Constant Battle - Ethyl Acetate - Looking for suggestions.

[Christophrawr]

Hello troubleshooters!

Since I began homebrewing a year ago I've constantly been at war with Ethyl Acetate. At least I believe it's Ethyl Acetate. Once I built my fermentation chamber it significantly helped reduce the solvent off flavor in my finished product. However it still creeps up on me in a small noticeable amount here and there so I'm thinking it's somewhere in my brewing practice that I'm failing. Something I'm missing. Here is my process; I hope you can help me pin point possible causes in my practice so I can attempt different things until I start producing constantly clean ales.

1 gallon BIAB small batch brewing.
Constant 72% efficiency.

-Set up my table with all equipment and plastic storage bin filled with fresh Star San solution.

-I toss my funnel, blow off tube, carboy cap, yeast pack, scissors into the Star San bin. I lay my 1 gallon glass carboy on it’s side in the bin and let it fill up till it stays on it’s side. I will constantly roll the carboy to coat all surfaces with Star San during the brew day.

-Measure out my water salts and add to kettle while heating it to my desired temp.

-I mill my grain and dough in once at my desired temp in a 4 gallon SS kettle.

-During the mash I measure out my hops and twiddle my thumbs.

-After 60 minutes I’ll mash out then pull the grain bag squeezing as much out as I can.

-Once my Avantco IC3500 Induction Burner gets my wort boiling I throw in my bittering hops and start the timer.

-At 10 minutes left in the boil, or whenever I remember sometimes running to the burner with a minute left, I put my Bayou Classic 12" Thermometer and SS spoon in the wort to sterilize them.

-Cut the power at end of boil. I drilled a tiny hole in the kettle lid that my thermometer perfectly fits through. It attaches to the handle of my kettle lid so I can adjust how deep it goes into the pot. I put the lid on the kettle and slide the thermometer through the hole. Leaving the spoon in the pot sticking out between the lid and kettle.

-Transfer the pot to kitchen sink where I give it an ice bath to cool the wort. Every 2 minutes or so I’ll lift the lid and give it a real good vigorous stir (minimal splashing, just a strong whirlpool) With a 1 gallon batch and my ground water being really cold it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to 66F.

-Once I’m at pitching temp I’ll take my sanitized 1 gallon glass carboy and funnel and pour the wort into it then sanitize a piece of tinfoil and cover the top.

-I measure out half a pack of dry yeast (or use the last half of an open pack) which should be a big healthy over pitch for 1 gallon. I pitch the yeast, put the foil back on and shake it as hard as I can for 1-2 minutes. Maybe I should first shake it crazy hard for 2 minutes, let it sit until the foam disappears, and pour the dry yeast on top of the wort without shaking it after?

-I’ll fill a cup with Star San solution and take my 3/8 tube and cap out of the solution and assemble my blow off tube set up. I’ll spray Star San on the cap area again and then put a layer of saran wrap around the cap to ensure an airtight seal.

-I’ll put this into my fermentation chamber and hold it at 66F for the entire 3 weeks I let the carboy sit. After the first week I’ll switch the tube for an airlock. I may dry hop after 2.5 weeks, a few days before bottling. When switching to airlock or dry hopping I’ll spray the carboy and drown it in Star San before and after.

-After 3 weeks I’ll prepare a fresh bin of Star San and toss in the mini auto siphon, the 3/8 racking tube, the wine thief, some caps and even submerse all the bottles I’ll be using. I have a 2 gallon food grade bucket with lid and spigot at the bottom. I will roll the bucket around in the Star San coating everything and run half a bucket of Star San through the spigot as well. I boil the water and dextrose for my desired volume of carbonation and put it into the bottling bucket. I’ll take a hydrometer reading using a wine thief and always taste it – sometimes I can already taste a smidge of the solvent off flavor at this point. I siphon the beer to the bucket and try my best to avoid having it stall, sometimes it will stall and I have to repump it and causing some bubbles in the bucket. After gently mixing the beer and dextrose I put the spigot directly in the bottle and angle it so the beer runs down the side of the bottle. Then cap it.

