First Beer medicine aftertaste

[Castro]

Hi there, first time BIAB brewer.
So I followed this simple recipe to make a german Hefeweizen ( 60 / 40) and I am happy about the result, the beer is definitely drinkable. However, I've noticed this dissolved medicine tablet aftertaste in the end. Do you have any explanation about this phenomenon ?
I've used the WB06 yeast and German Tettnang hops, 1 week primary fermentation, then directly to bottles with white sugar as a priming agent for a week.

Cheers and happy brewing all

 

[MaxStout]

Hi, welcome to HBT!

Tell us about the water you're using. Medicinal taste can be caused by chlorine in the source water, or use of chlorine bleach for sanitizing when not rinsed adequately.

 

[Castro]

Hi!

I used spring water, bought from the supermarket.
For sanitizing I didn't use bleach but an agent based on acetic acid. When I sanitized the bottles I did what I saw on a couple of youtube videos - plunge the bottles in the solution, fill them up to the top and then just pour them out. Then I added the sugar and so on.

To add more information, I started to notice this aftertaste after two days in the fridge. The first time I tried the beer it had more like a citrus flavor that has now disappeared. Hope it helps to clarify things.

 

[marc1]

What kind of medicine tablet are you referring to? Any other way you can describe the flavor?
Since this is the beginner forum, do you know what Hefeweizen is supposed to taste like (clove and banana), and you know that you like it?
Did you add anything else to your mash besides the water and grain?
Are there any ball valves or spigots on your boil kettle or fermenter/bottling bucket that you do not disassemble to clean and sanitize?

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

I used spring water, bought from the supermarket.

Good

For sanitizing I didn't use bleach but an agent based on acetic acid. When I sanitized the bottles I did what I saw on a couple of youtube videos - plunge the bottles in the solution, fill them up to the top and then just pour them out. Then I added the sugar and so on.

Acetic acid is just called vinegar where I'm from, and if you didn't at least rinse the bottles out with water afterwards, I'd think you would certainly get some odd taste from the little bit of vinegar left behind in the bottles.

To add more information, I started to notice this aftertaste after two days in the fridge. The first time I tried the beer it had more like a citrus flavor that has now disappeared. Hope it helps to clarify things.

Definitely too soon to panic, many a beer has started out tasting a little weird, and then gotten much better after a couple of weeks.
(But you should definitely rinse out your vinegar soaked bottles next time)

 

[Castro]

It tastes like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol ( Panadol, Tylenol) when you put the pill in your mouth with no water and your saliva dissolves the pill and it tastes bitter.

Hefeweizen is my favourite type of beer and I really enjoy the taste of it ( that's why I chose to brew it as my first beer). The taste is not the same like the commercial beers ( Erdinger, Paulaner, Weihenstephan).

I mashed with my muslin bag which I cleaned the day before with a little bit of soup, but I am pretty sure that I rinsed the soap. And in the boil section I dropped the hops at 60 mins. The hops I bought a month before, opened them for a previous brewing try, thus exposing them to the air and after that I left them in the "open" for a month, because I didn't know that they should be stored in the fridge.

The boil kettle was cleaned using dish soap and as far as the fermentor is concerned I used the bottle from my spring water, sanitized. I did however fill it up only halfway ( that's how much wort I was left with after boiling) and I am pretty sure that I had leaks somewhere because there were no bubbles from my air lock.

I used wort chiller to chill the wort and it was properly sanitized.

 

[Castro]

Good


Acetic acid is just called vinegar where I'm from, and if you didn't at least rinse the bottles out with water afterwards, I'd think you would certainly get some odd taste from the little bit of vinegar left behind in the bottles.


Definitely too soon to panic, many a beer has started out tasting a little weird, and then gotten much better after a couple of weeks.
(But you should definitely rinse out your vinegar soaked bottles next time)

Thanks for the feedback. The label on my sanitizer says specifically that it is not needed to be rinsed, therefore I didn't do it.

