What is causing this off flavor...

[WCrane]

The Flavor - a malty, under carbed, flatness. Kind of like when you crack a bottle before its carbed up and you get an overwhelming flat maltiness even though the bottles are carbed. I also had very poor head retention and it seems to have poor hop aroma and bitterness (most likely due to using a hop sock/spider).

The Background: I did an amber rye and an ESB that both had this flavor. the rye way more so than the esb. both had/have the same poor head retention.My LHBS buddy said that the rye tasted "muted".

Equipment using 10g rubbermaid with bazooka, double batch sparge, hit 154-156 mash temps. efficiency has been between 65-75% for most of my batches. Both had stuck sparges, but so did my old ale it the sample tasted fine at bottling. both beers did taste off at bottling, IMO. I run a good roiling boil as well. Been using this set up since i pieced it together this past winter. the ry was the third beer on the system, the 5th for the esb.

I generally treat my water minimally just to get some of the minerals and PH in range (estimated). don't test the mash PH yet (as i don't have the means) but go off EZ water calc estimate to get close.

I did an old ale in between the two, missed my numbers way low due to poor eff/stuck sparge and a little over-sparging. Sample bottling tasted great. Did a porter - in the secondary, its spot on so far. And a pale ale with an all Simcoe hop burst and it is going promisingly.

From what I can find it is one of or a combination of the following:
Still learning the quirks of new equipment and setup.
poorly mixed sanitizer
the stuck sparges
poor/off Mash PH
Using a hop sock/spider (which i'm going to stop using due to poor utilization.
bad grains - unlike has the lhbs has a high turnover
bad recipe
just a bad brew day or bad luck

Any other thoughts?

 

[Hugh_Jass]

When was the last time you calibrated your thermometer?

 

[ayoungrad]

What about yeast... pitching rate, oxygenation, fermentation temperature...

 

[WCrane]

Thermometer - I did when i got it and it was good to go.
I'm in the process of rechecking all my gear and fine tuning the process on the equipment ( condensing all my notes)

Yeast Rye - was US05, ESB was S04
Pitching rate was a good deal more than an average packet. Both from washed yeast from previous batches that I made about 16oz starter a few days ahead of time. Both sets of yeast we less than two months old.

Aeration was solid good 2-3 inches of foam after racking

Ferm temps in the mid 60s (64-67) for first week to two weeks

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Also, what yeast strains did you use with these beers?

 

[WCrane]

I'm thinking now ( after going through my notes) that since both the Rye and the ESB were from washed yeast that I had done from previous beers, that the yeast is the culprit (old ale and pale ale were from fresh).
I've used washed yeast in the past with great results, however it appears I may of made a bad batch yeast...or two.
Would/could a old washed yeast or unclean washed yeast (lots of old trub) contribute to he off flavor?

 

[ayoungrad]

I'm thinking now ( after going through my notes) that since both the Rye and the ESB were from washed yeast that I had done from previous beers, that the yeast is the culprit (old ale and pale ale were from fresh).
I've used washed yeast in the past with great results, however it appears I may of made a bad batch yeast...or two.
Would/could a old washed yeast or unclean washed yeast (lots of old trub) contribute to he off flavor?

I have not been reusing yeast as of yet but yeast health can certainly affect anything and everything.