Finally messed something up - Can you help figure it out?

[oo7cable]

Hey hey - Merry Christmas all!

After getting use to brewing and the steps and process becoming "natural" to me I finally made a "bad" batch of beer.

Its a Belgian dubel (sp?) (Double) from a LBS's recipe kit. Brewed according to the "directions" the process went smooth and uneventful. The only thing I didn't get was the gravity reading. I broke my bobber thingamajig.. and had no way to read the gravity. So to compensate I let the yeast do its thing for a few extra days.

Once the fermentation was complete, i kegged, forced carbed, and chilled. Two days later I tried my first sample.

Ghhaahhhaaa... Its salty! Its got this very heavy salty after taste. Its pretty bad. Its the strangest thing Ive tasted in beer ever! And its diving me nuts. I cant for the love of god figure out what went wrong.

My theory is fermentation temp. I didn't worry so much about temp, as the weather was a constant 66-68, but the last few days we got a temp spike to 75-80 (damn santa anna winds!). So that's what I suspect caused this strange taste. As everything was sanitized as normal..there wasn't really a chance of outside contamination.

So whats the deal? you guys ever had this happen?

Thanks!
Josh

 

[nukinfuts29]

Could possibly be the temp, that can lead to the break down of fat acids. Could also be your water, but if this is an isolated incodent I would look more to the temps.

How do you clean? I know a guy who missed a bit of oxyclean residue and that created a salty taste.

 

[kh54s10]

How long is an extra few days? A Belgian Dubbel is a complex beer. I fermented mine for 2 1/2 weeks then did a secondary for 2 1/2 weeks. Bottle conditioning took another 2 1/2 weeks before it started to come of age. I expect they will be even better in the months to come.

This is a beer that many will not even crack open in less than 2 months of bottle conditioning.

I've never run across anything that I'd describe as salty. Though I suspect the temperatures caused your problem.

I would bet if you went on to another lighter beer and came back to this one in late February or longer it will be much better.

 

[helibrewer]

Did you do any type of water treatment (Burton salts, Epsom, etc.)? Or do you use water that comes from a water conditioning system in your house?

 

[Dynachrome]

This is a new one to me in my short four years here.

Try the search function - and/or post a new thread with a more correctly phrased title . Then you will automatically get links at the bottom of the page to related articles.

I'm thinking along the lines of helibrewer I assume he means you got salt introduced some how.

 

[helibrewer]

Yes, I can't really think of a way for salt to be produced in the fermentation process, it's not a yeast by-product. Did you do any tasting prior to kegging to narrow down when this may have occured?

 

[oo7cable]

OK -
1. Oxyclean is my prefered method of cleaning - Rinsed and then sanitized.

2. The "extra" few days were just that 2-3days (totaling 2 weeks in the Primary) <----- This may be the reason right there. I did this same beer a few months ago, and it was fantastic. Maybe I got lucky? I think I shortchanged the fermentation. *** This has been "conditioning" in the fridge (in the korny) for about 3 months now. I wanted to let it sit, to see what happens, but it still tastes like it did day one.

3. Water is filtered through an R/O 6 stage filter (same one I use for my Reef Tank), and Ive been doing this for a while now (2 years maybe?) with no problems.

4. Thanks Dynachrome - I though this might be a stab at a "noob" not using the search function, but your explanation "why" makes a hell of a lot of sense.

5. To clarify "salty" - The brew tastes as though its still "very young" with a salty after taste. Its non-drinkable. I'm suspecting that the yest may have died off, leaving me with a partial fermentation. I have no way of doing a gravity reading though.

Also, I've never been one to worry about fermentation temps. I just thought "room temp" should be fine. But I am seeing more and more people wrapping their primary in blankets, cooler, ect... How much of a factor is the temp during fermentation? Would 1-2 degrees make a difference? Or is it more like 5-10 degrees?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[nukinfuts29]

I'm betting the high temps cause the break down of fatty acids in the trub, causing the salty taste. It will probably age out.