I think the beer will be out this week because I already told all my friends about it and they all want to try it out. So I don't think that I will have the chance to taste it after a couple weeks. Well, could be worse ... Cheers

 

[doug293cz]

It tastes like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol ( Panadol, Tylenol) when you put the pill in your mouth with no water and your saliva dissolves the pill and it tastes bitter.

Hefeweizen is my favourite type of beer and I really enjoy the taste of it ( that's why I chose to brew it as my first beer). The taste is not the same like the commercial beers ( Erdinger, Paulaner, Weihenstephan).

I mashed with my muslin bag which I cleaned the day before with a little bit of soup, but I am pretty sure that I rinsed the soap. And in the boil section I dropped the hops at 60 mins. The hops I bought a month before, opened them for a previous brewing try, thus exposing them to the air and after that I left them in the "open" for a month, because I didn't know that they should be stored in the fridge.

The boil kettle was cleaned using dish soap and as far as the fermentor is concerned I used the bottle from my spring water, sanitized. I did however fill it up only halfway ( that's how much wort I was left with after boiling) and I am pretty sure that I had leaks somewhere because there were no bubbles from my air lock.

I used wort chiller to chill the wort and it was properly sanitized.

I would never use any kind of soap or detergent to clean my brewing equipment. You should only use PBW or unscented Oxyclean (which contains one of the main ingredients of PBW.)

Brew on

 

[MaxStout]

Many brewers here use Starsan, it's a no-rinse, acid-based sanitizer that doesn't leave an off-flavor. I don't know if that's available in your location, but if not, maybe check out a restaurant or bar supply company for some no-rinse sanitizers they may have.

 

[AlexKay]

I wouldn’t describe WB-06 as having a medicinal taste, but it is not a Hefeweizen yeast, and in my experience tends to give more Belgian-tasting phenolics. So if it’s drinkable but misses the hefe mark, it may just be that. I don’t know why people keep recommending WB-06. You can make a decent *weizen with Lallemand’s Munich Classic; it’s been a little hit-and-miss for me, but there have definitely been some hits in there.

The suggestions to hunt down any ways that chlorine could have gotten in there are on point, especially if by “medicinal” you mean that it tastes like Band-Aids.

One thing to focus on is whether you’re tasting unpleasant bitterness or whether it instead is astringency. Astringency feels like sucking on a teabag; it’s generally quite unpleasant in excess and feels like your mouth is drying out. Given the lightness of a hefe, there should really be no astringency, but if your mash pH or temperature was too high, that can cause problems. Hot, basic conditions draw tannins out of grains. (I wouldn’t recommend checking pH as a beginner, but if this problem repeats I’d definitely move to RO or distilled water, which isn’t any more expensive that spring water if you’re buying bottled, anyway, and at least you know what you’re getting.)

 

[marc1]

Ok, so the beer tastes too bitter. That can smooth out over time.
The hops were not so fresh, but this is not a hop forward beer, and they were boiled for 60 minutes, so they shouldn't be a big flavor contribution anyway. If anything I would think the improperly stored hops should be less bitter than otherwise.
How much of what %alpha acid hops did you add and what is your batch volume?

 

[Castro]

Thank you for all the feedback.
I will try to save a bottle to taste like a week from now to see if there is a difference in the taste. As I mentioned before, the first time I tasted the beer it had citrus flavor that is gone now. So who knows ...

Ok, so the beer tastes too bitter. That can smooth out over time.
The hops were not so fresh, but this is not a hop forward beer, and they were boiled for 60 minutes, so they shouldn't be a big flavor contribution anyway. If anything I would think the improperly stored hops should be less bitter than otherwise.
How much of what %alpha acid hops did you add and what is your batch volume?

I used 1/4 oz ( 7grams) of Tettnang hops. I ended with 5 litres in the fermentor and started with like 10.5 l. The grain bill was 500 grams of German Pilsner Malt and around 600 grams of Weyermann Pale Wheat malt.

