All my beers have this overpowering off flavor after bottling

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Try brewing the next batch with bottled spring water. Once I got off the public water supply, no more phenolic issues from chloramine.
You can get a whole house filter, I have two in row - 50 micron sediment filter followed by a carbon filter. You need large ones 4 and 1/2 by 10 in or bigger but the carbon filter takes enough chlorine and chloramine out that you can use tap water. After I installed my filters I sent my water sample to Ward labs and got a report, and the result was excellent. Alternatively, you can get a countertop RO unit and remove everything from your tap water.
 
No doubt you can make a top quality filtration system if that’s your interest.

My suggestion would be to easily run a test batch using the bottled spring water to see if that doesn’t take care of the issue. My favorite is Crystal Geyser. Makes many styles without water processing or additions.

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No doubt you can make a top quality filtration system if that’s your interest.

My suggestion would be to easily run a test batch using the bottled spring water to see if that doesn’t take care of the issue. My favorite is Crystal Geyser. Makes many styles without water processing or additions.

View attachment 856056
Or find a store that has one of those RO machines. Bring and fill your own jugs for 39 cents a gallon.
 
Thanks for the reply, I've been to Lidl and bought a copious amounts of their bottled water.. I'll check the pH during the brew and maybe add some lactic acid if necessary, other than that I'm not going to touch it 😑

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We all run into this from time to time. Beer tastes good at bottlng, tastes phenolic after 2 weeks in the bottle. I’ve had this ongoing most of last year. Phenolic bottles after a couple weeks, but anything I keg is fine even after months. I haven’t figured it out, but it has to be something in the bottling line. If keg beers are fine then it can’t be siphon cane/tubing either, I’m using the same one.

I’ve cleaned everything with pbw, taken bottle bucket and bottle faucet apart, scrubbed, soaked everything in pbw, then star san, replaced hoses. Been through 3 bottling wands. Boiled sugar, stirred in with sanitized spoon. Sanitized bottle bucket with star san. I’ve soaked bottles in bleach, followed by pbw overnight, scrubbed with bottle brush. visually inspected clean, throw away ones that won’t. I’ve tried star san on some bottles, iodophor on others in an avinator right before filling. I sanitize caps in star san. Same results - kegs good, bottles suck. I’ve even tried priming with dme instead of corn sugar to see if that made a difference. I’m still trying to figure it out.
any luck my guy?

I have the same issue, although darker beers seem to mask the off-flavours better. I'm really considering bottling the next batch straight from the fermenter and adding dry dextrose (in measured quantities) to each bottle in case it's my bottling bucket/wand - it would be expensive to replace these and have the same issue. I'm also considering trying half a campden tablet in the mash and sparge water as we're using tap water
 
any luck my guy?

I have the same issue, although darker beers seem to mask the off-flavours better. I'm really considering bottling the next batch straight from the fermenter and adding dry dextrose (in measured quantities) to each bottle in case it's my bottling bucket/wand - it would be expensive to replace these and have the same issue. I'm also considering trying half a campden tablet in the mash and sparge water as we're using tap waterd
Where are you based?
I'm in Wellington region and always add some sodium met to the mash and sparge water.
I use the tap water as well.
I mix my weight of priming sugar into a pan of boiling water, then turn it off, cool it and put in a volume measure with a syringe to each bottle.
I've had phenolic with one brew and it was definitely related to contaminated yeast I span up a big pitch from previous brew in a flask. It smelled phenolic before use, I assumed it was just because quite warm during the culture.
It was not something that got better.
I now smell and taste my starters before use.
 
