WilliamstonBrew
Well-Known Member
I've done 5 all grain batches. The first turned out good (a simple, hoppy pale ale) the second one was so bad I needed to dump it out (even after ageing for almost a year a strange, cardboard, awful, stale, hard to describe after taste never went away. I think it's 'cause I didn't find the exact base malt the recipe called for so I split it between three different malts that sounded similar in name ... don't even ask I feel foolish even discussing that episode).
I'm drinking the third as I write this. It's BM's Centennial Blonde. I followed the recipe's primary, secondary, kegging schedule, hit target temps and volumes pretty close.
Two days ago it had that same dreaded hard-to-describe cardboard (mayhap a little soapy?) aftertaste as my second, dumped all-grain batch. It wasn't as bad as that though and it was still drinkable. I was pissed and disappointed and thought maybe some chemicals were leeching from the plastic of my Coleman cooler mash tun (like maybe at high temps something happens). I've made the extract version twice and it turned out fine with no weird after taste.
Right now it tastes fantastic! Just two days later and something has definitely changed. No funky after taste at all. It's... what's the word... delicious.
A few questions/items of discussion:
1. Will an ale continue to benefit from age even at 39 degrees?
2. Is there some reason for the differences in after taste between extract and all-grain brews?
3. Is it in fact safe to expose the plastic liners of coolers to high temp liquids meant for consumption (in other words, does stuff leech from this equipment?) Every day it seems like there's some story of some bizarre chemical used by various industries that suddenly we find out will make us sick.
I'm drinking the third as I write this. It's BM's Centennial Blonde. I followed the recipe's primary, secondary, kegging schedule, hit target temps and volumes pretty close.
Two days ago it had that same dreaded hard-to-describe cardboard (mayhap a little soapy?) aftertaste as my second, dumped all-grain batch. It wasn't as bad as that though and it was still drinkable. I was pissed and disappointed and thought maybe some chemicals were leeching from the plastic of my Coleman cooler mash tun (like maybe at high temps something happens). I've made the extract version twice and it turned out fine with no weird after taste.
Right now it tastes fantastic! Just two days later and something has definitely changed. No funky after taste at all. It's... what's the word... delicious.
A few questions/items of discussion:
1. Will an ale continue to benefit from age even at 39 degrees?
2. Is there some reason for the differences in after taste between extract and all-grain brews?
3. Is it in fact safe to expose the plastic liners of coolers to high temp liquids meant for consumption (in other words, does stuff leech from this equipment?) Every day it seems like there's some story of some bizarre chemical used by various industries that suddenly we find out will make us sick.
