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Author Topic: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste  (Read 20617 times)

Offline bonjour

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2010, 08:21:55 am »
try a laundry bucket with water, put a tee shirt (or something) over the fermenter to wick the water, and blow a fan on it,  if that doesn't drop the temp enough drop some ice in (2l bottles frozen should work well).
Fred Bonjour
Co-Chair Mashing in Michigan 2014 AHA Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan
AHA Governing Committee; AHA Conference, Club Support & Web Subcommittees



Everything under 1.100 is a 'session' beer ;)

Offline gordonstrong

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2010, 08:24:57 am »
Yes, try liquid yeast and see if it makes a difference.  Make a starter, though.  Dry yeast can be a bit hit or miss for me; I've had some give me wild yeast phenolics.  More people see to like the Safale dry yeast, so you could try that.  See if you can get some GO-FERM and rehydrate your dry yeast before you pitch it; that should help its viability.

Regarding fermentation temps, do you have a cellar?  Otherwise you can try the "swamp cooler" approach.  Wet t-shirt and a fan.  You can also buy a large round plastic laundry tub and put the carboy in there, fill it about 2/3 full of water, and then use frozen 1L bottles of water to keep the temps down.  You'll have to swap them twice a day.  Dedicated fridge/freezer with a temperature control is always a possibility, but that's $$$.

Sounds like you need to adjust your sanitation regimen too.  I agree that water isn't likely your problem.  Try yeast and sanitation methods first, along with lower fermentation temps.  Then check extract brands/age/condition.
Gordon Strong • Beavercreek, Ohio • AHA Member since 1997 • Twitter: GordonStrong

Offline ipaguy

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #17 on: November 29, 2010, 10:06:48 am »
One thing I noticed is that you said you sterlize with B-Brite.  B-Brite is an oxy-type cleanser that is not really for sanitizing.

+1.  StarSan is great for sanitizing.  The acidity should also be helpful in removing any last traces of oxy-type cleansers, such as B-Brite or OxyClean.
Edit - If you're 'sanitizing' with B-Brite, what are you using for rinse water?  If it's not boiled, that's a very likely source of infection.  No-rinse sanitizers are a truly wonderful invention.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2010, 11:06:00 am by ipaguy »
Primary: gotlandsdricke/alt/dunkel hybrid
Secondary: pale barleywine,
Bottled:  Gotlandsdricke
               Oatmeal/blackberry stout
               Honey Kolsch

Offline wakenick

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #18 on: November 29, 2010, 10:36:57 am »
Thanks, all, again for all the great recs and advice.

Offline Braufiend

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2021, 08:04:13 am »
I think i know what you mean but not wjat causes it. Its like a boozy/booze breath slightly off after taste.

I find it diminishes with conditioning...walk away for 6 weeks then come back and try it

Offline jverduin

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #20 on: April 27, 2021, 09:28:13 am »
There is a glaring obvious item to check first. You stated sanitizing with B-Brite. From the company website, “While it is not a sanitizer, ...”

Of the issues people have weighed in on, unsanitized equipment would be the first variable I’d eliminate.


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Offline 69franx

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #21 on: April 27, 2021, 12:16:03 pm »
Digging deep into the archives for a topic I see, its all good info
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline Rbalsinger

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #22 on: April 28, 2021, 09:42:27 am »
This is a picture of my attempt at fermentation control. Since this photo I have simplified the set up to be for FV only. The picture was the original which was used to cool wort before FV. That setup was ineffective to cool wort quickly so now I use it for fermenting only. I built the insulating jacket from some material someone left at our storage facility. I lined the jacket with hose and used metal tape to secure the 15 ft of hose so that the whole FV receives cooling. I dropped an aquarium heater into the water to raise the FV temp at the end of fermentation.

The "also abandoned" old water cooler worked too well with the RV glycol. Once the coolant got close to 32F it foamed too much to circulate well. I switched to water with some rubbing alcohol and that works fine. The temperature controller came from Northern Brewer and included the pump. The sensor wire goes into a tube that comes with the kit so you are measuring the temperature at the center of the FV.

You could use any kind of cooling system. I am thinking about using an old Fermonster full of water (7 gal I think) inverted like the original water bottles to make a larger "cold sink" instead of just the 1 gallon built in water tub and water in the lines. That should be more efficient cooling, enough for the hot wort perhaps.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0Huqu6uwJxVTD6mi2k1HXw4nw This is the original setup.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/05DINzhVS7j_GavoscxU6ZVjw This is the jacket



Offline jverduin

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #23 on: April 28, 2021, 09:47:57 am »
Digging deep into the archives for a topic I see, its all good info
Huh... guess I should pay more attention to the dates on these. :)


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Offline 69franx

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #24 on: April 28, 2021, 11:26:13 am »
It's not a problem, I didn't catch it until the end

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Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline Slowbrew

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Re: Help! All my beers have the same "off" fore/aftertaste
« Reply #25 on: April 28, 2021, 01:26:32 pm »
When I saw Gordon's picture I finally looked at the dates.  :)

It's an oldie, but a goodie.

Paul
Where the heck are we going?  And what's with this hand basket?