What went wrong?

[Santhalas]

Hi!!! This is my first post so i want to congrat you all for this incredible page!! As you can see in my profile i'm from a very far away place (Chile in South america, english is not my first languaje so sorry in advance for any misspelling or bad use of english).
Here, homebrewing is very rare so this page is awesome, i don't know anyone that home brew so the answers to my questions and learning has come mainly from studing books till i got to this page

Well, i'm on my 3rd batch and the last one is really undrinkable so i need your advices (last one was hardly drinkable)... Here is summer with max day temperautre of 30-33 °C (86-91°F) so keeping temperature in fermentation is hard, i store the carboy in my garage but at mid-day, the temperature rises to 85°F...

I have 2 theories why this batch went so wrong but i need your opinion, i'm suffering contamination due to bad sanitization of the bottles or the fermentation t° is causing the problems? (i taste the beer before bottling and it was good)

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post :fro:

 

[TorribleBrew]

Welcome Santhalas!

With the limited information you gave it is hard to tell what went wrong. On future posts, try to give your recipe with your fermentation details. Also, try describing why you think it tastes/smells bad. What do you taste and smell?

Sanitation and temperature control are both important. If you have an interior closet in your house that you can use, you might be able to drop the temp by at least ten degrees and keep from having such large temperature swings. Also, search the forum for swamp cooler.

However, before you worry about temperature, you really need to make sure you have a sanitary process.

Give us more details and I am sure there are plenty of people on here that will help out.

 

[brtisbuck]

Lets tackle the easy one first. In the future, use Starsan for your sanitizing solution. Be sure to at least rinse bottles after use. Prior to bottling, wash then sanitize them. Starsan works on contact.

Now, for the temp. This most likely is your biggest issue. Most ale yeasts maximum optimum temp is 72*. When fermentation is occuring the temp inside your fermenting vessel could rise as much as 5-10 degrees or so. When they say 72* they mean temp of your vessel or the liquid in it, not the abient temp in the room. That means if your fermenting vessel is in the garage which reaches 85* your beer could be fermenting into the 90's without cooling it down. This wil most surely produce off flavors, esters, and who knows what else, but definately a beer that is not going to be its best.

There are several things you can do to maintain a cooler temp depending on your budget. Research swamp cooler. This is a cheap start. If you have a basement you might want to move it to there as well.

 

[unionrdr]

I was wondering if you're brewing all grain,or did you manage to find extract malts? The swamp cooler is a plastic tub with rope handles that you fill with cold water. You then swap out frozen water bottles from the freezer to keep the temperature down within the yeast's range.

 

[BrewMU]

That's pretty hot. The swamp cooler idea is good. If you can put some ice in it once in a while, so much the better. You should definitely pick yeast with a relatively high temp range - like english ale yeasts over most american for example.
It's not going to hurt to take a look at your sanitation - if you can get a no rinse sanitizer, use it liberally. Get your wort cooled as quick as you can and pitch a big healthy starter into it right away on your next batch - a big healthy krausen is your beer's best defense.
What is your recipe and plan for your next batch?

 

[unionrdr]

The yeasts with higher temp ranges would be like for a saison,Belgian or wheat as a couple examples. But def get some PBW (cleaner) & starsan (no rinse sanitizer) if you can. & try the swamp cooler With frozen water bottles idea. That should help a lot.

 

[Santhalas]

Thanks for the quick replys
Well, i will give more info, the recipe was a Kolsch using Notingham Ale Yeast, i have a nice counter flow chiller (built by myself) so the initial fermenter t° was OK. The taste is really bitter with vegetable scents, i will really look into what you say, my next recipe will be the same in order to improbe the process avoiding the mistakes i made, i can try to change yeast, what's your recomendation?
- temperature: Will find a coldest spot in my house, been searching for swamp cooler and is a really good and simple idea.
- Sanitization: Here is imposible to get star-san, will try to order it via e-bay , A question regardind Iodphor, it's the same as Povidone Iodine? I can assure you all that next batch i will be a sanitization maniac heheheh

 

[brtisbuck]

Sanitation become most important for anything that touches the wort/beer post boil.

Kolsch's are typically fermented colder than regular ales. If you are struggling with temp, try a style other than Kolsch, and definately not a lager.

 

[cgenebrewer]

so what DO you use to sanitize?

 

[Homercidal]

Iodine is a viable alternative to StarSan, but I don't know if what you mentioned is the same as the iodophor that many brewers up here use.

if you can get Starsan on Ebay that's the way to go, obviously. Lots of people also use a bleach and vingear solution. I personally wouldn't unless I couldn't get StarSan or Iodophor. But when used properly it works very well and isn't noticeable in your beer. Search for No -rinse bleach sanitizer.

Frankly, though, your temps are very high. The target temperature would be mid 60s, or maybe lower 70s if you can. I understand it may be difficult, but that's the reality. There are some yeasts who do better at higher temps, and Saison beers are actually best at your temps, but they are the exception.

Go to the yeast websites and browse their selection. They should indicate the temp ranges for the yeast. That may give you a good idea what to pick.

Most importantly relax, and have fun. You will make great beer eventually. Just have to work out some bugs.

 

[unionrdr]

You can look at this page for the vegetable off flavors caused by DMS; http://http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

 

[Santhalas]

You can look at this page for the vegetable off flavors caused by DMS; http://http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Thanks for the link!!! Well, today i order StarSan via ebay and also a Vinator.
Till now, I was using a mix of bleach and water for everything and a afterward good rinse, for the fermenter just before using it, alcohol 70% with no rinse

Thanks Homercidal, i try to have fun when HB