Brew tastes funny and gross - HomeBrewChatter.com Home Brew Forum

Steven4est · 01-02-2010, 02:32 AM

I brewed an october fest,an american ale clone and bottled them both. The octoberfest was drinkable but not very good. It had some off flavors in it, not sour really but a bitter non beer tasting taste. The american ale clone turned out a little better. Well at the time my beer kit only came with cleaner, not sanitizer and i didnt use sanitizer. Once i realized i needed to santitize i did a homey bear paw ale beer and thought using a bleach and vinegar solution would work. I racked it into a secondary after 2 weeks and let it age there for about 3 more weeks. Well i just racked it into a my first keg batch last night and its pretty gross. At first i thought it might have been because of lack of carbonation, but now it has at least some carbonation and its gotten worse. Very Bitter and off tasting, really i dont even want to drink it lol. I noticed trub in it, probably becaused i try to get every last drop of beer out of my carboy.

Prior to tasting the bear paw i have 2 other brews in the secondary right now and i used starsan to santitize the equptment when i brewed then. Im just hoping all my beer doesnt taste this bad and need some help on what i could be doing wrong.

I do not have a wort chiller, but one is in the mail. I use cold water in my bathtub to cool my wort as well as stiring it.

Please help me find the problem.

Im very tempted to dump out the bear paw and try one of the starsan beers to reassure me that making good beer isnt impossible

BrewMeister Jeff · 01-02-2010, 03:12 AM

I would say the off tastes are from your Vinegar/Bleach solution. As most around here will agree with (maybe not PseudoChef) Bleach is very difficult to get out of your equipment. You did yourself right by getting the starsan.

If the beer is not drinkable even after getting hammered on some BMC - then I say dump it and let that be a lesson to you. I have done the same with cooling in a tub of cold water, that shouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and Welcome to a hobby that if you aren't careful will consume your basement, Kitchen or Garage.

cookieman · 01-02-2010, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Oh, and Welcome to a hobby that if you aren't careful will consume your basement, Kitchen or Garage.

Or your home office!
Welcome to your new obsession. Don't worry i had to dump a couple batches myself, but less than a year later my beers are getting better and better and i have 20gals of beer on tap.

k4df4l · 01-02-2010, 12:27 PM

I'm not a huge fan of bleach as a brewing sanitizer. At the right dilution rate it can be an effective no rinse sanitizer...but how many people (myself included early on) just dump a bunch of bleach in water then rinse everything off with tap water after soaking? It doesn't take much residual bleach in the beer to create off flavors in your beer. Bleach does leave a very distinctive medicinal/plasticy flavors, which your not describing so I doubt it's your choice of sanitizer.

You have a lot of factors that could be part of your issue: sanitizer, quick force carb and sample & carrying trub into the keg. With out knowing more about the off-flavor, the recipes & your process/techniques, it's hard to pin on source.

Check out some of the resources online like how to brew or this:
http://www.bjcp.org/faults.php

If you can narrown the off-flavors, it might give you more of a lead to the source(s).

Highlander · 01-02-2010, 04:25 PM

I use bleach all the time. Use about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. When not in use I keep my fermenters filled with it, and soak my tubes, funnels, stoppers and airlocks with it.

To get rid of it you need to rinse a couple of times with HOT water.

I use Iodophor for bottles because it is a real pain rinsing 60+ bottles with hot water a couple of times.

I have never used vinegar. If you didn't rinse, the vinegar could be the problem.

