Soapy taste

[Mdessert]

I just took a gravity reading and tasted my sample. It has a soapy after taste. Star-San maybe?

 

[Shaneoco1981]

Star San does not leave a soapy taste, short of pouring a lot into your beer. That's why it's called a no rinse sanitizer. There are other off flavors that will cause that. Or, if you used dish soap in your brewing equipment and don't rinse it well enough it can leave a soapy residue which will leave a soapy flavor. To nail down what caused it, we will need to know your recipe and procedures. The more detail, the better.

 

[jigidyjim]

I just took a gravity reading and tasted my sample. It has a soapy after taste. Star-San maybe?

I doubt it's Star-San.

Check out the soap section in the off flavors here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Or check out the similar thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/star-san-bad-taste-56650/

 

[Mdessert]

I just took a gravity reading and tasted my sample. It has a soapy after taste. Star-San maybe?-

 

[HossTheGreat]

Star-San shouldn't give you any soapy flavors. Need to know a little more about your process and the stuff you use to clean your brewing equipment to have a better idea.

 

[Yooper]

One of the things that can cause a soapy taste in beer (besides soap in cleaning the equipment!) is from the breakdown of yeast byproducts. There are fats/lipids in there, and if you remember your chemistry, saponification of lipids = soap.

In other words, if you got a bit warm during or after fermentation, the lipids could saponify, literally making soap. You could really be tasting soap from the breakdown of fatty acids.

 

[Sweetchuck]

I remember way back when I was just getting into the hobby, fermented a light lager at room temperature. Had a soapy taste.

 

[Mdessert]

It definitely got warm at the end of my fermentation. Anything I can do?

 

[Yooper]

It definitely got warm at the end of my fermentation. Anything I can do?

No, I don't think so. Once it starts to breakdown, I don't think it will improve.

I know that lots of brewers are doing much longer primaries with good results but I think that this is a risk when fermenting too warm. I would think that the brewers that are talking up a month-long primary probably have very good temperature control.

I usually leave a beer in the fermenter for 2 weeks or so, at optimum fermentation temperatures. A too-warm fermentation or being too warm after fermentation can encourage some of these off-flavors (like soap).

 

[pbullblue]

Some of my friends who aren't into hoppy beers perceive the hops as a soapy taste.

 

[mcaple1]

Since when do esters taste like soap?

 

[vitrael]

Some of my friends who aren't into hoppy beers perceive the hops as a soapy taste.

Your friends need therapy. Get them a batch of Pliny stat!

 

[maltoftheearth]

No, I don't think so. Once it starts to breakdown, I don't think it will improve.

I know that lots of brewers are doing much longer primaries with good results but I think that this is a risk when fermenting too warm. I would think that the brewers that are talking up a month-long primary probably have very good temperature control.

I usually leave a beer in the fermenter for 2 weeks or so, at optimum fermentation temperatures. A too-warm fermentation or being too warm after fermentation can encourage some of these off-flavors (like soap).

On the one hand I am glad I found this thread as it explains the off taste in my lager. On the other other, I unfortunately followed someone's advice on this forum to not worry about the temperature of my beer in primary after fermentation. As a result I have had three different lagers sitting in primaries at room temperature for the last month. I am now racing to get these cooled down again and hoping they weren't all ruined.