it still tastes bad

[tedclev]

First, let it sit for a few more weeks before you drink it; your beer is still to green and is not going to taste like it should and it will be cloudy. However, if after a few more weeks you are getting the same sour taste, then you are adding contamination at some stage in your process. I know you used a different yeast this time, but you didn't say if you did anything different when you brewed. Here's a checklist for you:
-Did you thoroughly clean AND sanitize your fermenter, airlock, and anything else that touches your wort.
-Is your fermenting bucket discolored on the inside or does it have an odor? If so, get a new bucket.
-Did you add ice or tap water to your wort (which can cause contamination)? In my earliest post on this thread I emphasized that yeast probably was not the problem- it is your water. So, did you use tap water in the boil kettle and bottled water to top off your fermenter and ice for an icebath to cool your wort? If not, you should have.

If you did all of the above, then I would say your tap water is a total mess and you should use nothing but bottled water and maybe get a new fermenting bucket.

 

[togodoug]

First, let it sit for a few more weeks before you drink it; your beer is still to green and is not going to taste like it should and it will be cloudy. However, if after a few more weeks you are getting the same sour taste, then you are adding contamination at some stage in your process. I know you used a different yeast this time, but you didn't say if you did anything different when you brewed. Here's a checklist for you:
-Did you thoroughly clean AND sanitize your fermenter, airlock, and anything else that touches your wort.
-Is your fermenting bucket discolored on the inside or does it have an odor? If so, get a new bucket.
-Did you add ice or tap water to your wort (which can cause contamination)? In my earliest post on this thread I emphasized that yeast probably was not the problem- it is your water. So, did you use tap water in the boil kettle and bottled water to top off your fermenter and ice for an icebath to cool your wort? If not, you should have.

I used bottled water for the boil, 3 gallons, and then finished with two or so gallons of bottled filtered RO water. All the water is locally bottled, so it startes as ground or sea water here on a small island. I don't know the lime or other mineral make up of the bottled water, I assume the RO water is mineral free. It all could be mineral free or it could be loaded with lime.
I'm fairly certain my sanitation is good, assuming one step is doing its job, I go over everything pretty well.
My bucket now has a slight stain as I've used Isidore instead of One step so it leaves a bit of a stain and has had a slight hop smell.
Any brand of bottled water you might suggest, or some mineral or other content to look for?
If you did all of the above, then I would say your tap water is a total mess and you should use nothing but bottled water and maybe get a new fermenting bucket.

 

[togodoug]

First, let it sit for a few more weeks before you drink it; your beer is still to green and is not going to taste like it should and it will be cloudy. However, if after a few more weeks you are getting the same sour taste, then you are adding contamination at some stage in your process. I know you used a different yeast this time, but you didn't say if you did anything different when you brewed. Here's a checklist for you:
-Did you thoroughly clean AND sanitize your fermenter, airlock, and anything else that touches your wort.
-Is your fermenting bucket discolored on the inside or does it have an odor? If so, get a new bucket.
-Did you add ice or tap water to your wort (which can cause contamination)? In my earliest post on this thread I emphasized that yeast probably was not the problem- it is your water. So, did you use tap water in the boil kettle and bottled water to top off your fermenter and ice for an icebath to cool your wort? If not, you should have.

If you did all of the above, then I would say your tap water is a total mess and you should use nothing but bottled water and maybe get a new fermenting bucket.

I did not add ice to the wort, I used an ice bath to chill.

 

[ksbrain]

Dude if it tastes worse after time you have a sanitation issue. Something in fermentation is not sanitized. It starts to show by bottling time and then gets worse with time. That is a bacteria problem IMHO. Clean and sanitize and sterilize all your stuff! Get help from someone with experience in your area if you need to. Sanitation isn't that hard. You are probably just missing seething simple.

 

[togodoug]

Dude if it tastes worse after time you have a sanitation issue. Something in fermentation is not sanitized. It starts to show by bottling time and then gets worse with time. That is a bacteria problem IMHO. Clean and sanitize and sterilize all your stuff! Get help from someone with experience in your area if you need to. Sanitation isn't that hard. You are probably just missing seething simple.

thoughts on One Step? That's what I've used. I am switching to iodophor

 

[ksbrain]

I don't trust one step, but maybe that's just me. Iodophor and starsan work too good to not use them.

 

[edsrockin]

okay like mentioned above i think it's a sanitation issue. you mention it was worse after being bottled. what is your cleaning process on your bottles?

personally, i will use soapy water and a bottle brush to clean the bottles inside and out, rinse, and then place in the dishwasher (no soap) on rinse and dry. let them dry completely then wrap the tops in saran wrap until bottling day.

 

[togodoug]

okay like mentioned above i think it's a sanitation issue. you mention it was worse after being bottled. what is your cleaning process on your bottles?

personally, i will use soapy water and a bottle brush to clean the bottles inside and out, rinse, and then place in the dishwasher (no soap) on rinse and dry. let them dry completely then wrap the tops in saran wrap until bottling day.

I fill /submurge bottlels in One Step solution and put caps in a bowl with the same

 

[edsrockin]

maybe it's the one-step like a bunch of others have stated? never used it cannot speak for/against it.

i like iodophor, but that's because i have used it and not had any problems. good luck in figuring it out.

 

[togodoug]

It’s the water.
Thanks for all the advise and suggestions. I’d used locally filtered bottled water in the past, its sold as drinking water, we all drink it as tap water is brackish so thought nothing of it. Then I used it only in the boil and topped off with RO water, thinking maybe bacteria in the water not being boiled was the issue. That didn’t seem to help. Last batch was all imported European mountain water. Any bitterness now is due to me having over hopped to cover up the expected, yet non-existent, residual sourness. But I like IPAs so that’s all fine.
Thanks again for all the tips.

