A question for you all. I have been doing 2.5-3 gallon BIAB batches on the stove for a little while now.
My last 6 batches have all had this sweet, slightly cidery flavor to them that I cannot stand, I have ended up giving most of the beer away, some others pick it up some dont. For me its almost overpowering. These have been a IIPA, a Pale ale, 2 IPAs, and an APA. So in the grand scheme of things, similar style beers. My beer also usually ends up with a ton of foam, not beer head like foam, almost a soapy type foam. The third issue is the beer tastes good for about 2 weeks as the hop flavor and aroma is strong enough to partially mask the sweet/cidery taste but after 2 weeks or so the hop aroma is gone altogether and the flavor is has largely dissipated.
Some of the questions about my process. I usually heat my strike water to around 160-163, pitch grain, and the temperature holds around 151-153. I stir every 15-20 minutes or so and usually only have to add heat once. But the temp outside the bag and inside the bag end up being a few degrees apart Outside the bag can stay around 160, and inside the bag can be 10 degrees cooler... Any thoughts on this?
I do it on the stove, so for the 3 gallons batches it can sometime take 30-40 minutes to get up to a boil, but once it does it is usually a fairly strong boil. Would this cause any problems? I leave the kettle covered until it gets to a boil then remove cover and it can keep the boil going. If I try to bring it to a boil uncovered it can take almost 90 minutes...
I squeeze the bag fairly hard about my usual 7-90 minute mash and do a small batch spare with some 170 degree watch for a faux mash-out. I dont think this would case much trouble.
I have tried several types of whirlpooling hop additions. I have added hops at flameout and let it cool to 180ish on its own, then chill with copper wort chiller. I have chilled to 180 with wort chiller and then added some hops and let it cool to about 120 on its own then further chilled with wort chiller. Am I causing more problems by doing this? Is one method better?
When I rack to primary I end up sucking up a whole bunch of cold break, it never really settles to the bottom of my kettle. Since it is usually only 2.75-3.25 gallons going into fermenter it cools quite quickly with wort chiller and makes a lot of cold break. Do I need to let it sit longer and have it all settle to bottom? A lot of trub goes into the fermenter, usually about 1.5 compacted layer after primary. Does this lead to any off flavors?
I also end up racking on top of a lot of star-san foam. But everywhere I read it says dont fear the foam. but with 3 gallons going into a 5 gallon car boy, there is a lot of headspace with foam left in it, and doesnt get completely pushed out by the wort. Problems here?
I have dry-hopped in primary after complete, and dry-hopped after a transfer to secondary. I noticed no real noticeable difference. I have a small handheld co2 thing that I spray a small blanket into my 3-gallon secondary carboy. I once did a 2.5 gallon batch in a 3 gallon carboy and the krausen pushed into the airlock, that is why I use a 5 gallon for primary.
One beer I used S-04 with a 64-ish degree ambient, and it shot up to around 74-76, so I can explain that crappy flavor. But all the other beers have been around 64 ambient too but havent shot up that high, maybe 68-70 which is still in range for 1272 and WLP001 as the other 2 I have been using, with 1L 24hour starters. I have read high ferm temp could be the cause of these flavors, but i still seem to be in range of the correct temps for the yeast I am using... Temp comes from fermometer strip on side of carboy (so I guess 2-4 degrees higher in center of wort as compared to side of carboy). Could this be the problem? Any ideas to control ferm temp? I dont think swamp cooler is an option, and I dont have a spare fridge to use. I just use dark corner of basement.
The beer samples taste great before fermentation, and sometimes i can slightly taste it after primary, but I have always tasted the off flavor it in the bottles. They all seem to have this same flavor. I have tried my tap water, spring water, RO water with additives, and have ended up with this same flavor every time.
The last batch was a head hunter clone recipe from this site, and I got the strongest cidery/sweet flavor yet and virtually no hop presence...
I am beginning to get frustrated and havent felt like brewing in about 2 months. Please somebody help me fix this. Is this an oxidation problem? how can I fix that? Is this a fermentation problem? A process problem?
Please help me...
Edit, I had quite a number of batches without these flavors, I am not sure what changed. I have always been within .001-.002 of my OG and FG actually (expect the first 4-5 batches to dial in my process and efficiency).
