I just got some score sheets back from a competition and while my beer did win a silver both judges mentioned multiple times about oxidation issues specifically mentioning it was a good beer but must have some process issue that caused oxidation. So I am trying to figure out where and what might be causing it.
So following brewday once the wort goes into the carboy (plastic big mouth bubbler) it goes into my chest freezer for temperature control. I only open it to add some dry hops (unscrew the lid, lift it off, drop them in, close it again).
When I keg, I fill the keg up with sanitizer, then push it out with co2 so that should be fully purged. I only remove the stopper from my carboy to slip the auto-siphon in for transfer. My auto-siphon is attached to a tap connector so I siphon straight into the keg through the beer out post(right to the bottom of the keg). I crack the lid to allow the co2 to be pushed out while it id filling from the bottom up.
Once it's transfered I reseal the lid and then purge the headspace 3-4 time (which should already be only co2 since the keg was purged).
Then carb and serve.
The only thing I can think of is that when I fill my bottles. I use a party tap with a bottle filler wand inserted. Crank back the pressure and fill. I cap with the oxygen absorbing caps.
Other than filling bottles I don't know what I might be doing wrong. How quickly does oxidation off flavor take to show up. I'm wondering if I filled a growler and immediately brought it to some people to taste is that long enough? If that wasn't oxidized that would point to my bottling being the issue wouldn't it??
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
So following brewday once the wort goes into the carboy (plastic big mouth bubbler) it goes into my chest freezer for temperature control. I only open it to add some dry hops (unscrew the lid, lift it off, drop them in, close it again).
When I keg, I fill the keg up with sanitizer, then push it out with co2 so that should be fully purged. I only remove the stopper from my carboy to slip the auto-siphon in for transfer. My auto-siphon is attached to a tap connector so I siphon straight into the keg through the beer out post(right to the bottom of the keg). I crack the lid to allow the co2 to be pushed out while it id filling from the bottom up.
Once it's transfered I reseal the lid and then purge the headspace 3-4 time (which should already be only co2 since the keg was purged).
Then carb and serve.
The only thing I can think of is that when I fill my bottles. I use a party tap with a bottle filler wand inserted. Crank back the pressure and fill. I cap with the oxygen absorbing caps.
Other than filling bottles I don't know what I might be doing wrong. How quickly does oxidation off flavor take to show up. I'm wondering if I filled a growler and immediately brought it to some people to taste is that long enough? If that wasn't oxidized that would point to my bottling being the issue wouldn't it??
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
