Band-Aid Ale

[loujitsu82]

So I made a very simple "lawnmower" ale using US-05. I have brewed this in the past using the exact same procedure with no problems(although I used Nottingham). Fermented in primary for 2 weeks. Yeast foam would not drop so I dropped the temp from 68 down to about 60. which made it drop. I then proceeded to bottle. I cracked one last night and it has a hint of that burnt electrical/band-aid like flavor I have read about. I am using an inline charcoal filter so I would think chlorine shouldn't be a problem. I am using my same exact starsan based sanitizing procedure that has worked for me for the last 5 years.

 

[ArcaneXor]

How warm was the wort when you pitched the yeast? How did you aerate the wort? Did you use a yeast nutrient? And finally, did you make sure that the flow rate through the carbon filter was slow enough to really strip the chloramines?

 

[loujitsu82]

I always pitch yeast @ about 80f. I usually aerate as I fill carboy by using a funnel with a screen with a lot of splashing going on then usually rock the carboy.

This time I did not use the screen and blamed my final gravity being high on lack of aeration. Could lack of aeration also cause this sort of off flavor? No Nutrients were used. I have always ran my water filter full blast. I made this recipe with nottingham and it turned out perfect. I fermented in 3 different vessels, Im going to try a beer that came out of a different carboy and see if it has the same off flavor.

I once made a brown ale with us-05 and remember similar taste but at the time I didn't have a temp control over my FV. I have a batch of brown fermenting with US-05 which I aerated with a aquarium pump. Hopefully it comes out better.

 

[Got Trub?]

80f is really warm to be pitching. Also 80f wort cannot hold as much oxygen so even if you chill from 80 to 60's quickly you may be stressing out the yeast from lack of O2 for good reproduction.

GT

 

[ArcaneXor]

Basically, change everything you have been doing. Running the water too fast will only filter out some of the chloramines, which can give you the band-aid flavor. Pitching too hot (like at 80 degrees) can give you hot alcohols and solvent-like flavors. For most ales, 65-67 is a good pitching temperature. Lack of aeration can also produce off-flavors and result in stuck fermentation, so I'd definitely suggest shaking the carboy up vigorously for at least 10 minutes. Once you do those things, you'll find a major improvement in the quality of your beer.

Happy brewing!

 

[electric_beer]

Sounds like you got a case of high phenols.
http://www.winning-homebrew.com/phenolic-flavors.html

All you need to know is right here!

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

If using dry yeast the aeration shouldn't matter much.

 

[loujitsu82]

If using dry yeast the aeration shouldn't matter much.

Interesting.

I couldn't imagine it being chlorine related as this beer boils for 90 Min and Im using an inline carbon filter.

I would think its related to my mash/sparge schedule yet I have made this same beer before without any problems (using Nottingham). Next time I will definitely monitor PH levels while sparging. Also, I had a similar problem with US-05 in the past. It was a partial mash.

The weird thing is I made a 15 gal batch and each carboy came out with a different level of this off taste. Thanks for all the input guys.

I almost think this off flavor is related to whatever is causing the yeast "foam" to stay on top. Has anyone else had any problems with US-05 not dropping even after 2 weeks in primary?

 

[Austinhomebrew]

You used too much star san or didnt rinse.

 

[Edcculus]

Are you absolutely sure your city doesn't use chloramine? Unless you run the water through really slow, a carbon filters won't strip out all the chloramine. If they use chlorine, that will boil out. Unless you boil your mash water, chlorine and chloramine can create phenols in the mash too.

Basically trying to say that I wouldn't rule out chlorine just because you use a carbon filter.

I doubt krausen not dropping has any effect on phenols. Like everyone else said, pitching at 80F certainty doesn't help the situation.

 

[BrewDog760]

Interesting.


I almost think this off flavor is related to whatever is causing the yeast "foam" to stay on top. Has anyone else had any problems with US-05 not dropping even after 2 weeks in primary?

I brewed a simple pale ale on 7/23 and had some a similar result. I pitched S-05 at about 70F. The 6.5G carboy was cleaned with StarSan and inverted for 40 min prior to running in the wort. Shook the carboy for 10 min prior to pitching. Vigorous fermentation achieved within 24hrs. Usual slowdown and then a secondary fermentation 5 days later that created a real dense krausen that came up through the airlock and stuck to the walls of the carboy. I siphoned the brew to a secondary (corny) today and tasted, hint of band-aid. Damn. Into the fridge for a couple of days then check again. This is the second time this has happened with S-05 but I have had good brews with that strain before. Becoming less of a believer....

