5th batch down the drain

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mawa

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Well, after 4 somewhat succesful batches (the 4th was specially good) the 5th will have to be sent to the drain.

It's been in the bottle for 3 weeks, and I opened the first one last night, it had a good color and a medium head but the taste was awful. I've heard some of you guys talk about a "band-aid" taste but I could not imagine how that would be until last night, yuck!. Besides the medicinal taste I could detect a nasty alcohol flavor and some others too.

I already had a good idea this batch was going nowhere. On brewday I was horribly hungover and I made several mistakes. I aerated the wort while still hot; at the end I was so tired that I didn't care that it was over 80 F when I pitched; I'm sure my sanitizing was not so...sanitizing. All that plus i had to leave for a couple of weeks and the temps got really high while the beer was fermenting.

But you know, I'm actually kind of glad this happened now. The first 4 batches had been so easy that I was starting to think there was nothing challenging in brewing and was beginning to get careless. Now I know better and I'm even more excited now than when I started in this great hobby.

The ingredients for the next 4 batches are on the way. Next weekend I'll do thigs correctly!

Mawa

Lesson learned: Don't get too drunk the day before brewing; get drunk while you'r brewing :tank:
 
What are you sanitizing with? The chlorine in bleach can cause a plastic or medicinal flavor to overpower your beer if you don't rinse the residue very well.
 
I've tossed three in seven years. It's a sad thing to pitch a batch, but recognizing a tosser is part of loving good beer.
 
Funny my 5th batch was my first tosser too. Sorry for the loss, but dont let it get you discouraged. Did you try something different with this batch? Obviously you did well on the first four, so just make sure you keep it simple and follow the basics.

Sanitize, sanitize sanitize! I do all my bottles in the dishwasher under the longest cycle I can find. I do all my brewing equipment twice, and scrub the glass carboy for awhile. I use sanstar for everything.

gp125racer
 
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