JeffoC6
Well-Known Member
I just tasted my recent IPA. I hopped the hell out of it, used distilled water with a little bit of calcium chloride added (thanks Yooper!), was an absolute freak about santitation, have a temperature controlled fermentation chamber, that I kept at 62 degrees (US-05) the entire duration of fermentation, and at bottling, used distilled water to mix my priming sugar with. I'm STILL getting a weird off flavor. See below for the explination of this flavor. Why is this happening to me? I'm using distilled water!
I haven't brewed 1 single batch of homebrew that made me say "wow" since I started this hobby over a year ago. I'm about to give up...
"My homebrew tastes like I'm burping vinyl tubing and plastic bags" Caused by Chlorophenol
What might have happened?
Using bleach to clean your brewing equipment or having highly chlorinated tap water where you live is most likely the culprate for homebrew with a 'plasticy' finish..particularly noticeable when you burp.
Preventative steps / options:
1) Avoid chlorinated water by using distilled water from your local grocer
2) Pre-treat chlorinated tap water by boiling for 15-20 minutes then cooling. This will evaporate chlorine and remove excess amounts from the water.
3) Pre-treat water with a Campden Tablet (potassium metabisulfite). The Campden tablets act as a catalyst for Chlorophenol removal.
I haven't brewed 1 single batch of homebrew that made me say "wow" since I started this hobby over a year ago. I'm about to give up...
"My homebrew tastes like I'm burping vinyl tubing and plastic bags" Caused by Chlorophenol
What might have happened?
Using bleach to clean your brewing equipment or having highly chlorinated tap water where you live is most likely the culprate for homebrew with a 'plasticy' finish..particularly noticeable when you burp.
Preventative steps / options:
1) Avoid chlorinated water by using distilled water from your local grocer
2) Pre-treat chlorinated tap water by boiling for 15-20 minutes then cooling. This will evaporate chlorine and remove excess amounts from the water.
3) Pre-treat water with a Campden Tablet (potassium metabisulfite). The Campden tablets act as a catalyst for Chlorophenol removal.