off flavor that i cant describe!!

[ElevenBrewCo]

I brewed a wheat ale

6lbs wheat
6lbs 2 row

Used cascade and citra hops with white labs california ale yeast. Used a 1000ml starter. Had it fermenting for 2 weeks. Checked gravity to make sure it was done so i transfered it and cold crashed it. I just took a sample and it has an off taste i cant describe!! Its almost like a chemical taste. Beer smells great and cloudy for a wheat beer. Tastes awesome at first then this taste just rolls up and punches you in the mouth and its a god awful taste. Wtf could it be?

 

[KellyK]

Never judge a 2 week old beer based on taste. Patience, let it finish and condition properly and then evaluate.

If it's still there and you're describing it as chemical, does it taste band aid / medicinal. Chlorophenolics are a very common, very foul, off flavor.

 

[wedge421]

Never judge a 2 week old beer based on taste. Patience, let it finish and condition properly and then evaluate.

If it's still there and you're describing it as chemical, does it taste band aid / medicinal. Chlorophenolics are a very common, very foul, off flavor.

I would say give it another week or 2. But from your description I think KellyK hit it.

 

[Daybis]

I would also say give it another two weeks. I'm in the "4 week minimum" bandwagon.

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

Ive got it in the seconday cold crashing it. Leave it in there or take it out?

I honestly cant describe it. Its not sweet or butterscotch. Just aweful after taste

 

[jtakacs]

my IPA tasted like bubbliscious for the first week... bubblegum? i used US-05, but its the same yeast from what i can gather...

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

Oh this is far from that. Smelt like that at first though. After taste is baaaaaaad

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

Any thought to what caused this?

 

[o4_srt]

Don't cold crash, leave it in the fermenter for another 2 weeks, then cold crash and bottle.

2 weeks is short for fermentation, i give all mine a month, regardless of when attenuation stops.

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

Ive already got it in the secondary and been in the fridge since sat. Can i take it out and warm it back up or am i screwed?

 

[o4_srt]

Ive already got it in the secondary and been in the fridge since sat. Can i take it out and warm it back up or am i screwed?

Just go with it now. Bottle it, then let it sit in the bottles for a while.

There's absolutely no point in dumping a batch before you've bottled and given it time to condition. Even with an infection, the beer might still turn out ok. You have already put a bunch of time and work into it, why throw all that away if it's not necessary?

 

[DubBrew]

I had a awful beer that I could not figure out what the nasty taste was. So I sent it into a competition to subject some judges to the nastiness. They secribed it as phenolic which after reading about it made sense. They also said is can be caused by a wild yeast or cholrine the water.

Just some infomation passed to me that may be helpful.

 

[BackyardHB]

Don't cold crash, leave it in the fermenter for another 2 weeks, then cold crash and bottle.

2 weeks is short for fermentation, i give all mine a month, regardless of when attenuation stops.

Really, a month? I was told 4 to 7 days depending on attenuation. What do I know I just started:rockin:

 

[kapbrew13]

Really, a month? I was told 4 to 7 days depending on attenuation. What do I know I just started:rockin:

Lhbs told me min 3 weeks for a Brewer's best kit when the kit instruction was told me about 7 days. Beer was ok at 7 days but much much better at 3 weeks.
Test your water?

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

I just smelled the sample too and i cant put the smell to it either. It didnt smell like this at all until i transferedit. Saturday the aroma was awesome. Now i can sort of smell the hops but pick up an off smell that tastes like it smells! Im so frustrated!

 

[kapbrew13]

I just smelled the sample too and i cant put the smell to it either. It didnt smell like this at all until i transferedit. Saturday the aroma was awesome. Now i can sort of smell the hops but pick up an off smell that tastes like it smells! Im so frustrated!

Is it getting worse? Maybe you should quarantine it and move far far away.

 

[o4_srt]

I just smelled the sample too and i cant put the smell to it either. It didnt smell like this at all until i transferedit. Saturday the aroma was awesome. Now i can sort of smell the hops but pick up an off smell that tastes like it smells! Im so frustrated!

Like I said, you have to give it time.

I recently brewed a cream ale using kolsch yeast. Tasted fantastic at bottling. At 3 weeks in the bottle, it tastes like I was sucking on a vinyl tube. At 5 weeks in the bottle, it was fantastic.

You can't judge a beer until it's complete, unless you have years of brewing under your belt, and are intimately familiar with the ingredients you are using.

 

[BackyardHB]

Lhbs told me min 3 weeks for a Brewer's best kit when the kit instruction was told me about 7 days. Beer was ok at 7 days but much much better at 3 weeks.
Test your water?

Do you still transfer your wort to a secondary? I normally move mine after 4 days and keep it in the secondary up to a month depending on the style. Then I move it to a keg a force carb and drink it after 24 hours.

 

[o4_srt]

Do you still transfer your wort to a secondary? I normally move mine after 4 days and keep it in the secondary up to a month depending on the style. Then I move it to a keg a force carb and drink it after 24 hours.

I dont see the point in moving to secondary unless lagering, dry hopping or adding fruit. My beer has been just as clear since I started doing long primaries, and autolysis takes a considerable amount of time to take place, well in excess of a month or two.

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

Alrighty guess il sit back relax and drink my band aid flavored home brew....in a couple weeks that is. Il fill you in after a while to see how it turns out

 

[kapbrew13]

Do you still transfer your wort to a secondary? I normally move mine after 4 days and keep it in the secondary up to a month depending on the style. Then I move it to a keg a force carb and drink it after 24 hours.

I keep it simple. In primary for 3 weeks, keg, and bottle a few.
Turned out great. Coworkers thought it was great.

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

After researching i think i have found my problem. I use a water softener and i believe thisis the source to my problems. I have a bypass on it which i will use next time i brew. May add some campden tablets for sh*ts and giggles.

Think my soft water could be the cause?

 

[o4_srt]

After researching i think i have found my problem. I use a water softener and i believe thisis the source to my problems. I have a bypass on it which i will use next time i brew. May add some campden tablets for sh*ts and giggles.

Think my soft water could be the cause?

Could be, softened water is poor brewing wTer

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

I hope so! I mean thisis the 5th ruined batch with the same affect. Should i add campden tablets too for the chloromines?

 

[o4_srt]

I hope so! I mean thisis the 5th ruined batch with the same affect. Should i add campden tablets too for the chloromines?

If you are still using tap water, yes. Bottled water, no.