Off Flavor!!

[MI_Dogman]

Brewers!

So I brewed a Pale Ale a little over a month ago. And I got to drink it for a couple of weeks before I had to go to work for a month. It tasted SO good, and it was my best brewing season yet. BUT, after I got home (1 month later) I am tasting a very harsh bitterness that I can't put my finger on. I didn't leave any dry hops in, and I am very anal about sanitation. There is also a slight astringent smell as well that's a lot like the taste. I did leave it on CO2 while I was gone in my kegorater. Is it something in the CO2 I am getting?

Help!

-Dogman

 

[bobeer]

I've read on here that c02 from welding shops isn't food grade safe but I have no experience with that.

Do any of your other beers have this off flavor? Do you use your city's water or do you buy your own water? I used to use my city's water but it's pretty bad for brewing and caused all sorts of astringency/off flavors.

I know after a month in the keg some of the resin flavors from the hops have probably faded and perhaps they were covering up the off flavor the whole time. Now that they're gone it might come through a bit more.

aeration is often described as cardboard tasting but I'm not sure if it would be considered bitter like you're describing. Aeration does get worse with time though which correlates to your issue. So maybe look into aeration and see if it matches up?

Are your beer lines and dip tube/poppets clean in the keg?

That's all I can think of atm. Maybe someone else will chime in and shed some light.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Maybe it is just over carbed? The carbonic acid can affect the flavor. Try turning off the gas and pouring a pint and leaving that pint in the fridge for a little while. The carbonation level should drop out after a pint a day for a few days.

 

[Sammy86]

Brewers!

So I brewed a Pale Ale a little over a month ago. And I got to drink it for a couple of weeks before I had to go to work for a month. It tasted SO good, and it was my best brewing season yet. BUT, after I got home (1 month later) I am tasting a very harsh bitterness that I can't put my finger on. I didn't leave any dry hops in, and I am very anal about sanitation. There is also a slight astringent smell as well that's a lot like the taste. I did leave it on CO2 while I was gone in my kegorater. Is it something in the CO2 I am getting?

Help!

-Dogman

Is it all the subsequent beers or just the first one? I've read on here from numerous people that have left beer in the brew lines for too long it can cause an off flavor...just my .02

 

[MI_Dogman]

I will give that a shot. Maybe leaving the CO2 on during the time I was gone over did it. It just bums me out, because it tasted so good when I left.

 

[MI_Dogman]

I had it on 10 psi.

I use my well water, filtered, and cut with store bought spring water. Mine is very hard even after filtering.

 

[poptarts]

astringency isn't a taste or a smell, its a mouthfeel, a tactile sensation. Do you have any other descriptors that you might put on the smell you are getting? Does it remind you of anything else you have smelt / tasted before?

 

[LandoLincoln]

My money is on oxidation or carbolic acid bite.

 

[MI_Dogman]

I can't put my finger on anything familiar. I am definitely on the side of either to much co2 or leaving beer in the line is the problem [emoji29]

 

[poptarts]

Gonna agree with lando and bet it is carbonic bite. Have you ever drank plain soda water?

 

[brick_haus]

So a month on CO2 at 10psi is too much/too long? Does CO2 continue to absorb into solution even after reaching equilibrium? If it is over carbonated enough to cause off flavors due to carbonic acid (I doubt it would be carbolic acid, but...), would the beer show signs of this condition during the pour?

 

[Yooper]

So a month on CO2 at 10psi is too much/too long? Does CO2 continue to absorb into solution even after reaching equilibrium? If it is over carbonated enough to cause off flavors due to carbonic acid (I doubt it would be carbolic acid, but...), would the beer show signs of this condition during the pour?

No, and no. It can be a year on 10 psi, and if it is at a set temperature (more or less), it won't overcarb.

It sounds more like hops flavor has faded and perhaps that had earlier covered the off-flavor, and/or oxidation has made it worse.

 

[MI_Dogman]

I don't know. Maybe it is my water still even though I cut it. I will try strictly store bought water next time. See if I still end up with the same result. I don't really know how it would have been oxygenated, I'm really careful when transferring to the keg and it has been under CO2 this whole time. Unless it came through the tap or something.

 

[paperairplane]

I wouldn't call over carbonation harsh or astringent. Think about chugging a Coke with no ice - that kind of burning / tingling feeling - that's carbonation.

Did you get a lot of yeast in the keg when you racked? Is it cloudy when you pour? Might have flocced some yeast out while you were away and got it in your first couple pints.

My money is on a slightly hot fermentation that is coming forward as it ages and hops fade.

 

[brick_haus]

Oxidation is more of a wet cardboard taste, not bitter. It can occur during transfers or any time your beer makes contact with, well, oxygen. In my humble opinion, it's not beer oxidation. From what I know (think small) bitterness as described can come from oxidized hops. We're your hops fresh and properly stored in sealed bags and kept cold? If so, then see below.
I think you are on the right track though. Try a batch using RO water only and treat it with gypsum and calcium chloride as is described in the water primer sticky in the brew science category in this forum.