I entered my Oktoberfest into a local brewing contest.
I got good scores and would have placed if I showed up for the meeting where they announced the winners (I got hosed......damn thesis dominating my life!)
Here are the score sheets: #1, #2, #3
So, the issue is in the flavor, with a "medicinal/phenolic" aftertaste in the beer. (NOTE: these are 3 judges sitting in a room together drinking, not really independent observations, but still........)
Question: Where does this come from in y'alls opinion?
I either Brita filter my water or let it sit out overnight in the brew pots to volatilize the chlorine.
I batch sparge most of the time (I did for this beer)
I made a 1-gal starter (2-step, ea 1/2 gal steps)
I use vinyl tubing when I autosiphon (only use it on beer that is at pitching temps or lower)
I use Star San (I rinse the SS foam at kegging time from the kegs with hot tap water. This is a quick rinse with no more than 1/2 gal of hot water, and is done right before kegging, i.e. the keg is rinsed quickly and filled with beer within minutes)
I mash in a plastic cooler (?)
I use Bevlex 200 tap lines and flush the lines before filling up bottles.
I have used Oxyclean in the past to clean the kegs (not Oxyclean FREE, just the regular, but with onlt 30 min contact time and thorough rinsing)
I use an Immersion Chiller (IC).
Brew notes from the day:
Anything else I should let you know about?
This link states that it is either chlorine or over sparging. I just don't think its either one of those, BUT chlorine can be in issue with my tab water (but I filter or let sit overnight before brewing with it)
Thanks,
funk
I got good scores and would have placed if I showed up for the meeting where they announced the winners (I got hosed......damn thesis dominating my life!)
Here are the score sheets: #1, #2, #3
So, the issue is in the flavor, with a "medicinal/phenolic" aftertaste in the beer. (NOTE: these are 3 judges sitting in a room together drinking, not really independent observations, but still........)
Question: Where does this come from in y'alls opinion?
I either Brita filter my water or let it sit out overnight in the brew pots to volatilize the chlorine.
I batch sparge most of the time (I did for this beer)
I made a 1-gal starter (2-step, ea 1/2 gal steps)
I use vinyl tubing when I autosiphon (only use it on beer that is at pitching temps or lower)
I use Star San (I rinse the SS foam at kegging time from the kegs with hot tap water. This is a quick rinse with no more than 1/2 gal of hot water, and is done right before kegging, i.e. the keg is rinsed quickly and filled with beer within minutes)
I mash in a plastic cooler (?)
I use Bevlex 200 tap lines and flush the lines before filling up bottles.
I have used Oxyclean in the past to clean the kegs (not Oxyclean FREE, just the regular, but with onlt 30 min contact time and thorough rinsing)
I use an Immersion Chiller (IC).
Brew notes from the day:
Brew Day. Mashed at 151 F for 60 min. I was able to cool it down to ~70 F before moving it to carboy. I let it get to below 60 F before pitching the yeast starter.
*Yeast Starter: I did a two-step starter to build up my yeast cell count. I used the WYeast yeast calculator to figure out my process. In a 1 gal container I added 0.5 gal wort (DME boiled and cooled) and the yeast packet (propogator), let it ferment for 24 hrs @ ~62 F. At this point it was high kraeusen, and I added another 0.5 gal of wort to the container, resulting in my 1 gal starter. I let that ferment out for another 36 hours or so, then I flocculated out the yeast by placing the starter in the fridge for ~8 hrs. I decanted off most of the liquid and added the rest to the carboy at pitching time. I don't use a stir plate, but I do swirl the bottle every time I walk by it to keep them yeasties reproducing.
Anything else I should let you know about?
This link states that it is either chlorine or over sparging. I just don't think its either one of those, BUT chlorine can be in issue with my tab water (but I filter or let sit overnight before brewing with it)
Thanks,
funk