Hi Ya-all,
Firstly, excellent site guys - it's a great knowledge base.
I'm fairly new to brewing (I've done 8 ) and have had a couple problems. All my beer brews have had a weird chemical after taste.
My beer kit come with a sterising solution, it said wash it then rinse everything before you use it, which i done. All my beer brews tasted funny ( had about 3 before it run out). I then went to coles and bought brigalow bottle washing powder and another one for sterilizing. Same problem, although it was a little worse... I thought my sterlizing wasn't been washed out enough... so lately I been going crazy with my fermenter and rinsing it out for a full 7 or 8 minutes, hot and cold water to get all traces out of the fermenter. And with my bottles i'd wash with the bottle washing powder, and rince 3 times with clean tape water.
I made an apple cider, and then a ginger beer (brigalow) and they were excellent!! so i figured I fixed my problem, and I made another beer and it tasted funny again.
I asked my g/f's dad who's been brewing for years about it and he said he could taste the sterilizer in it... He said he just washes in hot tap water. So i tried that, same result.
Talking to a guy down the road he said he sterlizes his fermenter overnight then rinses let's it totally dry then he uses it. He asked what brew i'm using, I said coopers.. He said he had problems with that and swapped to another brand and has been fine ever since.
My mate started brewing after me and he said his beer tastes fine, but he's been making Coronas and Extra Dry recepies, unlike my basic lager.
Generally my temp remains around 22/23 after it's cooled from about 27 when i add the yeast.
Tonight I'm gonna put down a 'Corona' recepe using Morgans beer stuff and dex etc.. so we'll see how that goes...
Sorry the story is so long, I don't know what info you guys might need so i said everything.
Basically, does anyone have problems using pariticular brands (ie coopers lager).
How the heck do I make sure I'm not going to get weird tastes in my beer?
Does anyone have problems using tap water (sth brisbane)?
Any idea's / thoughts are appreciated.
Thx
Jason - Brisbane
Weird Taste Saga
I've had no problems with Brisbane tap water - have made a couple of decent brews with it.
A couple of suggestions:
Bleach makes a pretty good steriliser, and it's damned cheap - a 99c bottle will last for at least 10 brews. Need to soak it for longer (about an hour is good) and rinse well with hot water though - sodium metabisulphate apparently doesn't need quite so much care but is much more expensive.
Have you tried any different branded brew kits? Could be the brand you're using.
A couple of suggestions:
Bleach makes a pretty good steriliser, and it's damned cheap - a 99c bottle will last for at least 10 brews. Need to soak it for longer (about an hour is good) and rinse well with hot water though - sodium metabisulphate apparently doesn't need quite so much care but is much more expensive.
Have you tried any different branded brew kits? Could be the brand you're using.
After further consideration, I've consulted my trusty "Home brewing for Dummies" book.
What would you describe the off taste as? If it is:
Mediciny/plastic/smoky flavours: Try a different strain of yeast. I like saflager, but since you're doing ales maybe try Safale.
Papery/cardboard/sherry like: This is the result of oxidation. Keep your beer from splashing or foaming as much as possible when bottling, fill to within an inch (but no more) of the top of the bottle. Oxygen is the enemy of finished beer.
Harshness/hotness: Could be excessive hopping (unlikely with kit beers), hard water (Brisbane water's fine), high fermentation temps (keep it *UNDER* 22 celsius - 23 is maybe a bit hot. Wrap your fermenter with a wet towel - lower temps are generally better (until you get under 16 or so, anyway)
Sulphury odours - make sure you bottle your beer ASAP after it's finished fermenting. Keeping it sitting on top of the crud down the bottom can't do it any good.
If none of this helps, borrow someone else's equipment and try again. It might be your equipment.
What would you describe the off taste as? If it is:
Mediciny/plastic/smoky flavours: Try a different strain of yeast. I like saflager, but since you're doing ales maybe try Safale.
Papery/cardboard/sherry like: This is the result of oxidation. Keep your beer from splashing or foaming as much as possible when bottling, fill to within an inch (but no more) of the top of the bottle. Oxygen is the enemy of finished beer.
Harshness/hotness: Could be excessive hopping (unlikely with kit beers), hard water (Brisbane water's fine), high fermentation temps (keep it *UNDER* 22 celsius - 23 is maybe a bit hot. Wrap your fermenter with a wet towel - lower temps are generally better (until you get under 16 or so, anyway)
Sulphury odours - make sure you bottle your beer ASAP after it's finished fermenting. Keeping it sitting on top of the crud down the bottom can't do it any good.
If none of this helps, borrow someone else's equipment and try again. It might be your equipment.
G'day,
It is hard to describe, drinking it I can only describe it as being real bitter taste. My only comparison would be a chemical of some description.
