezer

- My first batch of beer that I brewed about two months ago was a Block Party Amber Ale (came with my NB brewing kit). I noticed a taste, which was present in every beer that I drank. I wasn't sure if it was the beer or an off-flavor because I'm not much of a fan of amber ales. The taste is hard to describe... sort of some spice mixed with a tiny skunkyness. Not sure if that really describes it but whatever it is, it's not good! Other than the beer I had last night, the undesirable flavor isn't overpowering but certainly not wanted.

Thoughts?

 

[ncbrewer]

I'm not an expert on off flavors, but here are some thoughts:
Skunky flavor: You probably know about the lightstruck effect - this can happen even in brown bottles, but to a lesser extent.
It's possible to get poor mixing of the priming sugar.
Stella bottles not capping well - you know about this.
I've had some problems with caps not seating well recently, even with standard bottles. Still working on this, so can't really help except making you aware of the possibility.
Sanitation - you could have missed something in some bottles even though you thought they were ok.
Hope this helps.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I bottled my second batch of brew a couple of weeks ago. It was a clone Sierra Nevada extract kit from NB. That being the case, I decided a couple days ago to try some. It was very good so I had another. The next night I had a third from the batch. All three tasted about the same and were enjoyable to drink. The following night I had one and was hit by a flavor that reminded me of my last batch. An off-flavor perhaps... definitely not a desirable one.

Last night I decided to try another and I was happy to return to good tasting beer. Later in the evening, I decided to have a second and this one was just not good. Those off-flavors (or whatever they are) were even more distinct than before. I didn't even finish the beer, which is saying something for me. Now I was worried so I opened another to see if it tasted bad too. This beer wasn't carbonated! I tossed it and didn't even try it. This was the first beer that I have opened without carbonation.

Some background info...

- Brown bottles were used except for two (green) Stella bottles. I just read in another thread how these don't tend to seal very well. At any rate, the beer that I had which was really bad and the beer that didn't carbonate were in the Stella bottles. However, it can't be all due to Stella bottles because the first one that I had in which I noticed an off taste, was in a brown bottle.

- All of my bottles are stored in my closet, around 72 degrees. They were cleaned well, washed in the dishwasher (water only) and then sanitized right before bottling.

- Fermentation is temperature controlled at 64-67 degrees in my chest freezer

- My first batch of beer that I brewed about two months ago was a Block Party Amber Ale (came with my NB brewing kit). I noticed a taste, which was present in every beer that I drank. I wasn't sure if it was the beer or an off-flavor because I'm not much of a fan of amber ales. The taste is hard to describe... sort of some spice mixed with a tiny skunkyness. Not sure if that really describes it but whatever it is, it's not good! Other than the beer I had last night, the undesirable flavor isn't overpowering but certainly not wanted.

Thoughts?

To help pin point the issue go down this list and see if you can't help describe the off flavor more.

https://www.morebeer.com/content/homebrew-off-flavors

 

[perle]

Sounds like your bottles weren't clean as you might expect? Do you sanitize your caps?

The day before I plan to bottle, I fill my sink with hot water and PBW then soak my bottles for a couple hours, then rinse well. On bottling day, I sanitize the bottle and the cap, fill and press the cap on. I've never had an individual bottle with off flavors using this method. When I pour a beer, I immediately rinse the bottle several times and let it dry in a drying rack with the mouth side facing down. Maybe that will give you something to consider.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I'm not an expert on off flavors, but here are some thoughts:
Skunky flavor: You probably know about the lightstruck effect - this can happen even in brown bottles, but to a lesser extent.
It's possible to get poor mixing of the priming sugar.
Stella bottles not capping well - you know about this.
I've had some problems with caps not seating well recently, even with standard bottles. Still working on this, so can't really help except making you aware of the possibility.
Sanitation - you could have missed something in some bottles even though you thought they were ok.
Hope this helps.

This was my initial thoughts as well, only b/c its by bottle not batch, so maybe some bottles got exposed to either sanitation or light while others didn't. You would think if the whole batch was botched you wouldn't have good and bad selections in the group.

 

[Nicknack]

To help pin point the issue go down this list and see if you can't help describe the off flavor more.

https://www.morebeer.com/content/homebrew-off-flavors

Maybe Medicinal but I'm really not sure. As best as I can describe it's not a powerful off-flavor but just a hint of skunyness perhaps and maybe a touch of spice.

 

[Nicknack]

Sounds like your bottles weren't clean as you might expect? Do you sanitize your caps?

The day before I plan to bottle, I fill my sink with hot water and PBW then soak my bottles for a couple hours, then rinse well. On bottling day, I sanitize the bottle and the cap, fill and press the cap on. I've never had an individual bottle with off flavors using this method. When I pour a beer, I immediately rinse the bottle several times and let it dry in a drying rack with the mouth side facing down. Maybe that will give you something to consider.

I'm not sure how to clean them better than I am. Once I finish drinking a beer, I wash it out thoroughly with water and then let it sit to dry. Before bottling, I then run it through the dishwasher to sanitize (just using hot water). Then I sanitize using Starsan. The caps sit in a bowl of Starsan up to the time that they are capped. My capper is also sanitized very well.

First batch: every beer had this same off-flavor
Second bath: so far, 3 out of about 7 have had it. I will try another when I get home this evening!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Maybe Medicinal but I'm really not sure. As best as I can describe it's not a powerful off-flavor but just a hint of skunyness perhaps and maybe a touch of spice.

This sound like a classic case of Extract Twang.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54434

Check here.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Everyone has a slight variation of what they feel the "twang" taste like but it seems to be common in Extract beers. This is a possible solution for your off flavor that seems fitting since you said your process and sanitation was good. That was one link I posted but if you google the term you will see it everywhere.

 

[Nicknack]

This sound like a classic case of Extract Twang.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54434

Check here.

Very interesting read. This could be it, but why would it only be in some of my bottles of brew and not in others? That doesn't seem quite right - it ought to be in all I would think if this is something characteristic of DME itself.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Very interesting read. This could be it, but why would it only be in some of my bottles of brew and not in others? That doesn't seem quite right - it ought to be in all I would think if this is something characteristic of DME itself.

That is the part that's throwing me off is that its only in some bottles. That part is really weird....

 

[Nicknack]

When I get home from work, I'm going to open up a bottle (while my palate is nice and fresh) and try one.

If I continue to have some that taste okay and others that don't, then I would think there must be something that I'm doing or not doing in the way of bottle sanitization. I just don't know what that would be because I'm doing everything that I can think of to keep the bottles properly sanitized.

 

[ncbrewer]

I'm not sure how to clean them better than I am. Once I finish drinking a beer, I wash it out thoroughly with water and then let it sit to dry. Before bottling, I then run it through the dishwasher to sanitize (just using hot water). Then I sanitize using Starsan. The caps sit in a bowl of Starsan up to the time that they are capped. My capper is also sanitized very well.

I've read that the dishwasher doesn't wash bottles very well - the narrow neck doesn't let enough water into all the bottles. But a thorough washing right after pouring is fairly common - that's what I do. Be sure to use hot water, and inspect after the rinse.