-After bottling I’ll use oxyclean in the carboy (and always use it in a bottle after drinking a homebrew) then after the oxyclean I’ll do a weak bleach solution to nuke the carboy (and bottles) before putting into storage. I rinse it really well no worries there. All my stuff is cleaned well before going into storage for their next use.

So what can I do differently? Thanks for your time and help. I just want to make 100% clean beer so I can move on from this war. I’ve mostly made saisons and pale ales, simple recipes to focus on my practice and making as clean a base beer as possible. One of the few beers I’ve done that I couldn’t perceive the off flavor was a coffee oatmeal stout but probably cause of the dark grains masking the minimal presence of the off flavor.

 

[waldoar15]

Try a different yeast.

 

[TheMadKing]

Try pitching 1/4 of a pack of yeast. Half a pack for 1 gallon is a pretty big pitch. I know over pitching is difficult but you just might be doing it.

3 weeks in primary for a 1 gallon batch might also be a but on the long side. Though I doubt that's your issue.

I also wouldn't use bleach ever unless you have a mold issue. There's just no reason to, and you could be tasting chlorine ployphenols instead of fusel alcohols. Bleach is a serious overkill and causes a huge risk for off flavors.

I think it's either a yeast handling issue or that bleach

 

[Christophrawr]

Try pitching 1/4 of a pack of yeast. Half a pack for 1 gallon is a pretty big pitch. I know over pitching is difficult but you just might be doing it.

3 weeks in primary for a 1 gallon batch might also be a but on the long side. Though I doubt that's your issue.

I also wouldn't use bleach ever unless you have a mold issue. There's just no reason to, and you could be tasting chlorine ployphenols instead of fusel alcohols. Bleach is a serious overkill and causes a huge risk for off flavors.

I think it's either a yeast handling issue or that bleach

Awesome I'll try 1/4 pack of yeast this weekend.

Im not bleaching the plastic ever just glass after I use the carboy/bottles. I can't see how it would cling to glass and carry over BUT I will absolutely try this for awhile. Ill give my bottles an oxyclean soak the day before bottling to try and remove possible bleach carry over and stop nuking my carboys with it after using oxyclean.

 

[TheMadKing]

Awesome I'll try 1/4 pack of yeast this weekend.

Im not bleaching the plastic ever just glass after I use the carboy/bottles. I can't see how it would cling to glass and carry over BUT I will absolutely try this for awhile. Ill give my bottles an oxyclean soak the day before bottling to try and remove possible bleach carry over and stop nuking my carboys with it after using oxyclean.

Good luck! And happy thanksgiving

 

[RM-MN]

Once I’m at pitching temp I’ll take my sanitized 1 gallon glass carboy and funnel and pour the wort into it then sanitize a piece of tinfoil and cover the top.

What do you consider pitching temperature? I typically shoot for about 60F but sometimes hit 55 or 65. This could be the start of the problem if you pitch too high.

-I’ll put this into my fermentation chamber and hold it at 66F for the entire 3 weeks I let the carboy sit.

The temperature you ferment at has a bit bearing on what your beer tastes like. Ethyl acetate (banana flavor) would normally be produced at too high of fermentation temperature but that perfect temperature depends on the yeast you use. I can ferment beer with Nottingham down in the upper 50's and it comes out so clean you might think the beer was a lager. Try that with Belle Saison and it will quit on you.

You really don't need to keep the beer in the fermentation chamber for 3 weeks and you may be causing some of your off flavors in your beer by doing so. You need to control it for the first few days, say 3 to 5, when the yeast are gorging themselves on the easy sugars. After it finishes the easy sugars and the fermentation slows down, let your beer come up to room temp (low 70's) so the yeast will eat the harder to digest sugars and the intermediate compounds they produced in the early phase.

Your brewing hardware needs to be clean first, then sanitized. It doesn't need to soak in Starsan. Starsan is a wet contact sanitizer so just a quick rinse with it just before using the hardware is all it needs.

 

[Christophrawr]

What do you consider pitching temperature? I typically shoot for about 60F but sometimes hit 55 or 65. This could be the start of the problem if you pitch too high.



