Still making bad beer after 30+ batches.

[sheephrdr]

I used to get a wet cardboard aftertaste in most of my beers .. I expect from all the transferring etc secondary then to bottle bucket.. ever since ive switched to just primary then transfer to keg.. no more off flavour..

always learning something new, always boiled with lid 3/4 on brew pot, just learned yesterday I should have lid off.. will try next time and see if any better beer

 

[Zwoods]

So, I live in East Lansing and have successfully brewed with regular tap water; I brew all grain and have had good results. If you want, I could possibly help you pin point your off flavors. I am always willing to help a fellow homebrewer; if you would like another opinion let me know.

 

[Rhaop]

My vote is use unaltered RO for the extract batch(make sure its fresh), sanitize a pack of s-05, direct pitch and keep fermenter around 65, should be fail proof, if you still get a flavor it would have to be in the cold side anyone disagree?

 

[jimmypop13]

My first few batches were awful too and you're using the exact thing that ruined all mine so I'm really hoping I can solve your issue. Star-san. Either switch to a different sanitizer or rinse it all off after you give it time to sanitize. Everyone told me dont fear the foam so I never rinsed it and every beer had this horrible horrible aftertaste to it. Especially after bottling. I would soak all my bottles in a big bucket of star San and the horrible flavor intensified in the bottle. Now everything that touches star San, including the bottles, gets washed back out with water and my nasty batch-ruining off flavor is gone!
Hope this helps!

 

[thekraken]

My first few batches were awful too and you're using the exact thing that ruined all mine so I'm really hoping I can solve your issue. Star-san. Either switch to a different sanitizer or rinse it all off after you give it time to sanitize. Everyone told me dont fear the foam so I never rinsed it and every beer had this horrible horrible aftertaste to it. Especially after bottling. I would soak all my bottles in a big bucket of star San and the horrible flavor intensified in the bottle. Now everything that touches star San, including the bottles, gets washed back out with water and my nasty batch-ruining off flavor is gone!
Hope this helps!

That's an interesting observation. I was going to suggest to OP that they might switch up sanitation a little, though probably for slightly different reasons. @mabrungard suggests in various other threads that using different sanitizers from time to time is a good idea, and he has switched to using Iodophor primarily.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=601403&page=2

 

[jimmypop13]

Delete

 

[jimmypop13]

That's an interesting observation. I was going to suggest to OP that they might switch up sanitation a little, though probably for slightly different reasons. @mabrungard suggests in various other threads that using different sanitizers from time to time is a good idea, and he has switched to using Iodophor primarily.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=601403&page=2

Thanks. I think I will try IO Star or BTF Iodophor on my next batch. I'd rather find something that works as no rinse than keep rinsing off star san

 

[Rhaop]

My first few batches were awful too and you're using the exact thing that ruined all mine so I'm really hoping I can solve your issue. Star-san. Either switch to a different sanitizer or rinse it all off after you give it time to sanitize. Everyone told me dont fear the foam so I never rinsed it and every beer had this horrible horrible aftertaste to it. Especially after bottling. I would soak all my bottles in a big bucket of star San and the horrible flavor intensified in the bottle. Now everything that touches star San, including the bottles, gets washed back out with water and my nasty batch-ruining off flavor is gone!
Hope this helps!

I've never noticed any off flavors i could contribute to star san, i use a little less then a 1/4oz for a gallon maybe your ratio of star san to water was too high? That's a good one

 

[crusader1612]

My first few batches were awful too and you're using the exact thing that ruined all mine so I'm really hoping I can solve your issue. Star-san. Either switch to a different sanitizer or rinse it all off after you give it time to sanitize. Everyone told me dont fear the foam so I never rinsed it and every beer had this horrible horrible aftertaste to it. Especially after bottling. I would soak all my bottles in a big bucket of star San and the horrible flavor intensified in the bottle. Now everything that touches star San, including the bottles, gets washed back out with water and my nasty batch-ruining off flavor is gone!
Hope this helps!

See i had the opposite - i rinsed my starsan off once for some unknown reason, and it got infected.

 

[jimmypop13]

I've never noticed any off flavors i could contribute to star san, i use a little less then a 1/4oz for a gallon maybe your ratio of star san to water was too high? That's a good one

It could be the water in my area. I know it was never clear by the time I was done using it in a 6gallon bucket to soak all my bottles at first so I ended up doing probably 1.5x the amount hoping that would help. I only was able to narrow down star-san as the culprit to my off flavor because I always brewed with a buddy and the only difference in our process was I used Star San and he used 1-step. All his beers were missing the nasty aftertaste mine had so that's when I started rinsing off the star San.

 

[Stillraining]

It's possible its reacting to something already in your water..every brewer will have different challenges form one to another. Stranger things have happened.

