first beer batch medicinal by-taste

[brcisna]

Hello All,

Just cracked open a couple of my first brewed batch of beer. It is a "Dark Pumpkin Ale" recipe (from AIH) and tried following the brewing instructions to a T.
Brewed,,let ferment for 21 days,, hydrometer reading was stable for 3 consecutive days,,bottled,,let sit for 14 days to bottle condition ,,, then refrigerated one day then taste tested.
The beer has good carbonation,,,good head on it, clear very dark in color,, but has a very odd, medicinal by-taste to it.
Tried letting ferment in stable room temps at about 68-70 in a closet in basement.
To be honest I've never even had a "dark beer" in my life and wonder if this beer is close to what it should be. There is absolutely no hint of the pumpkin flavor to it, & im sure i did add the small included packet of pumpkin in the brew process.
Know of no one close that has home brwed at all as I wish i could have them do a taste test of a couple of these.

Ideas?
Thanks

 

[Peruvian802]

From John Palmers, How to Brew;

Medicinal
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid[emoji769] like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

 

[theowlman16]

1. Get out to a bar and try some dark beers. 2. Boiling or use of Campden tablets for your water - Did you use tap water? Does your tap water taste good by itself?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

+1 ^ If you used municipal tap water for brewing, chlorine and chloramine in your water will leave that taste. Also, using bleach for sanitizing will do that if you don't rinse it well. The aforementioned Camden tablets (potassium metabisulfate or "K-meta") added to your water before brewing will get rid of that.

 

[Ashevillain]

There are several things to consider, all of which should be relatively easy to correct. I've definitely had this happen before once, never again once I corrected:

water- as said above if there is chlorine in the water you will taste it, also the mineral content of your water could be adding harshness. When malt extract is made, it already has a full mineral profile, adding to that with tap water will bring out off flavors in most cases. Solution = distilled or reverse osmosis water.

sanitization- phenols produced by wild yeast infections can cause plastic type flavors. It is most likely for infection to occur because the fermentor was not sanitized well, or from over exposure to the air after dropping below ~120 degrees(this is a safe estimate, i think). Basically you want to have everything in your process on point from the time it drops to a temp where things can survive to the time you pitch your yeast. The less exposure to the air/objects the better. Solution if you cant speed things up with a wort chiller is to do the no chill method by transferring to a very well sanitized hdpe fermentor while is still very hot and let sit over night. Research the no chill method for more info.

Fermentation temps- it is very possible to get harsh esters even if you keep your fermentation in a decent range IF you pitched too high. If pitched too high, the damage is basically irreversible and you will get solvent like flavors. IMO never pitch yeast over 70 for the majority of ale strains to be very safe. I always aim for 64-66. If using no chill method this means patience.

Oxygen- when the temps are there, you need to shake up the wort very well just before/after pitching the yeast, lack of oxygen can lead to esters due to strain.

 

[V-Fib]

If you have a fridge that has a water/ice dispenser with a filter that needs to be replaced it should filter out chlorine. I was able to slip some clear food safe tubing from Menards (3/16") over the water dispenser and extend it into my BK and HLT to get my water for brew day.

You can also buy a water filter that attaches to a garden hose but depending on how much you want to do there are people that insist on using RV or food safe hose. Or you can get RO water and build your profile from the ground up but I'd recommend getting your brewing technique down then make changes one at a time.

 

[IslandLizard]

Forget those (carbon) filters for removing chlorine from your brewing water, especially those in your fridge. $35 for a proprietary 5 inch carbon filter? They're all an expensive joke. To remove chlorine, the water can only trickle through, about 1/2 gallon per minute or less, and they won't remove chloramines at all, if that's what your water company adds.

Cheap and 100% effective within minutes: Use 1/4 Campden per 5 gallons of tap water or a pinch of Potassium (or Sodium) MetaBisulfite aka K-Meta or Na-Meta. Stir to dissolve. Done!
You can buy those at your brew store. Wine makers use K-Meta on a much, much larger scale but for a different purpose.