The temperature you ferment at has a bit bearing on what your beer tastes like. Ethyl acetate (banana flavor) would normally be produced at too high of fermentation temperature but that perfect temperature depends on the yeast you use. I can ferment beer with Nottingham down in the upper 50's and it comes out so clean you might think the beer was a lager. Try that with Belle Saison and it will quit on you.

You really don't need to keep the beer in the fermentation chamber for 3 weeks and you may be causing some of your off flavors in your beer by doing so. You need to control it for the first few days, say 3 to 5, when the yeast are gorging themselves on the easy sugars. After it finishes the easy sugars and the fermentation slows down, let your beer come up to room temp (low 70's) so the yeast will eat the harder to digest sugars and the intermediate compounds they produced in the early phase.

Your brewing hardware needs to be clean first, then sanitized. It doesn't need to soak in Starsan. Starsan is a wet contact sanitizer so just a quick rinse with it just before using the hardware is all it needs.

Thanks for chiming in!!

So my pitch temp is 63-66F.

As for my yeasts and ferm temp I have only been using US05 for the most part trying lots of smash pale ales with dry hopping. I thought US05 would be a good clean yeast to learn with. In the beginning without the fermentation chamber it was bad ethyl acetate solvent all over but now its minimal traces. From what Ive read and heard holding at 66 would be fine. My apartment is also around 62-66F so taking out of the chamber after initial fermentation won't help during winter. Maybe I should try ramping the heat up after a week in the chamber to 72?

For cleaning my equipment; do you think I should try soaking in oxyclean instead of Star San on brew day and before needing it rinse then Star San? All my equipment is well cleaned after using it on brew day.

 

[thehaze]

Are you positive you smell/taste solvent? Have you shared beer with others, preferably people that have drunk or brewed more than you? Do they catch the same solvent-like aroma/taste as you do?

Solvent is a direct result of high fermentation temperature and oxidation. It could also be caused by non-food grade plastic and vinyl, that could be leeching in the beer.

 

[bkboiler]

sounds like high ferment temps to me as well. ethyl acetate can taste “estery” at low to medium concentrations or “solventy” at high concentrations.
make sure to stir the wort so you know you’re taking an accurate temperature before you pitch. and i’d advise to rehydrate in boiled and cooled water (65F).
Funny enough s-05 has a pretty broad working range, but it gets perturbed if fermented too cool in my experience.

 

[divrack]

Personally it doesn't sound like a problem with pitch rates or fermentation temperature as you're doing everything right on that front for no acetate.
Id guess maybe either bleach/water contamination or unfortunately some terminator style evil infection.
A lot of people don't believe in the latter, but once you get one you know it.
Try putting some water through all your equipment at similar temps to beer, but obviously not fit the full times and give it a taste, that will eliminate water or contamination issues.
Make a note of web and where the of flavour emerges.
If it develops throughout the ferm it's likely infection. If it's there straight away, during active fermentation, less likely.

 

[TheMadKing]

Another thought, ethyl acetate is produced by acetic acid and ethanol. Acetic acid can be produced either by an infection of acetobacter (very common on houseflies) or through oxidation of ethanol. So oxidation of your finished beer could definitely cause that flavor.

I'm going to double down on that 3 weeks in primary as your issue. Check your gravity at 8 days and then again at 10 days. If it hasn't dropped any more, then bottle it. If it has dropped, wait another 2 days and check again. Bottle as soon as it's stable over 2 days.

 

[Christophrawr]

Oxidation was on my list of possibilities and infection somewhere. Ill try running some filtered water through my equipmemt this weekend and tasting it along the way.

Funny thing is at this point I know my brain is searching for this flavor so I could just be going insane. I was thinking about joining the homebrew club here which means I could share and discuss that flavor in person with experienced people.

One batch Ill go ahead and check the gravity at 8 then 10 days. But then if I wanna age in secondary for fruited beers or whatevs Ill be back to the longer amount of time in primary?

 

[Smellyglove]

Underpitching/less yeast in general will actually lead to more ethyl acetate. Pitching more yeast will create less AAT, thus less ethyl acetate.

