Can a 55 lbs bag of crushed MO go off before the expiry date and cause off-flavours?

[Elysium]

I have a 55 lbs bag of crushed MO and the last 4-5 batches have this weird antiseptic, band-aid like, leathery.....really hot alcoholic taste. (I suppose it is fusel alcohol or some weird wild-yeast off-flavour).

I bought the bag like 4-5 months ago......is it possible that it has just gone off?

That weird taste is always there in every batch....but it appears randomly. After fermentation, 1 or 2 weeks into bottle-carbing...
it is really weird. It cant be the temperature. That is totally controlled....it can be sanitization, or some ingredients.

Any thoughts?

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

While I am not an expert on the subject, it seems unlikely that that you would get fusel alcohols just from staled malt. Those are usually a sign of some kind of infection.

OTOH, how are you storing the malt? Crushed malt will go off a lot faster than whole malt, but if you have it stored sealed, in a cool, dry location, it shouldn't go stale in only 5 months.

On the gripping hand, if you are buying malt in that sort of bulk, I would think that it would make sense to get a mill to crush it yourself as needed.

 

[Elysium]

While I am not an expert on the subject, it seems unlikely that that you would get fusel alcohols just from staled malt. Those are usually a sign of some kind of infection.

OTOH, how are you storing the malt? Crushed malt will go off a lot faster than whole malt, but if you have it stored sealed, in a cool, dry location, it shouldn't go stale in only 5 months.

On the gripping hand, if you are buying malt in that sort of bulk, I would think that it would make sense to get a mill to crush it yourself as needed.

It is in the living room, in a big, plastic trash can that has a lid on top of it. The living room gets a bit warm in the summer (27C. 80.6F), but now it is at 62.6F.
I buy 55lbs because I use about 15-20 lbs a month, but I am behind with my schedule......due to summer trips.

 

[Trox]

What Temperature are you fermenting at, and how controlled is it? From the reading I've done on the forums it sounds like you might be fermenting too high, but take what I say with a grain of salt since I''ve only brewed 2 batches so far (second entering primary just 2 days ago) so don't know all the ins and outs yet

 

[Whattawort]

I'm guessing chlorophenols. What kind of sanitizer are you using?

 

[Elysium]

What Temperature are you fermenting at, and how controlled is it? From the reading I've done on the forums it sounds like you might be fermenting too high, but take what I say with a grain of salt since I''ve only brewed 2 batches so far (second entering primary just 2 days ago) so don't know all the ins and outs yet

Impossible.
Controlled water bath....ice changed 3 times a day, thermometer next to the batch for me to check it whenever I go there.
Temp is 59-60F.

 

[broadbill]

Impossible.
Controlled water bath....ice changed 3 times a day, thermometer next to the batch for me to check it whenever I go there.
Temp is 59-60F.

Temp of the water bath or temp of the beer? Have you measured both concurrently to see if there is a difference?

I agree with the others that those types of off-flavors are typically caused by high fermentation temps.

 

[Warmart]

Has your water changed?

 

[Elysium]

Temp of the water bath or temp of the beer? Have you measured both concurrently to see if there is a difference?

I agree with the others that those types of off-flavors are typically caused by high fermentation temps.

There is almost no difference between the water around the bucket and the fermenting beer in the fermentor. When the fermentation is active there is difference.....but it cant ruin the beer since our controlled temperature is the lowest side of the ideal temperature that comes on the yeast sachet. The temp difference is greater between the ambient temp and the fermenting wort.

 

[Elysium]

Has your water changed?

The water...is bottled water.
I did change the brand 3 times.

There might be some preservatives in bottled water though that screw things up for us...no clue.

I am thinking of switching to tap water.....but it is almost impossible to treat here....due to lack of information on the minerals in it. Spain is like a 3rd world country when it comes to getting information on basic things.

 

[Stauffbier]

I personally would not want to use milled grain that has sat around much longer than about 3 weeks. I would think it would indeed be quite stale much longer than that. I think once the husk has been cracked it goes stale very quickly unless you vacuum pack it or something. I would highly recommend getting a mill so you can store whole, un-milled grain instead. That's just my opinion...

 

[Yooper]

Staled malt will taste, well, stale. Grab a few pieces and chew them- if they taste ok, and not "wet" or stale, they're fine and the cause is somewhere else.

If it's not the water, or chlorine in the cleaners and sanitizers, the next logical thing is an infection.

I've had too "band-aid" beers and they were both due to contaminated yeast starters. They get worse with time. I have one now that I was worried about the starter as it smelled a little sour, but pitched anyway. The other yeast starter (different kind of yeast) was pitched the same day in the other 1/2 of the batch. The one I was worried about now has a slight "plastic" taste, but it's slight. The other one is perfect and was kegged the other day. If the "plastic" gets worse, and I suspect it will, it'll be a dumper.

Anyway, those are the only two things that can cause these chlorophenol/phenolic flavors- chlorine products or infection.