My last 6 batches have all had this sweet, slightly cidery flavor to them that I cannot stand, I have ended up giving most of the beer away, some others pick it up some dont. For me its almost overpowering. These have been a IIPA, a Pale ale, 2 IPAs, and an APA. So in the grand scheme of things, similar style beers. My beer also usually ends up with a ton of foam, not beer head like foam, almost a soapy type foam. The third issue is the beer tastes good for about 2 weeks as the hop flavor and aroma is strong enough to partially mask the sweet/cidery taste but after 2 weeks or so the hop aroma is gone altogether and the flavor is has largely dissipated.
Some of the questions about my process. I usually heat my strike water to around 160-163, pitch grain, and the temperature holds around 151-153. I stir every 15-20 minutes or so and usually only have to add heat once. But the temp outside the bag and inside the bag end up being a few degrees apart Outside the bag can stay around 160, and inside the bag can be 10 degrees cooler... Any thoughts on this?
I do it on the stove, so for the 3 gallons batches it can sometime take 30-40 minutes to get up to a boil, but once it does it is usually a fairly strong boil. Would this cause any problems? I leave the kettle covered until it gets to a boil then remove cover and it can keep the boil going. If I try to bring it to a boil uncovered it can take almost 90 minutes...
I squeeze the bag fairly hard about my usual 7-90 minute mash and do a small batch spare with some 170 degree watch for a faux mash-out. I dont think this would case much trouble.
I have tried several types of whirlpooling hop additions. I have added hops at flameout and let it cool to 180ish on its own, then chill with copper wort chiller. I have chilled to 180 with wort chiller and then added some hops and let it cool to about 120 on its own then further chilled with wort chiller. Am I causing more problems by doing this? Is one method better?
When I rack to primary I end up sucking up a whole bunch of cold break, it never really settles to the bottom of my kettle. Since it is usually only 2.75-3.25 gallons going into fermenter it cools quite quickly with wort chiller and makes a lot of cold break. Do I need to let it sit longer and have it all settle to bottom? A lot of trub goes into the fermenter, usually about 1.5 compacted layer after primary. Does this lead to any off flavors?
I also end up racking on top of a lot of star-san foam. But everywhere I read it says dont fear the foam. but with 3 gallons going into a 5 gallon car boy, there is a lot of headspace with foam left in it, and doesnt get completely pushed out by the wort. Problems here?
I have dry-hopped in primary after complete, and dry-hopped after a transfer to secondary. I noticed no real noticeable difference. I have a small handheld co2 thing that I spray a small blanket into my 3-gallon secondary carboy. I once did a 2.5 gallon batch in a 3 gallon carboy and the krausen pushed into the airlock, that is why I use a 5 gallon for primary.
One beer I used S-04 with a 64-ish degree ambient, and it shot up to around 74-76, so I can explain that crappy flavor. But all the other beers have been around 64 ambient too but havent shot up that high, maybe 68-70 which is still in range for 1272 and WLP001 as the other 2 I have been using, with 1L 24hour starters. I have read high ferm temp could be the cause of these flavors, but i still seem to be in range of the correct temps for the yeast I am using... Temp comes from fermometer strip on side of carboy (so I guess 2-4 degrees higher in center of wort as compared to side of carboy). Could this be the problem? Any ideas to control ferm temp? I dont think swamp cooler is an option, and I dont have a spare fridge to use. I just use dark corner of basement.
The beer samples taste great before fermentation, and sometimes i can slightly taste it after primary, but I have always tasted the off flavor it in the bottles. They all seem to have this same flavor. I have tried my tap water, spring water, RO water with additives, and have ended up with this same flavor every time.
The last batch was a head hunter clone recipe from this site, and I got the strongest cidery/sweet flavor yet and virtually no hop presence...
I am beginning to get frustrated and havent felt like brewing in about 2 months. Please somebody help me fix this. Is this an oxidation problem? how can I fix that? Is this a fermentation problem? A process problem?
Please help me...
Edit, I had quite a number of batches without these flavors, I am not sure what changed. I have always been within .001-.002 of my OG and FG actually (expect the first 4-5 batches to dial in my process and efficiency).