 

[Christophrawr]

Underpitching/less yeast in general will actually lead to more ethyl acetate. Pitching more yeast will create less AAT, thus less ethyl acetate.

I think I'll try 1/3 a pack of US05 BUT instead of adding the yeast then shaking the hell out of it I'll shake it then add the yeast on top and let it be. I'll also try running a cycle of water through my entire system tasting it along the way. I'll also take my next batch and have a taste during the end of the active fermentation then another taste after a 2 weeks. I'll be sure to purge the carboy headspace each time. And lastly I will join that homebrew club and get people to help me identify it in case I am losing my mind.

 

[Smellyglove]

I think I'll try 1/3 a pack of US05 BUT instead of adding the yeast then shaking the hell out of it I'll shake it then add the yeast on top and let it be. I'll also try running a cycle of water through my entire system tasting it along the way. I'll also take my next batch and have a taste during the end of the active fermentation then another taste after a 2 weeks. I'll be sure to purge the carboy headspace each time. And lastly I will join that homebrew club and get people to help me identify it in case I am losing my mind.

I don't believe that it's your pitching regime. You could pitch a quarter of a pack, or half a pack, shouldn't matter. And it wouldn't matter if you shake first, and pitch later, or the other way around.

Are you sure it's ethyl acetate? If you taste through fermentation you should be able to taste slight fruityness - fruityness- hubba bubba - hubba bubba+ - solvent. That's how it goes, but with enough yeast that solvent should diminish as yeast converts it to something else again. An still, you do need to do something extreme for this to happen.

Does it taste like nail polish? I believe there's a mystery-compound also in play here.

 

[Christophrawr]

Are you sure it's ethyl acetate? If you taste through fermentation you should be able to taste slight fruityness - fruityness- hubba bubba - hubba bubba+ - solvent. That's how it goes, but with enough yeast that solvent should diminish as yeast converts it to something else again. An still, you do need to do something extreme for this to happen.

Does it taste like nail polish? I believe there's a mystery-compound also in play here.

I have done extreme reading into and listening about off flavors trying to crack this code since the beginning. But without any real training or sensory experiences with off flavors other than this one I couldn't be 100% that it's ethyl acetate. It's just the one that best describes the flavor I'm picking up which is a toned down version of the nail polish remover that I was getting before the fermentation chamber. At that point I was 100% sure of the cause and off flavor but now that I'm holding it at a steady 66F and it's a really small presence of it I'm back to square one.

So if potentially ruling out my yeast pitching process it points towards possible oxidation reintroducing some ethyl acetate after fermentation has scrubbed out the initial presence of it. So maybe tasting it after 10 days to see if it's there post fermentation but before bottling is a good idea, to see if I'm getting the flavor before the bottling process. At least to continue to narrow down the possibilities. There's also the idea brought up here that the yeast just isn't cleaning it all up during fermentation, maybe I should try raising ferm temp after 5 days or so.

 

[Smellyglove]

I have done extreme reading into and listening about off flavors trying to crack this code since the beginning. But without any real training or sensory experiences with off flavors other than this one I couldn't be 100% that it's ethyl acetate. It's just the one that best describes the flavor I'm picking up which is a toned down version of the nail polish remover that I was getting before the fermentation chamber. At that point I was 100% sure of the cause and off flavor but now that I'm holding it at a steady 66F and it's a really small presence of it I'm back to square one.

So if potentially ruling out my yeast pitching process it points towards possible oxidation reintroducing some ethyl acetate after fermentation has scrubbed out the initial presence of it. So maybe tasting it after 10 days to see if it's there post fermentation but before bottling is a good idea, to see if I'm getting the flavor before the bottling process. At least to continue to narrow down the possibilities. There's also the idea brought up here that the yeast just isn't cleaning it all up during fermentation, maybe I should try raising ferm temp after 5 days or so.

I have never ever gotten ethyll acetate from oxidation. And I've botched batches on purpose to see how oxidation works. From blasting them with pure co2 after they're done in the fermentor, to just pouring out half a liter daily through the spigot, or bottling with excess co2 on purpose.