Like it is drinkable, but it's just not quite there yet. After the first few mouth full's it's not so bad.
As for the different brew kits, I'm starting to think that it might be the cause. Being a fairly newbie at it all i just got the starter kit and went to coles for the ingredience. Not knowing what was good and whats not I just went for the one that had the most taken, figuring it must be good. (coopers lager).
After having these problems I tried making a ginger beer and apple cider, and those turning out great so i've decided to swap brands for a trial.
Tonight I put down a Corona recepe brew using a different brand so I'll see how that goes.
Jase
It is hard to describe, drinking it I can only describe it as being real bitter taste. My only comparison would be a chemical of some description.
Like it is drinkable, but it's just not quite there yet. After the first few mouth full's it's not so bad.
As for the different brew kits, I'm starting to think that it might be the cause. Being a fairly newbie at it all i just got the starter kit and went to coles for the ingredience. Not knowing what was good and whats not I just went for the one that had the most taken, figuring it must be good. (coopers lager).
After having these problems I tried making a ginger beer and apple cider, and those turning out great so i've decided to swap brands for a trial.
Tonight I put down a Corona recepe brew using a different brand so I'll see how that goes.
Jase
Maybe that's could be a factor, temp too high. My laundry is quite small so when the doors are shut it is reasonably warmish in there.Isaac wrote: Harshness/hotness: Could be excessive hopping (unlikely with kit beers), hard water (Brisbane water's fine), high fermentation temps (keep it *UNDER* 22 celsius - 23 is maybe a bit hot. Wrap your fermenter with a wet towel - lower temps are generally better (until you get under 16 or so, anyway)
I'll open a window and see if i can get it down some more as well.
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
OK,
I will go out on a limb here and say you are looking at a water problem. I think maybe you might be boiling the wort which is dropping out the Calcium (the mineral deposits) from your water in the form of Calcium Carbonate. Just guessing, of course as I haven't a clue about your water specs. Call your water supplier and find out, they can give you the specs.
It isn't a problem, maybe your water will only support lagers and such rather than ales. If you wan't to brew something different you may have to buy distilled or spring water (I believe in this route just to off the chlorine/chloralimine)
Let me know how you make out, I doubt greatly that it is your sterilizer, it is way to water soluble and your nose will smell it before you can taste it (the nose knows).
by the way as an aside, think about the bleach mentioned above, it is way cheaper and as long as you watch the concentrations you can use it on stainless kegs
I will go out on a limb here and say you are looking at a water problem. I think maybe you might be boiling the wort which is dropping out the Calcium (the mineral deposits) from your water in the form of Calcium Carbonate. Just guessing, of course as I haven't a clue about your water specs. Call your water supplier and find out, they can give you the specs.
It isn't a problem, maybe your water will only support lagers and such rather than ales. If you wan't to brew something different you may have to buy distilled or spring water (I believe in this route just to off the chlorine/chloralimine)
Let me know how you make out, I doubt greatly that it is your sterilizer, it is way to water soluble and your nose will smell it before you can taste it (the nose knows).
by the way as an aside, think about the bleach mentioned above, it is way cheaper and as long as you watch the concentrations you can use it on stainless kegs
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Oliver
- Administrator
- Posts: 3424
- Joined: Thursday Jul 22, 2004 1:22 am
- Location: West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hi guys,
When you sterilise, be sure to run some through the tap to make sure there aren't any nasties lurking in there.
How long are you leaving the beer before you drink it? Goeff and I find that beers are at their best after six months or so, and certainly far, far better after two or three months. You'll find a lot of undesirable flavors dissipate after this amount of time.
I'm with Isaac about the yeast: Buy a sachet of yeast from the homebrew shop and use that instead of the one that comes with the can. Saflager and Safale are beauties. They're only $3 or so, so spread over 30 longnecks it's not going to break the bank. And if it results in a superior beer ...
By the way, Cooper's Lager comes with an ale yeast, so if all else fails, try a Saflager yeast.
Cheers,
Oliver
When you sterilise, be sure to run some through the tap to make sure there aren't any nasties lurking in there.
How long are you leaving the beer before you drink it? Goeff and I find that beers are at their best after six months or so, and certainly far, far better after two or three months. You'll find a lot of undesirable flavors dissipate after this amount of time.
I'm with Isaac about the yeast: Buy a sachet of yeast from the homebrew shop and use that instead of the one that comes with the can. Saflager and Safale are beauties. They're only $3 or so, so spread over 30 longnecks it's not going to break the bank. And if it results in a superior beer ...
By the way, Cooper's Lager comes with an ale yeast, so if all else fails, try a Saflager yeast.
