First AG brew, not satan's anus but....

[RyanN]

not good either. It's STRONG, I suppose you could drink it if you don't mind drinking things like melted plastic or gasoline. The problem is I may have done more than one thing wrong and I'm not sure which resulted in the problem, though I have my suspicions. I did the BIAB in a cooler and the temp fluctuated some during the mash but I don't think this would cause the off flavor I'm getting. The bag I used is the "course jumbo bag" from Austin Home Brew, which IMO is not course so I think it was "filtered" fine and no husks made it to the brew, it's not bitter off flavors I'm getting. I followed the directions given here for the specific brew I made http://njnear76.bravehost.com/. Anyway, my wifes first reaction was, ah, burnt plastic, then I suggested maybe Band-Aid and she agreed that might be a adequate description. The beer fermented a little on the hot side, my goal was to get it started at a warmer temp. then cool things down....ambient temp was 73 max and 70 average (WLP1001 yeast).....I think this is the problem? The beer does not appear to be infected but it might be? I brewed and cooled this beer outside in my garage on a typical spring day, not overly windy, etc. Here's the water I used because my water is way to alkaline for a pale ale http://www.icemountainwater.com/KnowH2O/OurSources.aspx.

I'd like to brew a two hearted clone from AHS using the all grain recipe but really don't dare since I don't know the cause of the plastic bomb, for sure anyway....I made their extract version and it's fantastic. I however would like to be able to do this from "scratch". Any helps appreciated.

 

[wonderbread23]

73 ambient means the actual beer could have easily hit the high 70's low 80's during the peak of fermentation. I'd guess the temp is causing the fusel alcohols / phenols you are experiencing.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Try to keep your ferments a tad lower in temp. I ferment all of my batches around 65 or so and have no issues in fusel alcohols that lead to nasty tastes like 'plastic or gasoline'.

 

[jeffmeh]

Another factor that can contribute to the band-aid taste is chlorine, either in your brewing water or from sanitizing with bleach. Eliminating any chlorine (boil or filter your water, sanitize with StarSan or Iodophor) and bring down your fermentation temperatures, and you should eliminate that problem.

 

[Quaffer]

Band-Aid like flavors can come from chlorine, according to this text by John Palmer. Is your tap water heavily chlorinated? Mine has a slight chlorine aroma so I decided to tap into my fridge's filtered water supply. I just inserted a T into the tubing after the filter and added a faucet on the back of the fridge. The result is excellent smelling and tasting brewing water. No chlorine at all. If you are sanitizing with bleach that's another source of chlorine.

 

[Hang Glider]

I did the BIAB in a cooler and the temp fluctuated some during the mash but I don't think this would cause the off flavor I'm getting.

Any idea what the temps were during your mash? Anything over 170F? (that would not be good - leads to extraction of tannins from the husks- astringent flavors)

Here's the water I used because my water is way to alkaline for a pale ale http://www.icemountainwater.com/KnowH2O/OurSources.aspx.

Probably not from chlorine in his tap water because he didn't use tap water. So, unless Ryan used bleach and didn't rinse very well - it may not be chlorine. Infections also can cause band-aid type flavors -