From the little knowledge i get from what's actually going on in your brewhouse, my guess is still that you have a "secret agent" operating, if the solvent-thing is totally noteworthy in the beer. You should be able to pitch yeast, ferment under controlled conditions, and not having any noteworthy acetyl acetate. If you do a lot of glucose and bottle condition with wort, that could be another thing.

 

[d3track]

Maybe I missed it, but what is your water source? You list salts, but if it's tap water and you aren't using campden to break chlorine/chloromine, I wonder if that is what you are tasting as the off flavor.

 

[Christophrawr]

Maybe I missed it, but what is your water source? You list salts, but if it's tap water and you aren't using campden to break chlorine/chloromine, I wonder if that is what you are tasting as the off flavor.

Thanks for bringing that up! I use a big carbon filter, the kind you can find at homebrew shops. I do have my city water report and use bru'n water so I have an ok grasp on water chemistry.

I feel like my process is fine after this thread. Maybe I can try to switch up my cleaning and sanitation practices though. I thought I had a good practice but maybe leaving my brew day items sitting in starsan isnt good practice. Maybe I should try doing an oxyclean soak morning of brew day, rinse before needing and spraying with starsan before use.

If it's a secret agent I'll be at a loss, not sure what to do. I know it's tough to attempt to guess when you cant see the process yourself [emoji28]

 

[Smellyglove]

Thanks for bringing that up! I use a big carbon filter, the kind you can find at homebrew shops. I do have my city water report and use bru'n water so I have an ok grasp on water chemistry.

I feel like my process is fine after this thread. Maybe I can try to switch up my cleaning and sanitation practices though. I thought I had a good practice but maybe leaving my brew day items sitting in starsan isnt good practice. Maybe I should try doing an oxyclean soak morning of brew day, rinse before needing and spraying with starsan before use.

If it's a secret agent I'll be at a loss, not sure what to do. I know it's tough to attempt to guess when you cant see the process yourself [emoji28]

You don't need to let it sit in starsan between brewdays. Just clean the stuff so it's clean, store it, then use starsan on it just prior it gets used during brewday. I've had a pub-owner telling me that "it was probably lipstick on the glass", after I vomited once on the porch outside the pub after a sip of a beer which tasted straight up like solvent, but it wasn't that. It must have been something in his lines, or a bad keg for some reason.

 

[d3track]

Thanks for bringing that up! I use a big carbon filter, the kind you can find at homebrew shops. I do have my city water report and use bru'n water so I have an ok grasp on water chemistry.

I feel like my process is fine after this thread. Maybe I can try to switch up my cleaning and sanitation practices though. I thought I had a good practice but maybe leaving my brew day items sitting in starsan isnt good practice. Maybe I should try doing an oxyclean soak morning of brew day, rinse before needing and spraying with starsan before use.

If it's a secret agent I'll be at a loss, not sure what to do. I know it's tough to attempt to guess when you cant see the process yourself [emoji28]

For $1.50 for the camden, it may be worth a try - chloramine is still difficult to remove with carbon filters, even at an extremely low flow rate.

 

[Christophrawr]

You don't need to let it sit in starsan between brewdays. Just clean the stuff so it's clean, store it, then use starsan on it just prior it gets used during brewday.

Let me clarify so you can better critique - During the brew day I clean as I go when I don't need it anymore to speed things up. After everything's cleaned and dried I do put it into storage for the next brewday. In the morning when brewing the first thing I do is make a fresh batch of star san and put all my equipment in there that I'll be using like the carboy, blow off tube, cap and so on. Do you think this matters / could be introducing the secret agent? Definitely no residue or build up on my equipment from previous uses but since I clean it all / oxyclean soak after brew day I don't clean it again before using the next time and just toss it in to star san. Can secret agent bacteria be creating the small notes of solvent?

I'm joining the club today after all this, I think having other more experienced homebrewers taste the final product is the next step. Aside from running water through my system and tasting the beer right after fermentation to see if I can already taste the enemy.

