Getting rid of the constant “green” home brew taste

[valkommen]

Hey guys, newish to brewing (maybe 10 small batches in) and just came to a realization that I thought might help others. Up until my last two brews, every single one of my beers, both extract and all grain, had distinct “green” off flavors that would never go away even after many weeks of bottle conditioning. I thought this was mostly due to the beer being young, and the fact that I ferment at room temperature. At least that’s what basically every single forum suggested.

I think I’m coming to the conclusion that it was the water the whole time. I wouldn’t have guessed that would be the case as the local tap water actually tastes really good. I had also started using campden tablets to counteract any chlorine in the water, but it didn’t seem to make any difference at all.

For my last two brews I gave in and purchased a few gallons of distilled water from the grocery store and they came out amazing. Aside from the recipes themselves, the only thing I changed was the water. So, just a heads up, if you’re getting green off flavors that don’t seem to go away, try using distilled water instead and see if it helps.

 

[brewgar]

Hey guys, newish to brewing (maybe 10 small batches in) and just came to a realization that I thought might help others. Up until my last two brews, every single one of my beers, both extract and all grain, had distinct “green” off flavors that would never go away even after many weeks of bottle conditioning. I thought this was mostly due to the beer being young, and the fact that I ferment at room temperature. At least that’s what basically every single forum suggested.

I think I’m coming to the conclusion that it was the water the whole time. I wouldn’t have guessed that would be the case as the local tap water actually tastes really good. I had also started using campden tablets to counteract any chlorine in the water, but it didn’t seem to make any difference at all.

For my last two brews I gave in and purchased a few gallons of distilled water from the grocery store and my last two beers came out amazing. Aside from the recipes themselves, the only thing I changed was the water. So, just a heads up, if you’re getting green off flavors that don’t seem to go away, try using distilled water instead and see if it helps.

@valk - I also came to using distilled water, with similar results. It is good that you learned early. Using distilled make it easier to get water chemistry right and dialed in to your process. Brew on.

 

[North_of_60]

For my last two brews I gave in and purchased a few gallons of distilled water from the grocery store and my last two beers came out amazing. Aside from the recipes themselves, the only thing I changed was the water. So, just a heads up, if you’re getting green off flavors that don’t seem to go away, try using distilled water instead and see if it helps.

Do you add anything to the distilled water or brew with it as is? How would you know the composition of the distilled water or do you have it analyzed?

I’m not liking the flavors that my water is producing either.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Depending on your local water source, distilled might well be overkill - for many beers, you will end up having to condition it back. I have been looking into exactly how long it takes for Campden tablets to work, and I am not sure it is quite as instantaneous as many seem to think when it comes to volumes in the ranges used for brewing. Distilled water will also impair a mash, and it won't take that much distilled water to pay for a carbon filter.

 

[z-bob]

Most brewers here use reverse osmosis (RO) water that you can buy in bulk at most supermarkets. It's less than half the price of distilled water.

I started adding some acid malt to my mash, and using a mixture of RO water and tapwater and my beers got a lot better. Now I'm using all tapwater again, plus lactic and/or phosphoric acid. Still working on my techniques to minimize the amount of acid (like sparging with cool water)

 

[North_of_60]

I have been looking into exactly how long it takes for Campden tablets to work, and I am not sure it is quite as instantaneous as many seem to think when it comes to volumes in the ranges used for brewing.

That would explain a lot. I haven’t noticed an improvement in the taste with campden tablets. I’ve tried 1/2 tablet and whole tablet in 8 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. No detectable difference.

 

[Bilsch]

Interesting.. the way I got rid of the homebrew taste was going low oxygen.

 

[Iseneye]

What do you mean by "green"? If you could give a taste descriptor it would help. If you're doing all grain then get your mash pH to the right level, pitch a good amount of yeast, oxygenate well, fermentation temperature control, and keg.

