Someone try my beer/ off taste

[milesvdustin]

So I have two kegs of beer, a red ale and a snpa clone. Both all grain batches, both primary fermented for 6 weeks, and both at serving pressure in the kegerator for 8 weeks. I still have some strange bitter-off flavor that I have in beers that only primary for three weeks and get force carbed. I do not have temp control for fermentation, ferments around 73F. SO, if anyone is around Pensacola, FL and wants to come by for a taste testing and troubleshooting session, I promise you as much (somewhat twangy) beer as you can drink and I will even cook some BBQ or something like that. Or I can send a few bottles to a few people if you send me an address. I will only mail a few bottles if you promise to give me good feedback and everything. I am just so unhappy because I spent all this money on a kegging setup and going all grain and my beer is not very good. Help!

 

[Yooper]

I'm too far away to take you up on the invite, but I can tell you that 73 degrees is too warm. That's one issue. Another issue could be with your water- have you had any water tests done, or know your water ingredients?

A cooler with frozen water bottles in a water bath can easily keep your beer in the 60s, so that is one cheap way to correct the temperature issues.

 

[samc]

Brew a samll test batch with RO water from the supermarket.

 

[Hammy71]

Try using spring water if your not already. Also, try pouring out a couple of ounces of beer and chucking it. Then fill your glass. Some beer lines have some funky tastes..not sure bitter is one, but each tongue is different.

 

[milesvdustin]

Ok. I just use tap water. I have not had a water analasys done. And I don't have the money for a cooler to control temps, especially with 6 fermenters. FML

I have also tried different beer line. One was bevlex and the other was pet-lined beverage line, good stuff. I will try some water from the grocery store I guess next time. Problem is, I have 25 gallons of beer and I bet that all of it has this flavor!

 

[terrapinj]

you can also use a ~$20 rubbermaid bucket filled with water to help maintain lower constant temps during fermentation by switching out frozen water bottles

 

[milesvdustin]

you can also use a ~$20 rubbermaid bucket filled with water to help maintain lower constant temps during fermentation by switching out frozen water bottles

Unfortunately I dont have the room for all those buckets or the money for them. I guess I'll quit til winter!

 

[milesvdustin]

How about the bathtub? I could get them in there for at least primary fermentation, then swap out for new batches. Or would that still be just as bad as fermenting the whole time at higher temps?

 

[terrapinj]

Bathtub would be fine too. ferm temps are most crucial during first few days of fermentation

 

[bottlebomber]

Suprised nobody has given the usual inquisition regarding mash temps and volume

 

[pm5k00]

First off I'm not saying the higher than average ferm temps aren't to blame, but I keep my house at 75 in the day and 68 at night, and my fermenters just sit in a closet. I've never had any issues with off flavors or esters. Also most of my ales usually goto into kegs by day 14, and tapped by day 16, the darker more complex ones I give 4 weeks.

Could be a sanitation issue, or any number of other things.

 

[extra_medium]

is it a garden-hose flavor? i know a guy who used a bramd new garden hose to fill his HLT and his beer tasted like garden hose. Go back through your process was ANYTHING different?
Side note. 6 weeks at 73 seems a bit long. At that temp you should have been done in about 5-10 days. If you were still seeing gravity points dropping then you may have a wild yeast.

 

[Zamial]

Suprised nobody has given the usual inquisition regarding mash temps and volume

This + have you calibrated your thermometer?

 

[SDCore]

I found another solution to ice baths. If you have little room you can use a seafood pot or a large pot you brewed in that is just bigger than your fermenter. It is a little harder to control the temp cause it will be steel or aluminum but it only takes up like 2-3 more inches then the fermenter. Just throw the fermenter bucket or carboy in the pot and fill with cold water and add slim ice packs. Make sure you have a temp gauge on the outside above the water. I'm a newbie at this but I have space issues and this worked for me til i found a work around

 

[C-Rider]

Ok. I just use tap water. I have not had a water analasys done. And I don't have the money for a cooler to control temps, especially with 6 fermenters. FML

I have also tried different beer line. One was bevlex and the other was pet-lined beverage line, good stuff. I will try some water from the grocery store I guess next time. Problem is, I have 25 gallons of beer and I bet that all of it has this flavor!