 

[Sadu]

How certain are you about your ferm chamber temps? I've had faulty probes before and had my beer ferment 10f higher than I thought it was. Verify the temp with a second trusted thermometer to rule this out.
Otherwise your process sounds good. I think you need to enter some beers into a competition or join a homebrew club where you can get informed opinions from people with good palates. Alternately, take some bottles down to your local commercial brewery and ask nicely if they will give you an opinion.

 

[Christophrawr]

For $1.50 for the camden, it may be worth a try - chloramine is still difficult to remove with carbon filters, even at an extremely low flow rate.

I am super down to try this. I have the choice between potassium and sodium campden tablets. I have no idea what they are. I grind it up and add it to the boil kettle same time as my water salts??

 

[d3track]

I am super down to try this. I have the choice between potassium and sodium campden tablets. I have no idea what they are. I grind it up and add it to the boil kettle same time as my water salts??

Yes, that should work just fine. FWIW, I use the potassium tablets.

 

[Christophrawr]

That's great - I'll grab an oz of the potassium. If this keeps wild yeast at bay and other baddies along with the chloramine can it affect sours when I go that route?

 

[d3track]

At the dosage for treating water it should not impact sour brewing

 

[ncbrewer]

I don't think grain dust in the pitching area has been mentioned. Are you milling or doughing in close to where you will be transferring cooled wort or pitching yeast?

And you seem to hint that this flavor might be your imagination. Could be. You expect to taste it, so you taste it. Confirmation bias is very real.

 

[Christophrawr]

I don't think grain dust in the pitching area has been mentioned. Are you milling or doughing in close to where you will be transferring cooled wort or pitching yeast?

And you seem to hint that this flavor might be your imagination. Could be. You expect to taste it, so you taste it. Confirmation bias is very real.

Hi!!
Yes I mill my grain in the kitchen where I keep all my hardware for the session and sanitation bucket. I do bring the kettle back to the kitchen to cool and yes also transfer to carboy and pitch.

Definitely could be my mind after I brewed without the temp chamber for 6 months dumping out batch after batch (thankfully only 1 gallon) I just don't have other homebrewers to sample with - im in the process of joining the local club.

 

[ncbrewer]

Grains have lacto bacteria (and wild yeast I think). A possible source of problems.

 

[Jtk78]

How are you measuring the fermentation temperature? Probe dangling in chamber, taped to carboy and insulated?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Ethyl acetate (banana flavor)

You're thinking of isoamyl acetate?

@Christophrawr
I always have microbes on the brain but as mentioned, contamination does sound possible. Consider trying a new cleaning agent, heat-sanitizing what you can, and switching out some of the plastic/rubber parts. Break apart everything when cleaning, especially valves.
Even if this doesn't fix it, you'll have cleaner equipment and some backup parts.

I would also invest in a bottling wand to [slightly] reduce aeration when bottling.

Best of luck!

 

[Christophrawr]

I use velcro to hold bubble wrap tight to the carboy and wedge the probe between the two.

I could try a new cleaner. Right now Im scrubbing (soft sponge) with soap, good rinse, oxyclean whatever needs a better clean (blow off tubes and carboys) then star san before using again. Maybe iodophor? I can also look into a heat blast. Do you do this cleaning morning of brew day or after when putting everything away?

I have a bottling wand, Ill give it a shot again and put it on my list of "to try"

 

[mongoose33]

I've followed this and there are several things OP should do, IMO.

1. Have someone else taste the beer. Perhaps bring a bottle to a local brewery and ask them for an opinion. Do not tell them what you're looking for. See if anyone else can pick up this off-flavor.

2. Find an experienced local homebrewer and have them walk you through, or watch you do, a brew day. Such a person could also comment on the beer.

3. Get a couple gallons of distilled or RO water from the store and use that instead of your tap water. I suspect the tap water is a big part of this if in fact it's not confirmation bias. Since you're using BrunWater there should be no particular problems getting the water right.

Until you've done most of the above, the rest of this is just speculation; it's time to confirm or refute some of the above and move from there.

Good luck!

 

[Christophrawr]

I've followed this and there are several things OP should do, IMO.

1. Have someone else taste the beer. Perhaps bring a bottle to a local brewery and ask them for an opinion. Do not tell them what you're looking for. See if anyone else can pick up this off-flavor.