 

[nukinfuts29]

Yes, I can't really think of a way for salt to be produced in the fermentation process, it's not a yeast by-product. Did you do any tasting prior to kegging to narrow down when this may have occured?

it's not a yeast by product, but there are fatty acids present in the trub. High temps can cause these to break down and become part of the beer.

 

[oo7cable]

Hey Nukinfuts (love the name lol).

I took my korny our of the fridge, turned the CO2 off. and its just sitting in the garage. Is that bad or good? temps are kinda high (75ish in December..god I hate SoCal. No seasons!)

Thanks!

 

[nukinfuts29]

I'm 100% newb in the kegging world, I can barely even get my brew into the thing so I have no clue.

 

[dienster]

OK -
3. Water is filtered through an R/O 6 stage filter (same one I use for my Reef Tank), and Ive been doing this for a while now (2 years maybe?) with no problems.

Thanks for the help guys!

Did you just replace your DI cartridge? Are you sure you didn't switch your water change buckets with your brewing buckets of water?

 

[ATXweirdobrew]

Buy The Joys of Homebrewing on amazon or at you LHBS store and there is a whole section of the book dedicated to figuring out what certain off tastes mean and how to solve them.

 

[oo7cable]

LOL - Kegging is they way to go! I will never bottle another brew again.

Yeah, the buckets I use are totally different. No chance of contamination with the reef salt. Good guess though.

 

[helibrewer]

Do you have one of those SG measuring do-dads for your reef tank? I know I use to have one in my salt water days for checking my tank SG....maybe you could use it to check your brew???

 

[Ogri]

Ghhaahhhaaa... Its salty! Its got this very heavy salty after taste. Its pretty bad. Its the strangest thing Ive tasted in beer ever! And its diving me nuts. I cant for the love of god figure out what went wrong.

Being as it's a Belgian Dubbel were you supposed to add a quantity of sugar?? Might it be possible that you inadvertently substituted salt for sugar?

 

[birvine]

It seems you tasted only a couple of days after kegging. Let the beer sit for a while to condition then report back. What you are perceiving as 'salt' might be yeast and young beer.

B

 

[beerman0001]

Being as it's a Belgian Dubbel were you supposed to add a quantity of sugar?? Might it be possible that you inadvertently substituted salt for sugar?

That would be my guess.

 

[birvine]

Being as it's a Belgian Dubbel were you supposed to add a quantity of sugar?? Might it be possible that you inadvertently substituted salt for sugar?

Just thinking of that makes me want to barf.

B

 

[Dynachrome]

It seems you tasted only a couple of days after kegging. Let the beer sit for a while to condition then report back. What you are perceiving as 'salt' might be yeast and young beer.

B

Yep, Green beer can have a pretty aggressive bite to it that could be confused with kind of a salty effect.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I recently read a post where a brewer forgot to empty the OneStep sanitizer from his fermentor before filling it with wort, he thought it had cool filtered water in it but turned out it was OneStep. Anyhow turns out his beer had a really salty taste to it. When in doubt throw it out is what they told him to do when he called customer support.

 

[oo7cable]

Ha - Nope, no salt was added by mistake. I used Belgian sugar candy.

I use starsan to sanitize everything. Nothing really left in the primary.

I'm not convinced its "Green" beer. It has been a little over 3 months now, and it still tastes the same.

I've got the korny sitting in my garage now. Anyone think that would be a bad idea? Should I keep it cold?

Thanks
Josh

 

[BOBrob]

I vote temp. control and yeast not done before going in the keg. Belgians need a second stage fermentation to clean up. The yeast used (?) may not fit the temp range that is inside the fermenter, regardless of outside temps. Lager strains produce hydrogen sulfide during fermentation That could end with a sulfer or salty taste. Does the beer smell, sulfer or rotten egg? I can't say if the keg in the garage is a good idea, I keep them cold or empty. Is there still carb pressure? Hydrometers need a spare friend too. Hope you figure it out, just thinking out loud. Cheers

 

[oo7cable]

Thanks for the input guys.

Beer smells great, so I'm just going to leave it for a few months.
I never knew that the Belgian needed that long to ferment and come to life. Learn something new every time I troll here.