Joos · 01-02-2010, 10:27 PM

Starsan in a spray bottle FTW!

shrekfx · 01-02-2010, 10:51 PM

star san for the win. I have oxyclean to clean my stuff, but got the non free one so you need to make sure to rinse the stuff really good. I think i'm emailing midwest supplies about the cleanser part cuz those kits are getting everyone mixed up.

fightingswede · 01-03-2010, 04:02 AM

I use StarSan as a sanitizer but every 6 months, everything gets a bleach bath. One important thing with bleach is to NOT leave it in anything plastic or it will degrade it and get into the plastic so much you can't get the odor and taste out. I leave mine in for 10 minutes which is plenty of time to kill any bugs of any type, then rinse, rinse with star san, rinse, and I'm good for another six months of just using star san at each brewing. If this sounds like too much, it isn't. All of the problems you mentioned can be traced to poor sanitation. Why spend lots of $$ to get shit?

01-02-2010, 02:32 AM	#1
Steven4est Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Chesapeake Posts: 11	Brew tastes funny and gross I brewed an october fest,an american ale clone and bottled them both. The octoberfest was drinkable but not very good. It had some off flavors in it, not sour really but a bitter non beer tasting taste. The american ale clone turned out a little better. Well at the time my beer kit only came with cleaner, not sanitizer and i didnt use sanitizer. Once i realized i needed to santitize i did a homey bear paw ale beer and thought using a bleach and vinegar solution would work. I racked it into a secondary after 2 weeks and let it age there for about 3 more weeks. Well i just racked it into a my first keg batch last night and its pretty gross. At first i thought it might have been because of lack of carbonation, but now it has at least some carbonation and its gotten worse. Very Bitter and off tasting, really i dont even want to drink it lol. I noticed trub in it, probably becaused i try to get every last drop of beer out of my carboy. Prior to tasting the bear paw i have 2 other brews in the secondary right now and i used starsan to santitize the equptment when i brewed then. Im just hoping all my beer doesnt taste this bad and need some help on what i could be doing wrong. I do not have a wort chiller, but one is in the mail. I use cold water in my bathtub to cool my wort as well as stiring it. Please help me find the problem. Im very tempted to dump out the bear paw and try one of the starsan beers to reassure me that making good beer isnt impossible

01-02-2010, 10:27 PM	#6
Joos Merciless Brewing Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Taunton MA Posts: 1,827	Starsan in a spray bottle FTW! __________________ JESUS!!!!!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

01-02-2010, 12:27 PM	#4
k4df4l Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Doylestown, PA Posts: 6,154	I'm not a huge fan of bleach as a brewing sanitizer. At the right dilution rate it can be an effective no rinse sanitizer...but how many people (myself included early on) just dump a bunch of bleach in water then rinse everything off with tap water after soaking? It doesn't take much residual bleach in the beer to create off flavors in your beer. Bleach does leave a very distinctive medicinal/plasticy flavors, which your not describing so I doubt it's your choice of sanitizer. You have a lot of factors that could be part of your issue: sanitizer, quick force carb and sample & carrying trub into the keg. With out knowing more about the off-flavor, the recipes & your process/techniques, it's hard to pin on source. Check out some of the resources online like how to brew or this: http://www.bjcp.org/faults.php If you can narrown the off-flavors, it might give you more of a lead to the source(s).

01-02-2010, 04:25 PM	#5
Highlander Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 515	I use bleach all the time. Use about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. When not in use I keep my fermenters filled with it, and soak my tubes, funnels, stoppers and airlocks with it. To get rid of it you need to rinse a couple of times with HOT water. I use Iodophor for bottles because it is a real pain rinsing 60+ bottles with hot water a couple of times. I have never used vinegar. If you didn't rinse, the vinegar could be the problem.

01-03-2010, 04:02 AM	#8
fightingswede Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 70	I use StarSan as a sanitizer but every 6 months, everything gets a bleach bath. One important thing with bleach is to NOT leave it in anything plastic or it will degrade it and get into the plastic so much you can't get the odor and taste out. I leave mine in for 10 minutes which is plenty of time to kill any bugs of any type, then rinse, rinse with star san, rinse, and I'm good for another six months of just using star san at each brewing. If this sounds like too much, it isn't. All of the problems you mentioned can be traced to poor sanitation. Why spend lots of $$ to get shit?