Don't brew more than you can control the temp. I use the bucket and ice method here in Hawai`i, but I'm not limited by space. I only brew one batch at a time to keep from swapping ice blocks for hours.

 

[milesvdustin]

Mash temps between 152-154 on all these batches. But, I had an epiphany when you asked about the hose and process change. I moved! So I have three batches from the new house and different water. The two I'm drinking from now are from a garden hose and different water from the old house. I have yet to sample anything from the new place. I primary long to let the yeast clean up well, and I am very serious about sanitation. And as far as thermometer use, I use a thermapen.

 

[Zamial]

Mash temps between 152-154 I use a thermapen.

How do you know that thermo is right? I had a digital that I returned because it had a -/+4 degree difference...digital does not = accurate. Take a glass filled with ice, add a little water to make the ice float. stick the probe/thermo into it and quickly swirl the solution to equalize the temp. it should read 33-32F. next bring some water to a boil it should start to boil at 212F +/- a degree depending on elevation from sea level...You can also take your temp...98F. Many of us take for granted that our thermos are right.

The two I'm drinking from now are from a garden hose...

Never ever use water run through a standard garden hose to make beer. This will give you more off flavors than a bag of mixed Jelly Bellies...They make drinking water safe camper/RV hose. (Mine was white) They are a little more expensive than a garden hose but not real bad...I had a Pur water filter that I stuck on the end of mine. Works great!

 

[extra_medium]

A question about fermentation temps, were they ambiet of the room or were they taken on the fermenters? The fertmentation process generates heat and could put them closer to 80 if your room temp is 73. Swings in temp also stress the yeast and might cause you to get some off flavors. Temp control can't be stressed enough! Search the forums here, there are tons of ideas for all budgets and space limitations. IMHO you should scale down the batch size and try a small batch with temp control to see if this fixes the issue.

 

[milesvdustin]

How do you know that thermo is right?

I checked it in ice bath and boiling water, spot on temps. I recheck every six months. Thermapens rock!

A question about fermentation temps, were they ambiet of the room or were they taken on the fermenters?

The temp of the room was around 68 I think, I have thermometer strips on the side of my fermenters and they read 74ish during primary fermentation.

I know the hose was a bad thing to do, well I do now anyways. On the three other batches I have sitting in primary right now, I used water from the tap. No water came from a hose for those batches, so I am hoping that they are better. As far as fermentation temps, I am saving bottles to make ice blocks so I can use the bathtub with some water and ice to keep temps down next time.

 

[Homercidal]

If you have a bathtub, then I recommend buying a plastic "toy tub" from walmart. They are like $5-10. Just put it in the bathtub and place your fermenter in there. Then add pop bottles with frozen water twice a day to keep the temps down.

Much smaller area to chill than a bathtub. The bonus is you can just dump the water out when you are done.

I think just using a bathtub to control fermentation temps would not work very well.

 

[EROK]

Make a small batch with bottled spring water. Water is the main ingredient. I have well water w/ high iron and cannot use it. Every batch tasted terrible and metallic. It was the fix for me.

 

[marmonduke]

my wife had an extra plastic tote used to store stuff so I just take it and put a bunch of cold water and put the ice bottles in it for the first week. I started that after I started getting some off flavors.

 

[blackpeter]

Hey,

Wondering how you are doing with those batches after some time has passed, seems to me 6 weeks in primary is too long, I like to get it off the trub as soon as reasonable. Secondary fermentation or bottle conditioning for at least two weeks as well. I had had pretty good success with this so far.
Hope it turned out OK.