Off taste

[Kellenm]

This may be hard because you can't taste my beer, so I will describe to you my brewing process. This is for the IPA I just made.

After I make the 3 gallons of wort, I chill it down to 75 degrees as fast as I can. I add tap water to the 5 gallon mark, put the lid on and shake, then add yeast.

I leave it in the plastic fermentation bucket for about 2 weeks. The bucket sits in a large pot with water and frozen water bottles, keeping the temp between 67-73 degrees.

After the foam on top is gone, I move to the secondary until the beer clears up. It is then bottled into brown bottles, then put in a case and covered, left in a dim room at about 75 degrees.

My last two batches have had a sour tinge to them. I made a German altbier, then an IPA, both with the same off taste.

Ideas?

 

[Nateo]

After I make the 3 gallons of wort, I chill it down to 75 degrees as fast as I can. I add tap water to the 5 gallon mark, put the lid on and shake, then add yeast.

My last two batches have had a sour tinge to them. I made a German altbier, then an IPA, both with the same off taste.

Ideas?

If it's sour, it's most likely an infection of some kind. If you're adding tap water straight to the fermentor, it's possible you're picking up an infection that way. I always boil and chill anything I put in the fermentor. It could also just be a general sanitation issue causing an infection.

There's also a chance that the beer is just too young, has too much yeast still in suspension, and has a sort of sour taste (yeast bite) because of that.

 

[ayoungrad]

Did you treat tap water for chlorine and/or chloramine?

 

[Kellenm]

I have not treated for anything. Now that it's mentioned, my first batch was bottled water.

 

[squirrelly]

A sour taste usually indicates a Lactic infection. My guess would be from either lax sanitation practices and or not boiling the tap water for at least 20 minutes before adding it to your fermenter. There are microbes in your tap water that will infect the wort before the yeast has a chance to take off. This is especially true if you are not doing a yeast starter. Microbes will start eating the fermentables before your yeast cells can start flocculating. Once you start boiling your added water, you will probably realize this is an unneeded step which can easily be avoided with full wort boils.

I would boil any added water(even store bought) for 20 minutes before adding it to your fermenter. Also start doing large yeast starters three days before you brew. If you have indeed picked up an infection, you may want to toss your plastic equipment before brewing again. Once bacteria gets into plastic you can never fully kill it. This is also true for your plastic buckets.

Lastly, and most importantly take a couple bottles to your next local homebrew club meeting. There will be a lot of experienced brewers and probably some BJCP certified judges who can identify these off flavors, and better advise how to avoid them in the future.

[email protected]. on tap: easy virtue blonde, fruity monk belgian wit. primary: American pale ale, American stout, blow your top steam, and heffewitzen

 

[ayoungrad]

Lastly, and most importantly take a couple bottles to your next local homebrew club meeting. There will be a lot of experienced brewers and probably some BJCP certified judges who can identify these off flavors, and better advise how to avoid them in the future.

+1 to this.

It can be very difficult to ascertain, let alone accurately describe what you are tasting when just starting off.

 

[Kellenm]

What would I do if the yeast suspension is the problem?

 

[squirrelly]

I am not quite sure what you are asking. Are you asking about poor yeast health, or yeast that has stopped fermenting all together leaving you with a high FG? In either case doing a large yeast starter 3 days prior to brewing should alleviate both of those issues. Also oxygenating your wort with sterile O2 at time of pitching is a good practice to get into as well. Just be sure not to over oxygenate the wort; there are really good tables for quick calculations you can find for O2:yeast pitch for each batch.

[email protected]. on tap: easy virtue blonde, fruity monk belgian wit. primary: American pale ale, American stout, blow your top steam, and heffewitzen