Bad batch... is there hope?

[Pratzie]

Ok so I looked around on here and found that the plasticy "band-aid" smell and flavor is a sign of a bad batch. Unfortunately for me its not one but two batches that I bottled on the same day. (Still no idea what I did other then using a different no rinse sanitizer).

Yes thats ten gallons of sweet deliciousness that is currently undrinkable. Take a second for a moment of silence...

Anyway I found some stuff about that kind of bad batch but no one really said if you needed to straight up dump it or if it could work itself out with time/conditioning/finger crossing.

Whats the verdict, do I dump with a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes or is there the slightest chance this can work itself out?

 

[kwingert]

You can't get rid of the band-aid flavor. If its really undrinkable, dump it. If its tolerable, just drink it.

The typical cause of plasticy, band-aid flavor is chlorophenols. They are caused by having chlorine or chloromines in your water. They can also be caused by wild yeast. So be on the look out for gushers.

What are you using for water and how are you filtering it?

 

[Pratzie]

I've been using regular tap water. It tastes good so I use it. This was my 7th and 8th batches thusfar and I haven't had a problem like this before with any previous batches.

 

[eric19312]

I was discussing our water (suffolk co NY) with a local brewer a few days ago, to see what treatment they use. He told me that it is good out of the tap every year until Spring, then when the ground starts to heat up the water co starts using more chlorine and they have to filter.

Seems possible you ran into something like that...water co changed things up a bit. I don't trust my ability to taste chlorine in the tap water so I just filter it all. At least my water co doesn't use chloramines.

 

[grem135]

My tap water tastes great but doesn't make good beer since the water company uses chloramine.
Try using Campden tablets to treat your water. My beer has been awesome since I started using it.

 

[Pratzie]

Yeah ive read about them in Palmer's book but never had an issue with previous batches. Do you boil for an extended period of time before adding them? I was told a longer boil could help.

 

[freisste]

Longer boil will get rid of chlorine, but not chloramines. I've been using ascorbic acid to neutralize it because I have heard that overdoing it will be less problematic than overdoing campden tablets.

 

[Pratzie]

Longer boil will get rid of chlorine, but not chloramines. I've been using ascorbic acid to neutralize it because I have heard that overdoing it will be less problematic than overdoing campden tablets.

what ratio do u use per gallon or per 5 gallon batch?

 

[freisste]

Oh, man. I don't remember offhand. I found an article on it, so I will try to look it up for you. It is an excessively small amount, though. Like 1/8 oz or 1/4 tsp or something. I think I bought 4 oz at the LHBS and I remembered thinking I would never get close to going through it all. Give me a minute to see if I can find the article.

 

[grem135]

1 Campden table will treat 20 gallons. they break easily and I usually crush half a tab for 10 gallons. I believe it only takes 5 minutes so by the time you get to steeping temps or boil you are good to go.

 

[Toga]

If I use city water I add a half a campden tab per 10 gallons of water. Nothing problematic about using campden tabs.

 

[freisste]

Ok, I found the following which states 0.08g / 5 gal batch.

http://www.picobrewery.com/askarchive/chloramine.htm

I don't remember how I figured out what 0.08g was equivalent to, but I was also excited to find out that overdoing the ascorbic acid won't hurt anything (vs too much campden tablet which can stunt yeast activity).

 

[freisste]

It should be noted that I used campden tablets as well and I have never noticed a problem. I'm not saying they are bad, only that the article I provided claimed that they *can* inhibit yeast activity if overused.

I'm certainly not suggesting campden won't work ad if it treats you well, keep using it.

 

[Pratzie]

Excellent thanks alot. I was super bummed with these two going bad, especially since it hasn't happened before and in the meantime while those batches were fermenting, I acquired some great sanke kegs and a blichman floor burner so im really jonesing to make some more batches now but my confidence took a bit of a hit here.

 

[freisste]

Good luck in the future. I hope this works out for you.

 

[grem135]

I have just searched like crazy to see how much campden is too much and apparently you have to really over do it (like 20x to much) and then all you need to do is let it sit for a short time before you use water.... or just pour out part and top off.

 

[freisste]

Hahaha. I'm no expert, even I could avoid adding 5 tablets to 5 gallons!

Who tested that?

Thanks for the info.

 

[grem135]

Read down abit for treating for chloramine
Campden

I also found lots of threads from people that have used it for years for beer and wine.

 

[Pratzie]

Ive heard of using it with Cider to inhibit the yeasties from doing their job if you want a still cider or will be carbing on a keg. But then a short time ago i saw Palmer's brewing video on Northern Brewer and he talked about using it. And then I read his book and he mentioned it. I purchased some cuz it was cheap but haven't used it and really did see much of a need until these last batches went bad.

Again though thanks for all the input i really appreciate it!