Star San flavor?

[brewprint]

I've now bottled several batches of beer. They all seem to have the same flavor when their young in the bottle. Sometimes the 'young' flavor that I taste is in certain beers longer than others. Some beers have taken 6 weeks to rid itself of this flavor.

I've had friends describe it as a Styrofoam sort of flavor. Some beers like the nut brown we were drinking over the weekend doesn't have it, but if I burp I can taste it.

Is this from star san? Is it from my water? I don't think that it's from my water because I had a batch that I used culligan water with and it was still there.

Star san is the only thing that I can possibly attribute this to.

I ferment in an air conditioned house at 70 or less. I bottle age between 70-75 upstairs in our home.

 

[LakeErieMonster]

That is likely too warm for fermentation with most ale yeasts (remember fermentation temperatures are going to be warmer than ambient).

Unless you are dumping starsan into your beer, or beer into your starsan, this is not the reason for the off flavor. DONT FEAR THE FOAM!

The styrofoam off flavor may be a result of this increased fermentation temperature.

 

[kh54s10]

It is not likely to be the Starsan.
It is more likely related to fermenting too warm. Control your fermentation temperatures to the mid sixties in most cases and your beer will be better.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[flars]

If your wort temperature during active fermentation is 70° or less I would suspect your water. Is Culligan water softened? If it is sodium content could be high. Are you otherwise using municipal water? All municipal water is treated even if it is not to noticeable.

 

[jbaysurfer]

It's not the starsan. You're probably fermenting too warm. Ambient temp is not a very good measure. To me if you say "70 or less" that means most of the time it hovers around 70 ambient, and you're virtually guaranteed to have 4-6 degree higher temps in your fermenter while the yeast are at their most active.
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I pitch my ales at 64 and don't ramp up as high as 70 until fermentation is slowing to a near stop. The bottle conditioning temp is less likely a culprit, but I'd just condition downstairs if I were you. If you're trying to speed up carbonation via temp by storing them upstairs, I submit you should just be more patient and wait the extra day or 2 that the lower temp location will take. In general, 3 weeks to bottle condition should be adequate at your "lower" temp..which, I still think is a bit too high for primary.

There are other possible culprits, but "styrofoam" is not a commonly cited off-flavor. Is it more chemical or more papery? If chemical there's a good chance it's your water, and if it's papery there's a good chance it's Oxygen.

 

[IslandLizard]

Never heard of anyone cornering a styrofoam taste, but a plastic-like, band-aid kind of flavor can be from chlorine or chloramines in the brewing water, or even PVC tubing and hoses. However, they typically don't dissipate with aging.

Most municipal water has either in it. Do you treat with 1/4 Campden tablet per 5 gallon water before brewing?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Also I want to add, since this is the 2nd time in a week I've seen a newer brewer suspecting starsan gave them an off flavor, that if you're wondering what too much starsan in your beer could do, taste it. Literally, drink 1/2oz of clean starsan mixture. It's acidic, citrusy. The only off flavor it mimics is astringency, not chemicals, paper, styrofoam, or any other non-descript off flavor.

 

[LakeErieMonster]

Since he used more than one source of water (one batch he used the culligan and still got the off taste) I think it's definitely firm. temps

 

[brewprint]

Lots of interesting theories here.

I'm going to say also that it's not the starsan.

Come to think of it when it was late spring my house temperatures weren't as high as they are now. I did not have that flavor in the first 2 brews that I did. I think that I can attribute it to the fermentation temps.

My next batches will be done in the basement. I just have to move them upstairs in the winter because we only keep our house at around 62 in the winter. Is that too cold to ferment ales?

 

[millhouse9]

My next batches will be done in the basement. I just have to move them upstairs in the winter because we only keep our house at around 62 in the winter. Is that too cold to ferment ales?

Nope, 62 is pretty good.

 

[flars]

Besides the Culligan water once, what is the source of your brewing water?

 

[CUrchin]

Could Styrofoam flavor be like card board like flavor = oxidation?

 

[brewprint]

Besides the Culligan water once, what is the source of your brewing water?

City water.

 

[brewprint]

Could Styrofoam flavor be like card board like flavor = oxidation?

Oxidation is essentially what brewers worry about but is not much of a real concern. It can happen but its difficult to do.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Oxidation is essentially what brewers worry about but is not much of a real concern. It can happen but its difficult to do.

This is not my experience as a homebrewer, nor as a judge. Next to ferm temperature related off-flavors, Oxygen related off flavors/flaws is the next biggest culprit.

 

[brewprint]

This is not my experience as a homebrewer, nor as a judge. Next to ferm temperature related off-flavors, Oxygen related off flavors/flaws is the next biggest culprit.

From what I've read about oxidation it's more of a sherry wine flavor or sweet flavor which what I'm describing is the opposite of that.

 

[jbaysurfer]

From what I've read about oxidation it's more of a sherry wine flavor or sweet flavor which what I'm describing is the opposite of that.

It's everything from "Stale" to "Grassy" to "Musty" to "Carboard" to "Wet carboard/wet paper" to "sherry/port" (in it's most advanced stages. I've tasted it in all those stages. It can range from subtle to extreme.

Go to the BJCP flashcards, do a control F (or "Find" or "search") for "Cardboard.
http://www.bjcp.org/docs/OffFlavorFlash.pdf

PS, this is getting off topic. I didn't say you were experiencing Oxidation. I was responding directly to this quote:

Oxidation is essentially what brewers worry about but is not much of a real concern. It can happen but its difficult to do.

PPS, I think your beer has fermentation temp off flavors. But that's as close as I can come without tasting the beer based on the descriptions you gave us.

 

[brewprint]

Thanks for the chart. I would say that it's most like a 'solvent like' flavor. My guess is that it's from high fermenting temperatures as many have also said.