2. Find an experienced local homebrewer and have them walk you through, or watch you do, a brew day. Such a person could also comment on the beer.

3. Get a couple gallons of distilled or RO water from the store and use that instead of your tap water. I suspect the tap water is a big part of this if in fact it's not confirmation bias. Since you're using BrunWater there should be no particular problems getting the water right.

Until you've done most of the above, the rest of this is just speculation; it's time to confirm or refute some of the above and move from there.

Good luck!

I'll be brewing Sunday morning and will be trying a few of the things mentioned. I'll report back with what I did differently and if the flavor persists. Ill also ask the one homebrewer going pro I know to taste a bottle after [emoji4] so Ill repost in a few weeks.

Thanks again everyone. Talk soon.

 

[RM-MN]

You're thinking of isoamyl acetate?

Good catch although one of the sources I found did describe ethyl acetate as having the banana aroma and another called it sweetly fruity. I would guess that some people could easily mis-identify it as banana as our noses don't all work the same.

 

[kh54s10]

My 2 cents: You say you are pouring from the spigot down the side of the bottle. Oxidation could be part of the issue - get a bottling wand.

I wonder how much your cleaning of the bottles etc, is leaving residue on the bottles. I just rinse the bottles after use. Sight them to see that there is no visible crud left, then store them. On bottling day, I will rinse them if they have dust on them, otherwise I use a Vinator to squirt Starsan into the bottles. Several pumps then they go on the dishwasher rack. I sanitize 56+ bottles for my 5 gallon batches all at one time. I have had 1 infected bottle in 7 1/2 years.

You are mixing the Starsan to the proper strength? 1 ounce of Starsan in 5 gallons of water?

 

[Christophrawr]

My 2 cents: You say you are pouring from the spigot down the side of the bottle. Oxidation could be part of the issue - get a bottling wand.

I wonder how much your cleaning of the bottles etc, is leaving residue on the bottles. I just rinse the bottles after use. Sight them to see that there is no visible crud left, then store them. On bottling day, I will rinse them if they have dust on them, otherwise I use a Vinator to squirt Starsan into the bottles. Several pumps then they go on the dishwasher rack. I sanitize 56+ bottles for my 5 gallon batches all at one time. I have had 1 infected bottle in 7 1/2 years.

You are mixing the Starsan to the proper strength? 1 ounce of Starsan in 5 gallons of water?

Literally just lost a piece of my bottling wand down the sink 10 minutes ago. Ouff.

Ill get a new one but for bottling this weekend Ill use a tube with a clamp as a substitute.

Im mixing 1/4 oz in about 2-2.5 gallons of water. Up my dose? But now Im thinking about soaking in oxyclean morning of brewday then rinsing and spraying with star san bottle. Thoughts on that?

Yeah probably going overboard with the bottles. I can probably skip the bleach and just oxyclean or rinse then store... Its hard to make things simpler Im finding.. my brain..

 

[mongoose33]

Literally just lost a piece of my bottling wand down the sink 10 minutes ago. Ouff.

Ill get a new one but for bottling this weekend Ill use a tube with a clamp as a substitute.

Im mixing 1/4 oz in about 2-2.5 gallons of water. Up my dose? But now Im thinking about soaking in oxyclean morning of brewday then rinsing and spraying with star san bottle. Thoughts on that?

Yeah probably going overboard with the bottles. I can probably skip the bleach and just oxyclean or rinse then store... Its hard to make things simpler Im finding.. my brain..

Lose the bleach entirely. There's no upside.

Know how I clean my bottles? Triple-rinse when first emptied, then I put 'em in the dishwasher. They're sanitized with Star-San just prior to bottling.

 

[GPP33]

Why are you using oxyclean on brew day? You said you clean everything after you brew right? Just use starsan on brew day. No need to clean what’s already clean. Probably not going to help with the flavor but is an unnecessary step.

I’d hone in on ferm temps. What do you use for a ferm chamber. What do you use as a temp controller? What do you use for a temp probe? When was the last time you calibrated, or at least verified, the accuracy of the temp probe?