I think I screwed the pooch.....again

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Displaced MassHole

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So my last two batches have turned out pretty crappy. They've both had an off flavor that leads me to believe that it's either got a bacterial infection or too much oxidation. After the first one I changed out all my tubing with new stuff soaked all my equipment first in oxyclean for 24 hours, rinsed the hell out of it and then soaked with iodophor for a couple hours and then let dry completely. They were both A/G recipes and were both served on tap. I also got new beer lines and tried the second one on a different tap/shank. Any suggestions as to what I could do for either problem. While fermenting nothing looked out of the ordinary they both sat in primary for a month then straight to keg for two weeks before the first pour. The first one got a little better over the course of a month, but this second one (which I just tapped for the first time yesterday) seems to be even worse than the second. The first batch was a bud light clone (I know....for shame!) and the second was Biermunchers Centennial Blonde both brewed to specs. WTF?
 
you never let iodophor or starsan dry out...the minute it is then anything that comes in contact de-sanitizes what you sanitized. THey are both wet contact sanitizer...meaning as long as the are wet they are killing anything that comes into contact with it.


Dry it's the other way around, any airborn microbe that touches it infects it.

That's one thing to consider....
 
Oxidation tastes like cardboard. Not a little...A LOT!

Are you using a verified recipe? BeerSmith? Something like that. I know the Hop usage was pretty hard for me to get my head around when I first started doing "Full Boil" batches. That and Too hot ferment temps lead me to 3 bad batches in a row.

Clean everything , twice, then try again.
I wish we had a group of volunteers that would take a bottle of your "OFF" Beer and taste it, then tell you what's wrong with it. Perhaps, I'll work on that.
 
I wish we had a group of volunteers that would take a bottle of your "OFF" Beer and taste it, then tell you what's wrong with it. Perhaps, I'll work on that.


I know, I wish we could have regional experienced brewers/beer drinkers that could actually taste a posters beer....Like I said most of the time it is just young and not a true "off flavor." Having someone around to actually taste and confirm it would be a good thing....I really hate when really new brewers self diagnose something without a second opinion...

I'd suggest taking it to an lhbs, but even SOME of them don't really know anything about brewing...I guess having a local brewclub would be a good thing...but if the club is all pretty much n00bs as well, then you're SOL...
 
Its on tap right now, if theres a good way to bottle it from there and ship it out I think I could swing that for a few of you out there for a little help/critisism.
 
I'd suggest taking it to an lhbs, but even SOME of them don't really know anything about brewing


Yeah when I first started brewing 4 years ago I asked a lot of question at my LHBS and then through the course of reading multiple books on brewing I realized that all the answers I got were wrong or way off topic. These last two brews have just left me scratching my head and saying WTF?
 
I know, I wish we could have regional experienced brewers/beer drinkers that could actually taste a posters beer....Like I said most of the time it is just young and not a true "off flavor." Having someone around to actually taste and confirm it would be a good thing....I really hate when really new brewers self diagnose something without a second opinion...

I'd suggest taking it to an lhbs, but even SOME of them don't really know anything about brewing...I guess having a local brewclub would be a good thing...but if the club is all pretty much n00bs as well, then you're SOL...

HELP...I've never brewed before, but I KNOW that I have Fusel Alcohols.

LOL


Gimme a break!

I'm starting a thread...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f88/hbt-member-diagnosis-group-81692/#post865963
 
So my last two batches have turned out pretty crappy. They've both had an off flavor that leads me to believe that it's either got a bacterial infection or too much oxidation. WTF?

1.) First thing is to bottle some of this from your tap using a piece of tubing that will fit over the tap and into the bottle to the bottom. Use very low keg pressure. Just enough to get the beer into the bottles. Cap it. (use sanitary methods during this bottle filling).

2. Take this beer to your LBHS and ask brewers (experienced?) at the store to give you an opinion. If you get several to agree on the problem then you can fix the problem.

Using Starsan, you only need one minute of contact to kill any bacteria from previously clean items that were rinsed well. You do not need nor is it desireable to soak items for days! Chemicals can become imbeded into to porous surfaces of materials and then slowly be leached into solution. Any tubing that has been used must be cleaned and dried before storing to prevent premature contamination.

Some problems may be:

  • Poor recipe
  • Sanitation technique
  • Fermenting too warm
  • Not taking apart kegs (all the way, posts too) and lines and cleaning them thouroughly with PBW using brushes in the tubes and then rinsing all the parts well with hot water and then sanitizing with Starsan.
 
It's hard to know what your problem is. Bacterial infections lead to very different flavors and aromas than oxidation. Bacteria produce sour aromas and flavors. Oxidation produces aromas and flavors like paper, cardboard, or sherry.

If the problem is oxidation, then it's a problem with your technique. Be careful about splashing once fermentation has begun and your beer is in contact with air containing oxygen. If the problem is bacteria, then you have a problem with your sanitation technique or equipment.


TL
 
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