We suspect chlorophenols in our beers,but we have no clue what causes them to appear

[Elysium]

We have gone through almost everything....regarding cold and hot side of our brewing techniques

We believe that we have chlorophenols in our beers.
We believe so....because it has this antiseptic, highly alcoholic taste and smell.
I basically poured antiseptic alcohol on a piece of paper and smelled it, and then smelled our beer....it was really similar, but our beer even had this slightly leather-like smell. Now the crystal malt, the American citrusy hops cant be detected at all.....and this is still the 1st week of fermentation.


We just simply dont know what it causes it. Our 4 guesses are:

-bottled water
-yeast (safale US-05)
-plastic fermentor
-mashing temperature (155.5F).

Here is our recipe if anyone would be so kind to have a look and help us find out what's wrong....we would really appreciate that.

UPDATE: Fermentation temp is totally control in a water bath. It is kept at 63F.

 

[chocotaco]

Fermentation temperature?

My first batch had no temperature control to speak of and came out with a similar off flavor to what you're describing. It was resolved after I started temp controlling for the first week of primary.

 

[BigEd]

Phenols are not easily confused with anything else. It is not an alcohol/solvent smell. The scentl is of old style antiseptic (carbolic acid), cheap plastic as is used in adhesive bandages "Band-Aids", and you will find it in the aroma of many Belgian ales where it is there on purpose. Nothing in your list will be at fault. The most common sources will be too high a fermentation temperature or an infection of wild yeast. Provide and monitor the fermentation temps carefully. Exceeding the recommended range of the yeast can easily produce unwanted byproducts. You cannot over-clean. It doesn't have to equal a hospital sterile environment but make sure everything is cleaned very well with an appropriate product, do not use household kitchen stuff. Sanitize separately with a good product designed for the job, acid based products such as Star-San or iodine based iodophor solutions are by far the best way to go.

 

[chocotaco]

Yeah, I'm 99% sure it's ferm temperature. Put the carboy in a plastic tub filled with water up to the level of the beer. Add/swap ice packs to keep the water at 60-65F for at least the first week of fermentation. If that doesn't resolve the issue, I'll drink Coors for a week!

 

[JLem]

What do you sanitize with?

 

[jro238]

Whenever anyone says isopropyl alcohol I immediately think 'fusel alcohols from too high a fermentation temp."

I have heard that oxidation in some beer types can result in a slight leathery flavor but haven't ever experienced it myself.

 

[BigFloyd]

........................................................................waiting to hear what his pitch/ferment temp was.......................

 

[Elysium]

........................................................................waiting to hear what his pitch/ferment temp was.......................

And you all have it in the OP.
Thanks.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

Yes, what do you sanitize with?

Also, you didn't happen to convert a leather overcoat into a fermentation skin, no? If you are using a food grade fermenter, that's not the issue.

 

[Elysium]

Yes, what do you sanitize with?

Also, you didn't happen to convert a leather overcoat into a fermentation skin, no? If you are using a food grade fermenter, that's not the issue.

I use chemipro Oxi. Nah.....no contact with leather overcoats.

 

[dracus]

Couple Ideas:

1. You should be using StarSan or Iodophor.

My preference is starsan as its better is about every way than Iodophor. I am not going to detail about these as there are hundreds of posts on it here already.


2. I suggest, you look at this again in about 5 more weeks.

2 more weeks for fermentation, followed by 3 weeks in the bottle.


The hardest part of brewing is the waiting.

 

[Elysium]

Couple Ideas:

1. You should be using StarSan or Iodophor.

My preference is starsan as its better is about every way than Iodophor. I am not going to detail about these as there are hundreds of posts on it here already.


2. I suggest, you look at this again in about 5 more weeks.

2 more weeks for fermentation, followed by 3 weeks in the bottle.


The hardest part of brewing is the waiting.

We simply dont have star san here.....that is the issue (shipping it from the USA would be a bit expensive....amazon offers delivery for 80 dollars ). Spain is as developed as a 3rd world country when it comes to brewing.
I have managed to build a system from top quality material for brewing.....but I only have active oxygen available for sanitizing...and it cant be a bad sanizitizer if local brew shops keep selling them. So....the problem has to be something minor in our brewing process that causes this chlorophenol-like (I would even say fusel alcohol) taste in our beer.
At the beginning we used safale s04 and it was too estery....we changed to safale us05 and now it has this other weird off-flavour.....meaning that one problem was eliminated and another has appeared. I am pretty clueless what it could be....because I have been through info on off-flavours a million times and it still wont help....no matter what we change.

 

[Elysium]

Yeah, I'm 99% sure it's ferm temperature. Put the carboy in a plastic tub filled with water up to the level of the beer. Add/swap ice packs to keep the water at 60-65F for at least the first week of fermentation. If that doesn't resolve the issue, I'll drink Coors for a week!

We dont have a carboy....we have ****, food-grade plastic bucket....welcome-to-Spain-reality-style-brewing going on here.

 

[bethebrew]

I use chemipro Oxi. Nah.....no contact with leather overcoats.

Sounds to me like you really don't sanitize. Oxiclean isn't a sanitizer.

Also I suspect your actual ferment temperature was something higher than the 63 water in your tub.

Finally, your hops. Were they protected from light? Are they oxidized? Nugget is my all time least favorite hops with some weird flavors all it's own.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Let the yeast finish fermentation and clean up after themselves.

Let it clear and carb In the bottle.

THEN you can taste it for clorophenols.
Yeast fermentation is pretty nasty and throws out some weird flavors in the peak of fermentation that will get metabolized by the yeast when they are done working on the sugar.
RDWHAHB!

You cant get iodine in spain? That's all iodopher is...
A sanitizer is a MUST after cleaning.

 

[CallMeAl]

Iodophor is used widely by restaurant, food production, and dairy industry. The generic description is "concentrated broad spectrum iodophor disinfectant and no-rinse sanitizer" and it seems that each company has their own name for it. It's still a popular dairy germicide and should be available, but farmers and restaurants buy it a gallon or more at a time. A gallon at my local AG supply dealer cost $3 more than a quart at my LHBS. I figure the gallon will last me ten years.

If all else fails:
Mix 1 oz bleach in 5 gal water, then add 1 oz vinegar; 30 seconds minimum contact time and no rinse.