 

[divrack]

I think we should abandon the term "green" as it seems to mean whatever your beer tastes like that you don't like!
I nominate green apple
green banana
fizzy tongue twang
chewing hop blech as three terms for different phenomena that are often described as green.
also perhaps chlorine bitter Apple skin as separate

 

[PADave]

Depends on how you brew. All extract, then yes just straight distilled is fine. But if brewing AG, then you have to add salts to distilled water or your mash isn't going to be right. AG using distilled and building the water is what I've been doing for a while now, and my beers have improved. The learning curve is steep at first, but once you figure things out it's not that bad.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

That would explain a lot. I haven’t noticed an improvement in the taste with campden tablets. I’ve tried 1/2 tablet and whole tablet in 8 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. No detectable difference.

For a start, the tablets don't dissolve particularly easily.

I am fortunate in that my tap water is fairly soft and well-suited to lighter ales in particular. All I need to do is get rid of the chloramine and I have a brewing profile that is elsewhere sought after. So I have just started taking more time to let the Campden tablets work, and ensuring that they are at least visibly dissolved.

For making a great IPA, I may have to start looking at giving the hop oils more to latch on to.

 

[Lefou]

Most brewers here use reverse osmosis (RO) water that you can buy in bulk at most supermarkets. It's less than half the price of distilled water.

I started adding some acid malt to my mash, and using a mixture of RO water and tapwater and my beers got a lot better. Now I'm using all tapwater again, plus lactic and/or phosphoric acid. Still working on my techniques to minimize the amount of acid (like sparging with cool water)

Distilled water is about $1.20/gal here where I live.
For my lighter all grain beers I use bottled low mineral spring water and add balanced levels of calcium salts to the mash water. My beers have improved doing this. When using the filtered soft tap water with no mineral additions in extract, my beers had noticeable levels of acetaldehyde. My yeasts were typically under-pitched, so I am assuming the extra calcium had an effect on the styles I was brewing with that method.
After switching to all grain and treating the brewing water with calcium salts the quality of the beer definitely went up.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I know the flavor the op is talking about and it went away when I got my 15 gallon pot and switched to full boils. I think. Lol. At the same time I also bought a 50ft wort chiller so maybe a combo of full boil and speedy chilling caused the marked improvement. I use tap water btw

 

[z-bob]

For a start, the tablets don't dissolve particularly easily.

I am fortunate in that my tap water is fairly soft and well-suited to lighter ales in particular. All I need to do is get rid of the chloramine and I have a brewing profile that is elsewhere sought after. So I have just started taking more time to let the Campden tablets work, and ensuring that they are at least visibly dissolved.

For making a great IPA, I may have to start looking at giving the hop oils more to latch on to.

You might want to get a jar of potassium metabisulphite (K-Meta) It only take a pinch, and it dissolves fast.

 

[Gentle Jesus]

I should try switching to distilled water for an extract batch and see how it goes. I noticed that my "green" flavor went away when I finally got fermentation temperature under control. If you are still getting weird flavors, try some temp control, and see how that works too.

 

[Yooper]

Depends on how you brew. All extract, then yes just straight distilled is fine. But if brewing AG, then you have to add salts to distilled water or your mash isn't going to be right. AG using distilled and building the water is what I've been doing for a while now, and my beers have improved. The learning curve is steep at first, but once you figure things out it's not that bad.

You can use 100% distilled water and you don't necessarily need to add any salts. The beer may be a bit more bland that if you used some salts, but it won't mean the beer will be bad. Extract and partial mash beers especially would be great with distilled or RO water, and many all-grain beers would be as well.

 

[Iseneye]

Further to Yooper's reply, the mash pH is far more important in all grain than salts. Getting your pH right should be high priority. I got that sorted a while ago and all of my beers improved noticeably.

 

[valkommen]

Do you add anything to the distilled water or brew with it as is? How would you know the composition of the distilled water or do you have it analyzed?

I’m not liking the flavors that my water is producing either.

I haven't added anything to the distilled water yet, just used it as-is. You definitely could, but I just wanted to try brewing with a totally clean water profile and it seemed to help.

 

[Cevan65]

Why don't you have your water tested. It might just need some simple adjustments.