I was building a new indoor electric setup on the cheap but it had been probably 10 months since I last brewed and first brew on new setup after finished fermenting is a bad batch.
I can't tell if its fusels or wet cardboard from oxygen. there are a whole number of risks I took just to get a batch through the new system. Looking for some opinions on what might have turned batch:
1. Yeast
- When I do a liquid yeast starter, if I want 1500 mL, I aim for a 2000 mL sample for example, and save the extra 500 mL in sanitized sealed mason jars in fridge. (not sure if this process has an easier name) I used yeast from two jars from nearly a year ago WLP001 and the starter took off, smelled great and started bubbling within a couple hours of pitching into brew - finished off at 1.002
2. Grain
- was bought in buik and was likely also a year old. Not milled but sitting in original bags at room temperature
3. Hops
- I used to buy varieties i use more often in 1lb bags and stored the rest in plastic containers in the freezer (not vacuum sealed). The hops I used for this brew all smelled like I would expect prior to pitching and though they may have lost some potency didn't think there was much wrong. I see posts that say don't use if they are off colour or cheesy which these weren't, but few posts actually advise what the resuilt will be in the finished brew.
4. Fermenting temp
- I use plastic buckets and rely on those thermometer stickers on the outside. The room I now leave them in is a laundry room and I didn't account for the heat & humidity thrown off from the dryer running - after a couple days I noticed it was at least 75F, but the thermometer doesn't go higher, so who knows how high it actually went. I moved it to a slightly cooler room with a fan on the outside but it took several days of this just to lower to about 72
5. Trub/Chiller/Oxygen
- because 1st time using system, I brewed an IPA and wanted to just see how things went and threw hops in kettle and then with a pump tried to recirculate after boil through a plate chiller and back to kettle to whirlpool. Must have sucked up some break and hop material the pump was sluggish to push wort through the chiller (a second batch since filtered differently went just one pass through fine) and as it returned to kettle there was lots of material I wasnt sure if it was proteins and break or tons of tiny air bubbles all along the line...
I know thats a lot to read through but whatever I did I don't want to do it again, but if some older ingredients were NOT the cause, I'd hate to throw them out
I can't tell if its fusels or wet cardboard from oxygen. there are a whole number of risks I took just to get a batch through the new system. Looking for some opinions on what might have turned batch:
1. Yeast
- When I do a liquid yeast starter, if I want 1500 mL, I aim for a 2000 mL sample for example, and save the extra 500 mL in sanitized sealed mason jars in fridge. (not sure if this process has an easier name) I used yeast from two jars from nearly a year ago WLP001 and the starter took off, smelled great and started bubbling within a couple hours of pitching into brew - finished off at 1.002
2. Grain
- was bought in buik and was likely also a year old. Not milled but sitting in original bags at room temperature
3. Hops
- I used to buy varieties i use more often in 1lb bags and stored the rest in plastic containers in the freezer (not vacuum sealed). The hops I used for this brew all smelled like I would expect prior to pitching and though they may have lost some potency didn't think there was much wrong. I see posts that say don't use if they are off colour or cheesy which these weren't, but few posts actually advise what the resuilt will be in the finished brew.
4. Fermenting temp
- I use plastic buckets and rely on those thermometer stickers on the outside. The room I now leave them in is a laundry room and I didn't account for the heat & humidity thrown off from the dryer running - after a couple days I noticed it was at least 75F, but the thermometer doesn't go higher, so who knows how high it actually went. I moved it to a slightly cooler room with a fan on the outside but it took several days of this just to lower to about 72
5. Trub/Chiller/Oxygen
- because 1st time using system, I brewed an IPA and wanted to just see how things went and threw hops in kettle and then with a pump tried to recirculate after boil through a plate chiller and back to kettle to whirlpool. Must have sucked up some break and hop material the pump was sluggish to push wort through the chiller (a second batch since filtered differently went just one pass through fine) and as it returned to kettle there was lots of material I wasnt sure if it was proteins and break or tons of tiny air bubbles all along the line...
I know thats a lot to read through but whatever I did I don't want to do it again, but if some older ingredients were NOT the cause, I'd hate to throw them out