 

[starrfish]

Water chem? I pitch warm on a regular basis in summer (I'm in SC and my wort chiller can get me to 80° maybe (need a second wort chiller and a bag of ice to pre chill). I use S-05 reguarly and have no bandaid flavors and ferment warm... bucket over or near ac vent 68° at best on top of ac vent

 

[electric_beer]

Water chem? I pitch warm on a regular basis in summer (I'm in SC and my wort chiller can get me to 80° maybe (need a second wort chiller and a bag of ice to pre chill). I use S-05 reguarly and have no bandaid flavors and ferment warm... bucket over or near ac vent 68° at best on top of ac vent

I never thought so before, but since I've tweaked my water...all issues have been minimal. Water is SUPER important. I'd fix that first.
CHECK THIS OUT:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/ez-water-adjustment-spreadsheet-135095/

 

[rocketman768]

I couldn't imagine it being chlorine related as this beer boils for 90 Min and Im using an inline carbon filter.

Not chlorine...chloramine. It is a much nastier compound than chlorine, and will not dissipate through boiling. Most people add 1 campden tablet per 20 gal of water to remove chlorine and chloramine.

 

[mithion]

My last batch was an Irish Red fermented with Nottingham. It has the band-aid flavor which I attributed to the super hot fermentation (around 80F). Temperature was the only variable with this batch as none of my other beers have this flavor but they were all fermented much cooler. I vote for the hot pitch as the cause of the problem.

 

[llevt]

First time using S-05 last week I hade the same problem. After 2 weeks in the fermenter still had a a thick krausen sitting on top of the wort. Decided to bottle anyway. The beer tasted ok but the fermenter had a strong band-aid smell. I'm a new brewer, only my forth batch, hoping it turns out ok. It was a Mid-West Sierra Navada Pale Ale clone. I may go back to Munton yeast in the future.

 

[profarm]

You used too much star san or didnt rinse.

how do you figure to much star san? or no rinse? I thought star san was food grade and tastless, and a no rinse sanitizer...

 

[sigurdur]

how do you figure to much star san? or no rinse? I thought star san was food grade and tastless, and a no rinse sanitizer...

Only in the no-rinse proportions.

I regularly use US-05 and it is always a success, no band-aid flavors or smell whatsoever. The krausen never drops for me unless I crash cool + use finings (gelatine).

As for water, it's both super important and not super important .. it's super important that you get your pH approximately right during mashing, if you want to minimize tannin and other problems, and that your mineral count is not excessively over the top.

Checking your local water report is a good idea.

 

[rocketman768]

Only in the no-rinse proportions.

Star san does not contain chlorine, and therefore cannot produce chlorophenols which cause band-aid flavor. Who is mixing in no-rinse proportions?

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I am using my same exact starsan based sanitizing procedure that has worked for me for the last 5 years.

I'm guessing it's not Starsan.

 

[sigurdur]

Star san does not contain chlorine, and therefore cannot produce chlorophenols which cause band-aid flavor. Who is mixing in no-rinse proportions?

My bad.. I was trying to reply an on-topic question with an off-topic answer. Thank you for noticing and sorry about that.

Star-san mixed in proportions of higher than 300ppm dodecylbenzenesulfonic
acid requires a rinse according to the technical specifications from Five Star Chemicals.
It does not contain chlorine as noted from rocketman768.
I would personally not mix higher than 300ppm solution and skip the rinsing. That is however most likely not the problem of the OP.

As I said earlier, checking the local water report is a good step forward in diagnosing this problem.

 

[loujitsu82]

This is weird but after a week from my post(maybe as little as 3 days) the flavor completely dropped off and is now undetectable. I should have just stuck to RDWHAHB.

 

[starrfish]

Lot's of "funk" happens early! Lesson learned!

 

[BrewDog760]

I brewed a simple pale ale on 7/23 and had some a similar result. I pitched S-05 at about 70F. The 6.5G carboy was cleaned with StarSan and inverted for 40 min prior to running in the wort. Shook the carboy for 10 min prior to pitching. Vigorous fermentation achieved within 24hrs. Usual slowdown and then a secondary fermentation 5 days later that created a real dense krausen that came up through the airlock and stuck to the walls of the carboy. I siphoned the brew to a secondary (corny) today and tasted, hint of band-aid. Damn. Into the fridge for a couple of days then check again. This is the second time this has happened with S-05 but I have had good brews with that strain before. Becoming less of a believer....

Go figure, I have chilled the carboy and have been serving out of my fridge to the world and no one including me has noticed a flavor issue. Looks like I need to chill-out. Moving S-05 back up near the top of my dry yeast list.

 

[loujitsu82]

Yeah, I hear you.

I think its mainly since the beer is so light I can purely taste the yeast. I was thinking the same about US-05 but I just made an American brown with it that came out stellar. I did however drop the fermentation temp a little and aerated the chilled wort more thoroughly just for good measure.