Good day,
I have made two attempts at the following all grain recipe, and both have met with apparent disaster.
Recipe:
*10lbs pale two-row malted grains
*1.5lbs crystal 60 deg malted grains
*1.0oz Northern Brewer hops (45 mins of boiling)
*1.0oz Northern Brewer hops (15 mins of boiling)
*0.5oz cascade hops (5 mins of boiling)
*Irish moss (1tablespoon, last 5 minutes)
*1 pack of bentonite (when transferring into carboy)
The first resulted in a strong, foul, plastic-like taste, and I had to discard the final product. I then treated for chlorine and chloramine using measured amounts of potassium metabisulfite. In the next batch, with k-meta used to treat the chlorine, the plastic taste was gone, (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/plastic-like-taste-pale-ale-recipe-430938/) but now the beer has a slight scent of rotten eggs, and it's disgusting.
The information I have found on the topic suggests I used too much sulfite. Some remedies include "scrubbing" the beer with CO2, but I am using priming sugar, and not forced carbonation, so the tools to do so are not available to me.
Is there something I can do to prevent this terrible smell from arising? I've considered getting a better chlorine filter for my tap water (just using a brita filter for now, which is painfully slow), or is there something that can be done to counter or boil off the excess sulfites after the chlorine treatment aspect is done?
Also, considering the amount of hops used, I was expecting a bitter, pale ale flavor. This beer tastes like a sweet lager. Do I just need to use stronger hops in the future? This recipe is supposed to be for a pale ale.
Finally, are these two scenarios (ie: improper chlorine treatment resulting in a plastic-like taste, and too many sulfites causing a rotten egg smell) common amongst rookie all grain brewers? I've read a few books on the topic, and have been making mead for over a decade, and I'm wondering how many more all grain batches have to be ruined until I have something that is drinkable.
Thanks!
I have made two attempts at the following all grain recipe, and both have met with apparent disaster.
Recipe:
*10lbs pale two-row malted grains
*1.5lbs crystal 60 deg malted grains
*1.0oz Northern Brewer hops (45 mins of boiling)
*1.0oz Northern Brewer hops (15 mins of boiling)
*0.5oz cascade hops (5 mins of boiling)
*Irish moss (1tablespoon, last 5 minutes)
*1 pack of bentonite (when transferring into carboy)
The first resulted in a strong, foul, plastic-like taste, and I had to discard the final product. I then treated for chlorine and chloramine using measured amounts of potassium metabisulfite. In the next batch, with k-meta used to treat the chlorine, the plastic taste was gone, (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/plastic-like-taste-pale-ale-recipe-430938/) but now the beer has a slight scent of rotten eggs, and it's disgusting.
The information I have found on the topic suggests I used too much sulfite. Some remedies include "scrubbing" the beer with CO2, but I am using priming sugar, and not forced carbonation, so the tools to do so are not available to me.
Is there something I can do to prevent this terrible smell from arising? I've considered getting a better chlorine filter for my tap water (just using a brita filter for now, which is painfully slow), or is there something that can be done to counter or boil off the excess sulfites after the chlorine treatment aspect is done?
Also, considering the amount of hops used, I was expecting a bitter, pale ale flavor. This beer tastes like a sweet lager. Do I just need to use stronger hops in the future? This recipe is supposed to be for a pale ale.
Finally, are these two scenarios (ie: improper chlorine treatment resulting in a plastic-like taste, and too many sulfites causing a rotten egg smell) common amongst rookie all grain brewers? I've read a few books on the topic, and have been making mead for over a decade, and I'm wondering how many more all grain batches have to be ruined until I have something that is drinkable.
Thanks!