 

[togodoug]

Problem. As I said, at bottling the beer tasted good, very good. Three days later was good, and for the next few weeks great. It mellowed and was great. I used cascade hops and the aroma was great and strong, the after bit very nice like a smooth aromatic IPA. I mean other than one particular beer at a brew pub in Atlanta (320), this was the best beer I’d ever tasted. I was so pleased to really be brewing good beer.
By week four it tastes like crap. It tastes like all the other beers I’ve made: sour, no aroma, no character, just bad. All with different recipes and ingredients, yet all had the same bad after taste and smell. This batch I had “fixed” with better water. Open a bottle and the Cascade hops just popped out into the room. It was just a great ale. Now after a few weeks, about 4, in bottles it tastes like crap. Any ideas? After a year is it just time to give up? Ageing temperature? Bacteria? I can’t tell you how frustrating and expensive this is.

 

[TromboneGuy]

What kind of bottles are you using? Glass or plastic? If they're plastic, the beer won't age very well in them. How are you storing the bottles? Sunlight is bad for beer.

 

[togodoug]

bottles are glass with caps, some are old Grolsh, they bad taste is to both. All bottels are dark green or browm and in a styraphome cooler with lid alwasy on.

 

[BOBrob]

You have half your problem lick, and all for a good beer. I found in the past that simple is most often right.I make beer, wine, cider, and do my canning of meats and vegys, and clean is major killer when one fails. My simple idea. You have a mineral residue left over from sanitizing. In earlier posts you said Lime and salt; both will leave a residue from your local filtered water,later spoiling your brew. Leaves a bad after taste. My simple idea would be to take the local filtered (RO) water and boil the heck out of it to distill the minerals out before useing it to sanitize. Use the imported mountain water for brewing and get a good cooler. Styraphome has little R factor for keeping things at an even temp. Good luck .

 

[ksbrain]

what is your bottling process? Now it sounds like you possibly have an oxidation issue. Is the "sour" flavor sort if like a rusty pallor that flattens the whole taste? Or do you mean sour like a lemon? Or like a pickle?

 

[togodoug]

what is your bottling process? Now it sounds like you possibly have an oxidation issue. Is the "sour" flavor sort if like a rusty pallor that flattens the whole taste? Or do you mean sour like a lemon? Or like a pickle?

hard to say, none of the above. astrigent maybe the best discription, like licking a tea bag? Not rust

 

[togodoug]

You have half your problem lick, and all for a good beer. I found in the past that simple is most often right.I make beer, wine, cider, and do my canning of meats and vegys, and clean is major killer when one fails. My simple idea. You have a mineral residue left over from sanitizing. In earlier posts you said Lime and salt; both will leave a residue from your local filtered water,later spoiling your brew. Leaves a bad after taste. My simple idea would be to take the local filtered (RO) water and boil the heck out of it to distill the minerals out before useing it to sanitize. Use the imported mountain water for brewing and get a good cooler. Styraphome has little R factor for keeping things at an even temp. Good luck .

I clean and sanatize with tap water, which I thnik does have a high lme content and likely hight clorine. I live on essentially a rock made of old coral. The local botteled and filtered drinking water, as well as the local OR water I had used to brew but this last two batches I used all imported mountain water. I

 

[togodoug]

You have half your problem lick, and all for a good beer. I found in the past that simple is most often right.I make beer, wine, cider, and do my canning of meats and vegys, and clean is major killer when one fails. My simple idea. You have a mineral residue left over from sanitizing. In earlier posts you said Lime and salt; both will leave a residue from your local filtered water,later spoiling your brew. Leaves a bad after taste. My simple idea would be to take the local filtered (RO) water and boil the heck out of it to distill the minerals out before useing it to sanitize. Use the imported mountain water for brewing and get a good cooler. Styraphome has little R factor for keeping things at an even temp. Good luck .

sorry I sent that by mistake. I use imported water to brew and thought I'd solved the problem. I use tap water to clean and sanatize whichI think is high in clorine and lime. Are you saying you think its the water I sanatize with and I should use filtered water for that? If so, why did the beer taste good for 10 days in the bottle?

 

[togodoug]

what is your bottling process? Now it sounds like you possibly have an oxidation issue. Is the "sour" flavor sort if like a rusty pallor that flattens the whole taste? Or do you mean sour like a lemon? Or like a pickle?

its possibly like a rusty flavor. Its still an issued 4 or 5 batches later. I brew a very good hoppy pale ale with a good aroma and drink a few for the first three weeks and then all of a sudden this crappy flat almost astringent taste shows up in all bottles. I didn't reply months ago as I had two batches that were clean, now this one is back to the same thing. The bad taste is consistent. Its not bottle to bottle but all go bad after a few weeks. Also, the flavor is the same no matter the receipe. I've used several different waters as well.

 

[mooshimanx]

Are you getting the water out of your garden hose? (seriously) I remember reading a story/post about a guy who couldn't figure out where an astringent taste was coming from and it was because he was getting the water through a garden hose.

 

[togodoug]

Are you getting the water out of your garden hose? (seriously) I remember reading a story/post about a guy who couldn't figure out where an astringent taste was coming from and it was because he was getting the water through a garden hose.

no

 

[togodoug]

If the the beer, which was great at bottling and for 2 -3 weeks, then bad at week 3, is better, not great but better than week 3 at like week 5, what does that tell you about the cause of the problem?

 

[togodoug]

if I am using stale adjunct grains, like I have them crushed and the stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator of at room temperture for 2 to 8 weeks, how might that negatively effect the taste and when would it be tasteable?

 

[togodoug]

does using a plastic fermenting bucket as opposed to a carboy effect taste?