seanoj
Well-Known Member
I have an interesting problem...
I had a powerful chlorophenolic flavor in my latest batch of California Lager. This was a split batch (10 gallons of wort split into two fermenters). One batch was on White Labs Cal Common yeast and the other on a Kolsch yeast.
The Kolsch yeast batch went band-aid but the Cal Common is fine (actually excellent).
We have had a similar problem twice before in the last three years. We suspected chloromine in the water (which we confirmed with the Los Angeles DWP). We have since been filtering the water (activated charcoal) and adding campden tablets to all the water we use.
Due to the fact that the wort that went bad also produced an excellent beer, I am suspecting a bug somewhere in our process. We are focused on the offending fermenter (glass carboy), blow-off tube, and other stuff that came into contact with the spoiled beer.
The Kolsch yeast was a washed crop from a true Kolsch brewed a few weeks ago (that came out fine). The yeast harvesting and washing are other things we need to examine.
Anyone have any advice or experience in finding this kind of problem? What kind of bug we might be looking for?
This sucks...
I had a powerful chlorophenolic flavor in my latest batch of California Lager. This was a split batch (10 gallons of wort split into two fermenters). One batch was on White Labs Cal Common yeast and the other on a Kolsch yeast.
The Kolsch yeast batch went band-aid but the Cal Common is fine (actually excellent).
We have had a similar problem twice before in the last three years. We suspected chloromine in the water (which we confirmed with the Los Angeles DWP). We have since been filtering the water (activated charcoal) and adding campden tablets to all the water we use.
Due to the fact that the wort that went bad also produced an excellent beer, I am suspecting a bug somewhere in our process. We are focused on the offending fermenter (glass carboy), blow-off tube, and other stuff that came into contact with the spoiled beer.
The Kolsch yeast was a washed crop from a true Kolsch brewed a few weeks ago (that came out fine). The yeast harvesting and washing are other things we need to examine.
Anyone have any advice or experience in finding this kind of problem? What kind of bug we might be looking for?
This sucks...
