Phenol taste

[Kleggo]

Hi all

Love the forum and thanks to everyone who contributes, making research and learning much easier on us noobs.

I have done 3 brews so far, the last 2 were all grain. Every one has had this medicinal taste which I am attributing to be chlorophenol. I sent in beer to a competition and the tasting notes confirmed my suspicion. I obtained a water report and sure enough, my local water company showed levels of chloramine.

Strangely, the taste on the third brew, an imperial IPA, didn't show up until the third week out if the keg. Before that, it tasted wonderful with no off notes. Can phenols develop after time or would they show up right away? All throughout fermentation, this beer was fantastic. Now, I can drink it but definitely notice the off taste. At least in the first 4 of the evening.

My question centers around preventing this in future batches. I love the IPA so I'm going to brew it again, this time with camphden tablets. I also have the option of using filtered water (through refridge) and am wondering if I should / need to do both.

Is there anything else I should be doing to avoid this issue?

On a side note, one of the judges wrote that my beer was infected. I doubt it, but it got me thinking that the phenol taste might present itself as an infection.

Thoughts?

 

[1Mainebrew]

Ok, so the reason you didn't taste it early with the IPA is that hop aroma and taste will cover it up early, but as those compounds fade, the phenols become more pronounced.

If I were you, I would use bottled water like Poland Springs or whatever you have available in your area. Then I would just really check sanitation procedures and make sure that nothing comes in contact with the wort post boil that has not been sterilized with starsan, iodophor, etc. BTW, do you clean with bleach? If so, that could be a definite cause of your phenols. Check this out: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html under the section of "medicinal." Hope it helps.

 

[Mainer28]

Do some research on Campden Tablets. One tablet per 20 gallons should do the trick.

 

[Kleggo]

I do not use bleach - strictly starsan and iodiphor.

I will use campden on the next brew and see how it turns out.

 

[randallr]

I have problems with this also. I think I was using an off-strain of Pacman yeast. It has happened on 2 of my 10 brews and both those had pacman yeast. I am going to try campden tablets and no longer use that strain of yeast. I'll report back.