Chlorinated water - plastic smell

[marcagio]

Hi all!

Need some advice please!

I have been brewin' for about 3 years now. Never had any problems using tap water. But I just moved into a new hood, the water smells like they use way more chlorine here.

Anyway, I really did not think thid would be a problem. So I just brewed this wonderful british style IPA from "best case" last night, with my tap water.

Now it's fermenting like crazy, i always hydrate my yeasts so it kicks in faster. I always like to go and smell the gas that comes out of the bong to know if everything is well.

This morning I almost **** my pants ´cause it has this VERY omnipresent smell of burnt plastic / vinyl... I searched google and most websites / forums do say that using chlorinated tap water does that.

Anyone here can tell me if I made a huge mistake? Will the chlorine evaporate and leave the brew? Will it taste that bad??? Anything I can do to help?


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[tektonjp]

I think you're stuck with it. If your water tastes good, you'll have good beer. If not, then....
You need to fix the chlorine with tablets, or fill your HLT up the night before and let the chlorine gas off. If it's chloromines, those are tougher to remove.
Bottom line, I think it's toast, but don't chuck it out. Wait till it finishes fermenting,then sample it. Then decide.

 

[flars]

Heavy dry hopping may alleviate the problem somewhat. After the fermentation has finished in three to four weeks taste a hydrometer sample. If you think it can be saved rack to a secondary and proceed.

 

[marcagio]

Thanks, i won't throw it out for sure no matter what people say, if it still smells and tastes bad after aging in the keg. I'll just keep it to myself and get drunk for no reason once in a while with it lol.


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[Braufessor]

chlorine can be a definite problem. Finish it out and see - but start preparing to do things differently for future brews. Check out the "brewing science" forum on this site - tons of water info. There is a "water primer" that is a "sticky" post at the beginning of the forum. Tons of good info there.
Also, just because your water tastes good - that does not mean it will make good beer for sure. Different waters can be good/bad/indifferent for different beers. My water "tastes" good, but is high in bicarbonate - fine for dark beers. Not fine for light beers.
Water can be really complex - but, it can also be relatively simple and straight-forward. Just takes a little looking and some patience.

 

[pablosbrewing]

Anyone here can tell me if I made a huge mistake? Will the chlorine evaporate and leave the brew? Will it taste that bad??? Anything I can do to help?

You *might* try adding campden tablet to the batch after fermentation is completed. While this removes chorine and chloramine from water before brewing, I did not find a definitive answer if it can remove chlorophenols which is what you now have in your beer.

 

[Braufessor]

*** Sorry - I should add - it looks like maybe you are brewing "extract" perhaps- which makes some of the brewing water info not quite as significant. Chlorine is still and issue though.
Camden Tablets or using Reverse Osmosis water is a simple solution.

 

[marcagio]

It´s a part grain part extract no centrate. With 3 step hops bitter flavor and finish


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[marcagio]

It´s a part grain part extract no centrate. With 3 step hops bitter flavor and finish


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I meant non concentrated malt



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[duboman]

While I too will suggest you wait to dump, my opinion is that the plastic/band-aid smell/taste will not go away and will ultimately get worse.

You need to take care of the chlorine issue either by pre-treating the water with Campden tablets or by switching to R/O water for your brewing needs. It is my recollection that treating with campden after does nothing, the water needs to be treated prior to brewing.

 

[marcagio]

Heavy dry hopping may alleviate the problem somewhat. After the fermentation has finished in three to four weeks taste a hydrometer sample. If you think it can be saved rack to a secondary and proceed.

3 to 4 week fermentation? LOL


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[ButcherBoy]

I had a problem with a slight 'band-aid' flavor in my beers, it got worse as the beer aged, then I started adding a little Potassium MetaBiSulfate to my water right at the start. End of 'band-aid' beer. And by a little I mean 0.025 grams per gallon, the affect is immediate. Add the K-Meta and the chlorine odor is gone, my beer has improved. If you're using tap water and you can smell chlorine you NEED to neutralize it. Campden tablets will work, but I have a good bit of K-Meta on hand so that's what I use.

 

[marcagio]

Update : just transfered to carboy yesterday, the smell is still there but fainted a lot. I think it won't be as bad as I thought. Didn't taste it tho, i forgot to take a sample while it was transfered and didn't want to mess around with it while it was already in the carboy.


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[rossi46]

I too had this plastic smeel/taste when I first started. Now I carbon filter my water at 1 gal/min for chlorine and add campden for the chloromines. No more off flavors/smeels.

 

[cclloyd]

My experience - it only took once - is that after aging for a while the vinyl band aid chloraseptic smell and flavor is permanent. I wound up dumping five gallons and chalking it up to experience. Plus one on the filtering - I use an activated charcoal filter like you would mount on an RV at a flow rate of about 2 gallons per minute and have had zero issues using the county water supply in this manner.

 

[GHBWNY]

You *might* try adding campden tablet to the batch after fermentation is completed. While this removes chorine and chloramine from water before brewing, I did not find a definitive answer if it can remove chlorophenols which is what you now have in your beer.

*this* Although you may want to pull a glassful from the batch to test with instead of treating the whole batch.

 

[Yooper]

You *might* try adding campden tablet to the batch after fermentation is completed. While this removes chorine and chloramine from water before brewing, I did not find a definitive answer if it can remove chlorophenols which is what you now have in your beer.

It cannot remove chlorophenols that are present in the beer.

It works by removing the chlorine in the water, before it is combined with malt. Once the malt combines with the water, it is too late, even during the mash and boil.

 

[GHBWNY]

It cannot remove chlorophenols that are present in the beer.

It works by removing the chlorine in the water, before it is combined with malt. Once the malt combines with the water, it is too late, even during the mash and boil.

*this*

 

[marcagio]

I'm kegging that beer today, my kegs have been soaking all night in pbw.


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[flars]

I'm kegging that beer today, my kegs have been soaking all night in pbw.


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Rinse your kegs and all parts very well. If the beer is still has the off taste you won't have to wonder if part of it is the PBW.

 

[marcagio]

Oh wow! I just finished cleaning after kegging. I filled it up and filled 2 1L pet bottles (with a half teaspoon of priming sugar in each btl)... Kept the remaining half glass for a taste test. Lots of hops, tasted pretty green but no plastic or bandaid taste whatsoever. I think it turned out great. Now i emptied the air in the keg and pressurized to 30psi, disconnected everything. I'll let it sit a good 48h and connect it again with 10/12 psi for a good 2 weeks... I'll know the final result then.


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[marcagio]

Update : I brewed an american light munton kit with added 500g dextrose + 500g pale malt dry extract. Treated my water with 1/4 campden tab crushed right before brewing. Just as a test. I kegged right from primary (1 week) forced carbed and let sit in the fridge for 3 days. Result = OMG it´s PERFECT