 

[Murphys_Law]

It could be the water in my area. I know it was never clear by the time I was done using it in a 6gallon bucket to soak all my bottles at first so I ended up doing probably 1.5x the amount hoping that would help. I only was able to narrow down star-san as the culprit to my off flavor because I always brewed with a buddy and the only difference in our process was I used Star San and he used 1-step. All his beers were missing the nasty aftertaste mine had so that's when I started rinsing off the star San.

I always use distilled water. Tap water would get cloudy (heard it was due to minerals in water).

 

[eulipion2]

I always use distilled water. Tap water would get cloudy (heard it was due to minerals in water).

Agreed. Used with distilled water, the StarSan solution will last a long time. I usually keep a batch of sanitizer for 1-2 months at a time, sanitizing EVERYTHING with it, and I rarely have an infected beer. I have a spray bottle that I haven't changed the StarSan in 3-4 months!

I wash beer and debris off of equipment before dunking into sanitizer to keep the solution clean, and when I dump the solution into kegs or fermenters, I use a funnel with a filter to filter out anything that may have gotten into it.

On the other hand, when I tried using tap water the solution turned cloudy before my brew day was over. USE DISTILLED.

 

[trav77]

Agreed. Used with distilled water, the StarSan solution will last a long time. I usually keep a batch of sanitizer for 1-2 months at a time, sanitizing EVERYTHING with it, and I rarely have an infected beer. I have a spray bottle that I haven't changed the StarSan in 3-4 months!



I wash beer and debris off of equipment before dunking into sanitizer to keep the solution clean, and when I dump the solution into kegs or fermenters, I use a funnel with a filter to filter out anything that may have gotten into it.



On the other hand, when I tried using tap water the solution turned cloudy before my brew day was over. USE DISTILLED.

I've seen this a number of times but always wonder what's the worry over cloudy StarSan? Mine is cloudy from the moment I mix it and I keep a bucket around for a long time. Tested pH is always fine. I have not had an infected batch in over 10 years and that was in my beginner days.

 

[Brewsader1]

Sorry if this has already been suggested, but I was having trouble making a good IPA a while back. I ended up using the Bell's Two Hearted clone recipe from the AHA to see if it was my process or recipe making. The beer turned out dead on, so I knew it was my recipe formulation. Doing a clone like this, particularly one shown on the AHA since it is probably coming from the source, may help give you a baseline (the professionally brewed beer) from which you can better evaluate yours at the sensory level.

 

[oylerck]

Is there a place where I can send off a couple bottles and have them tell me what's wrong with my beer? I've made 30+ all-grain batches now and almost everyone of them has been barely drinkable. I have yet to make a beer that I would pay money for. I'm done trying to troubleshoot as I've tried just about everything(too long to list here). I've tried a few brewers locally and they couldn't tell me. I'm at wits end and am sick of dumping gallons upon gallons down the drain. Thanks for any input......Mark

Can you pm what your equipment is and everything involved? Don't know if I can help, but there are tons of pages to read...

 

[bkboiler]

the number one thing that prevented me from making good beer for a much longer time than I'd care to admit was not chilling the beer down enough before i pitched the yeast.
i was impatient and would trust the fermometer temp to tell me how cold the beer inside the fermenter truly was (having used my immersion chiller to get the beer down into the high 70s). but several gallons in a glass carboy doesnt chill down to 68F very quickly in the fridge.
pitching at 80F and above can be disastrous unless you're doing a saison. that was one of my first good beers and helped me see the error of my ways. and that good beer is worth the wait.

 

[Honda88]

I would think you would be alright as long as you brought your fermentation temp down quickly after pitching your yeast but maybe I'm wrong...I just brewed a weizenbier and pitched the yeast at 88 degrees but quickly brought the temp down with a water bath...beer turned out just fine.

 

[broot]

I always use distilled water. Tap water would get cloudy (heard it was due to minerals in water).

I also use distilled water. 5 gallons to 1 oz. star san and keep it for about 6 months. I let it drain well and have not had off flavors,but i do let it drain. I do fear the foam!

 

[Honda88]

As blunt as this may sound, OP just needs to brew with someone who makes good beer. If you cant succeed on your own, its time to seek guidance from a successful mentor.

 

[dallasdb]

As blunt as this may sound, OP just needs to brew with someone who makes good beer. If you cant succeed on your own, its time to seek guidance from a successful mentor.

Or just give it up!

I would've quit by now.

 

[soccerdad]

As blunt as this may sound, OP just needs to brew with someone who makes good beer. If you cant succeed on your own, its time to seek guidance from a successful mentor.

If the OP has a brew club nearby he should just go assist a capable brewer a couple of times - good learning experience

 

[treacheroustexan]

Any updates?