I wouldn’t describe WB-06 as having a medicinal taste, but it is not a Hefeweizen yeast, and in my experience tends to give more Belgian-tasting phenolics. So if it’s drinkable but misses the hefe mark, it may just be that. I don’t know why people keep recommending WB-06. You can make a decent *weizen with Lallemand’s Munich Classic; it’s been a little hit-and-miss for me, but there have definitely been some hits in there.

The suggestions to hunt down any ways that chlorine could have gotten in there are on point, especially if by “medicinal” you mean that it tastes like Band-Aids.

One thing to focus on is whether you’re tasting unpleasant bitterness or whether it instead is astringency. Astringency feels like sucking on a teabag; it’s generally quite unpleasant in excess and feels like your mouth is drying out. Given the lightness of a hefe, there should really be no astringency, but if your mash pH or temperature was too high, that can cause problems. Hot, basic conditions draw tannins out of grains. (I wouldn’t recommend checking pH as a beginner, but if this problem repeats I’d definitely move to RO or distilled water, which isn’t any more expensive that spring water if you’re buying bottled, anyway, and at least you know what you’re getting.)

It's definitely bitterness, in the end of a few gulps of beer. I used WB-06 because it was readily available in the store nearby, so I didn't think much about it especially since it's my first beer. I definitely want to try the Weihenstephaner liquid yeast.

Many brewers here use Starsan, it's a no-rinse, acid-based sanitizer that doesn't leave an off-flavor. I don't know if that's available in your location, but if not, maybe check out a restaurant or bar supply company for some no-rinse sanitizers they may have.

Yep, the product I use it similar to Starsan - meaning that it is acid-based and requires no-rinse.

 

[hilljack13]

but it is not a Hefeweizen yeast

Just curious why you say this? I have not used it but have the same thing planned as OP (Paulaner clone kit, Tettnang hops, bottled spring water, and WB-06). A lot of reviews and the Fermentis description specifically state it for hefe's.

 

[VikeMan]

For sanitizing I didn't use bleach but an agent based on acetic acid. When I sanitized the bottles I did what I saw on a couple of youtube videos - plunge the bottles in the solution, fill them up to the top and then just pour them out.

The label on my sanitizer says specifically that it is not needed to be rinsed, therefore I didn't do it.

Did you by any chance use Peracetic Acid (aka Peroxyacetic Acid), packaged for brewery sanitation? If used as directed, it shouldn't need to be rinsed, but I would drain it thoroughly. The stuff does smell pretty nasty, but breweries use it to sanitize cold side equipment without rinsing. If too much of it did affect the taste of your beer, it should taste sour, rather than medicinal. (It breaks down into acetic acid and water.)

 

[AlexKay]

Just curious why you say this? I have not used it but have the same thing planned as OP (Paulaner clone kit, Tettnang hops, bottled spring water, and WB-06). A lot of reviews and the Fermentis description specifically state it for hefe's.

Fermentis says it is for “Wit Beers and Weizen Beers,” and since these are very different things, this is one clue that they are not entirely on point. WB-06 is also var diastaticus, which will give you much more attenuation than you’d want for a Hefeweizen. (It’s arguably a good idea for beginners to avoid diastaticus strains as a general rule. Or maybe just anyone who bottles.)

 

[mashpaddled]

What sanitizer did you use? It would be easier to rule it in or out if we knew exactly what you used.

I am curious whether the off flavor is getting better or worse. This could be a matter of excess yeast in the bottles. Yeast has a bitter taste like what's described. As the bottles sit in the fridge the yeast will settle out more and stick to the bottom of the bottle so you won't have as much of an issue. Are the bottles excessively foamy?

 

[Castro]

Hey guys! Just a quick update.

There is no aftertaste now. The beer is good.

I did however put the bottle upright and the hefe ( there was a lot ) fall back to the bottom, instead of on the side of the bottle ( initially I laid down the bottle). I am not sure if that had any effect or it was just the time in the fridge ( 4 days now).
Anyhow, thanks for all the help and cheers! ( I am little drunk, as I drank a bottle with a co-worker in the lunch break )