My beer is good at bottling, good when carbed, bad a month later.

[ersheff]

Hey, y'all.

So, my problem's in the title. I brew partial mash and all-grain, usually 2.5 gallon batches (due to stovetop boil limitations) though my most recent one was a 5 gallon partial.

Anyway, I've got 2 finished beers in bottles.

One is a cream ale that was good but not great when it was ready (2 weeks or so after bottling). I overshot my OG, so it was a little too intense for a cream ale, but it was drinkable. Now, a couple of months after it finished carbing, it's kind of gross. Not unbearably nasty, just a bit "off" from what it once was.

The other is a Rye Pale Ale that I actually quite liked. I actually UNDERSHOT my OG on that one (the one time I can say that I was truly very toasty on brew day), but not by too much. I dry hopped it and it came out almost like a session Rye IPA. Again, this one is not as good after a month or so (but still more drinkable than the cream ale).

This whole pattern happened last year too when I made a partial mash modified Zombie Dust clone. That beer was GREAT for a month or two (my favorite that I've made) but not so much afterwards.

Any idea what's going on? I don't think it's an infection, because I have seen those in a couple of bottles from other batches (foam like crazy when opened) and I'm confident in my bottling sanitation. If it was an infection from earlier in the brewing process, I would suspect that it would be noticeable sooner.

I've also had beer that greatly improved with age, even though it wasn't super high ABV. A pumpkin dubbel that I made a couple of years ago (second batch ever) was "meh" for about a year, then the couple of year old bottles that I kept way in the back of the cabinet were GREAT after sitting for so long.

Perhaps my non-belgian beer just has a very short shelf life? Or maybe I'm storing it too warm? I'm cleaning everything and sanitizing with StarSan (and not rinsing).

I've got a Red IPA (from Radical Brewing book) in the fermenter right now, and I hope that it can avoid the same fate!

Thanks!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

how warm are you storing your bottles?

 

[kh54s10]

The bottles are stored in the dark?? The age seems too young to be attributable to short shelf life. What water are you using. I would make that my first change and see what happens.

 

[mrphillips]

Sounds like they might have spent too much time in some UV light (either a UV bulb in a lamp or the sun). It only takes 15 minutes of exposure to ruin a beer. If it tastes sour, then it's probably infection (but from what you said, I don't think it's that). If it's skunky tasting, then it's probably UV exposure.

 

[Wynne-R]

Could it be oxidation? It fits the timetable. Oxidation at low levels is hard to identify. You don’t get the classic paper or cardboard flavors, it’s just dull. The oxidation eats up the lighter hop notes and the malt sweetness.

If you’re using a bottling bucket, try using a siphon and a bottling wand instead. I bottle over the dishwasher. It contains the spills and is a handy bottle tree.

I take the first and last bit where it’s glugging and bottle it separately, marking ‘O2' on the cap. Drink that one first. That’s a good way to identify subtle oxidation flavors.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

as you may have now noticed, there are a few culprits to consider. we'll need a little more info on these off flavors making your beer so bad.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Describe the off flavor and we can be of a bit more help. Appley? Cidery? Baind-aid-y? Vinegary? Sewage-y?

 

[ersheff]

Yo!
Thanks for the responses.

It's definitely not sour or skunky.
I'd recognize skunky from what Corona and Heineken taste like.

The water for these particular batches was 1 part city of Madison, WI tap water (left overnight to gas off Chlorine) to 3 parts RO water (a mix recommended by the local homebrew store).

The newest batch (the Red IPA that's in the fermenter) is 1 part city of Ann Arbor, MI tap water (just moved) to 3 parts RO water. I'll see if that makes a difference.

Bottles are usually stored in the dark (definitely not in direct sunlight) and are all brown glass.

Oxidation seems like an interesting idea, though I can't think of how that would happen. I'm careful not to oxygenate the wort after pitching and, like Wynne-R, I have a couple bottles that get a bunch of foam from starting the siphon (or getting to the bottom) while the rest are foamless. I already use an autosiphon and bottling wand.

The flavors ARE very hard to describe. I know vinegary and skunky, and it's definitely not those. It's maybe a little cidery (though these batches had little to no sugar added), definitely dull, also a little chemical or medicinal.

 

[mrphillips]

What was your ABV at bottling? It almost sounds like a malt-liquor taste. Maybe the yeast wasn't quite done working, and the extra octane they added after bottling made the off-taste. It's a far fetched idea, but who knows?

 

[duboman]

Chemical or medicine like leads to chloramines and phenolic issues in the water and can be eliminated by using camden tablets to treat the water prior to brewing or being sure to use bottled or RO water.

You also need to look at what you are washing and sanitizing with. Any cleaners that have chlorine in them will leave residue behind that can screw up your beer and you should be using iodophor or Star San for sanitizing but if the water or cleaning is not taken care of sanitizer will not eliminate the issue.

 

[ersheff]

Well, there were no chloramines in Madison's water (at the time, anyway). But you may be right that that water overall wasn't great.

I doubt that the yeast was still working, but it's certainly possible! I wasn't very good about checking gravity levels as it progressed. I just waited the usual 2-3 weeks before bottling. ABV is pretty average on both of those beers (5-6%).

 

[Billy-Klubb]

what temp are you storing at?

 

[ersheff]

Room temp, which in my un-airconditioned apartment could have been anywhere between 65-80F. Now I have a basement, so that should stabilize to 65-70F.