Where are you based?
I'm in Wellington region and always add some sodium met to the mash and sparge water.
I use the tap water as well.
I mix my weight of priming sugar into a pan of boiling water, then turn it off, cool it and put in a volume measure with a syringe to each bottle.
I've had phenolic with one brew and it was definitely related to contaminated yeast I span up a big pitch from previous brew in a flask. It smelled phenolic before use, I assumed it was just because quite warm during the culture.
It was not something that got better.
I now smell and taste my starters before use.
hi
I'm in Auckland. Are you using pure SM or campden? I was going to get campden and add half a tablet to mash and the other half to sparge.
Do you prime straight from primary? if so, how do you deal with all the krausen/trub/other gubbins? I'm thinking about getting a filter or dip tube which should help.
we don't use starters, always dry yeast due to cost and just rehydrate before pitch. I'm convinced it's something to do with the bottling procedure because the beer tastes good at all other points of the process
 
Well yo
u are lucky with the water in that you get a fantastic report from your water company.
Wellington water report is very limited.
I just use sodium metabisulphite, 0.3mg in the mash water and 0.2mg in the sparge.

I use fermentasaurus most of the time so can drop the yeast and trub out with that.
For my barley wines and brett beers done in an airlocked fermenter I just siphon off the top into the bottles.

Dry yeast won't be your problem then, unless you are really stressing it ie underpitch, swings of temp.

I've built up quite a yeast bank now so the starters and yeast just cost the malt extract really.

What does the beer taste like before you bottle it?
 
any luck my guy?

I have the same issue, although darker beers seem to mask the off-flavours better. I'm really considering bottling the next batch straight from the fermenter and adding dry dextrose (in measured quantities) to each bottle in case it's my bottling bucket/wand - it would be expensive to replace these and have the same issue. I'm also considering trying half a campden tablet in the mash and sparge water as we're using tap water
I’m leaning to ball valve on my kettle. I have not been taking it off and cleaning it every batch, but when I do I don’t seem to have problems. You’d think it couldn’t be that, since the kettle gets boiled but seems like its that
 
I’m leaning to ball valve on my kettle. I have not been taking it off and cleaning it every batch, but when I do I don’t seem to have problems. You’d think it couldn’t be that, since the kettle gets boiled but seems like its that
Try running some boiling wort out of it before the end of the boil and then tip it back in the top of the kettle. That should nearly sterilise it. Could run some starsan through it before you start your brew day as well.
 
ball valve on my kettle
This worry led me to replace the ball valve with a Blichmann "linear flow" valve. it makes it easy to clean the valve itself after every brew day.

This doesn't eliminate the NPT threads where crap can still hide, which is why some are buying kettles with all tri-clamp fittings.
 
Well yo
u are lucky with the water in that you get a fantastic report from your water company.
Wellington water report is very limited.
I just use sodium metabisulphite, 0.3mg in the mash water and 0.2mg in the sparge.

I use fermentasaurus most of the time so can drop the yeast and trub out with that.
For my barley wines and brett beers done in an airlocked fermenter I just siphon off the top into the bottles.

Dry yeast won't be your problem then, unless you are really stressing it ie underpitch, swings of temp.

I've built up quite a yeast bank now so the starters and yeast just cost the malt extract really.

What does the beer taste like before you bottle it?
the beer usually tastes great before going into the bottling bucket. After addition of sugar syrup it usually smells a little sweet, and then into the bottle it goes. It could also be our crown seals - can spend a bit more time making sure they're fully sealed
 
the beer usually tastes great before going into the bottling bucket. After addition of sugar syrup it usually smells a little sweet, and then into the bottle it goes. It could also be our crown seals - can spend a bit more time making sure they're fully sealed
Would expect uncarbonated beer if the seal was inadequate.
 
We all run into this from time to time. Beer tastes good at bottling, tastes phenolic after 2 weeks in the bottle. I’ve had this ongoing most of last year. [...]
Same results - kegs good, bottles suck.
Have you solved this mystery?

Since the beer in the keg is always kept cold, a small infection that crept in earlier may never develop and show.
To test, you could fill a (plastic or glass) bottle from the keg and let that be for 2-3 weeks at the same temps you're bottle conditioning.
 
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