Cheers,
Oliver
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Isaac,
To get the temperature easily and for free, find a basement. Temperature stay around 10 deg C winter/summer which lend themselves to lagers. Option two is lagers in winter, ales in summer. Someone else has said this but I have also done this for years..
Short of that, you will haver to pay the bucks. Note I have brewed some good lagers by faking it in the bottle (letting the carbonation happen in the cold rather than all the fermentation).
Winter here is pretty extreme and we normally freeze beer if left outside so we use cold celler for Lagers.
Dogger
To get the temperature easily and for free, find a basement. Temperature stay around 10 deg C winter/summer which lend themselves to lagers. Option two is lagers in winter, ales in summer. Someone else has said this but I have also done this for years..
Short of that, you will haver to pay the bucks. Note I have brewed some good lagers by faking it in the bottle (letting the carbonation happen in the cold rather than all the fermentation).
Winter here is pretty extreme and we normally freeze beer if left outside so we use cold celler for Lagers.
Dogger
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Oliver
- Administrator
- Posts: 3424
- Joined: Thursday Jul 22, 2004 1:22 am
- Location: West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Another thought: Are you using sugar, or malt or dextrose? Sugar can give an unpleasant "cidery" taste, although I realise this isn't what you describe.
If you're only using sugar or dextrose, perhaps you need to add some malt (say 500g, plus 500g glucose/dextrose) to balance out the bitterness of the beer kit.
Cheers,
Oliver
If you're only using sugar or dextrose, perhaps you need to add some malt (say 500g, plus 500g glucose/dextrose) to balance out the bitterness of the beer kit.
Cheers,
Oliver
In my 22 years in Australia, I have not met one person who has a house with a basement. Even if you did, ground temps are usually a fair bit higher than 10C, esp in Brisbane, but at least temperatures would be stable at around 18C.Dogger Dan wrote:Isaac,
To get the temperature easily and for free, find a basement. Temperature stay around 10 deg C winter/summer which lend themselves to lagers. Option two is lagers in winter, ales in summer. Someone else has said this but I have also done this for years..
At the moment I'm fermenting a Pilsner in an old freezer which I switch on for a half hour every morning - will find out in a couple of months whether it was worthwhile. Going to try to find a thermostat for it as soon as I have the money.
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Guest
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Oliver
- Administrator
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- Joined: Thursday Jul 22, 2004 1:22 am
- Location: West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Hey Dogger,
No apologies necessary. I grew up in South Australia, where many of the older houses had cellars (not quite a basement, but a small below-ground room to store foodstuffs and perishables during the bloody hot summers. Access would usually be via a trapdoor in the floor).
Not sure what goes on in the rest of Australia, but here in Victoria (which is generally cooler than SA, although the summers can be pretty hot), cellars are rare from what I can tell
Cheers,
Oliver
No apologies necessary. I grew up in South Australia, where many of the older houses had cellars (not quite a basement, but a small below-ground room to store foodstuffs and perishables during the bloody hot summers. Access would usually be via a trapdoor in the floor).
Not sure what goes on in the rest of Australia, but here in Victoria (which is generally cooler than SA, although the summers can be pretty hot), cellars are rare from what I can tell
Cheers,
Oliver
Weird chemical taste
Hi Gybrid. Just letting you know your not alone , I have the same problem at the moment and it's shitting me to tears. I use sodium met and as was told , I dont rinse afterwards. I'm not sure but the "taste" seems a lot like bicarb soda so I'm going to try rinsing everything thoroughly and see if this fixes the problem. I've done a Coopers Dark, Real and Canadian and they all have the bloody aftertaste , in the past they were tasty beers (mainly the Dark) . I even brought a Mac's 3 malt dark back and thats got the after taste aswell, which really sucks as anyone knows is possibly the best dark malt beer in the world. Funny thing is the beers taste good in themselves but leave you with the taste just afterwards and you can also taste it in the head. If anyone worked out the problem I'd love to know please.
I had problems with a lager I did. It had a strange metallic flavour to it. Colour was really good and it smelt great but it finished with a metallic taste. I spoke to my Homebrew supplier and he said it sounded like the bottles hadn't been rinsed properly after sanitising. I then blamed my brother in law (he was in charge of rinsing bottles). The thing is the flavour then went away with time. I started drinking them two weeks after bottling. I let them sit for a while and the metallic taste disappeared. My HB guy said that I just needed to give the beer more time.
The moral of the story... patience is a virtue. It's very hard though when you have 3 cases of HB sitting there sending subliminal messages to me.
Drink me.... drink me.
But I have learnt to just ignore the temptation. Ideally I have learnt that the beer needs at least 1-3 months to settle down before it comes into it's prime.
Marty
The moral of the story... patience is a virtue. It's very hard though when you have 3 cases of HB sitting there sending subliminal messages to me.
Drink me.... drink me.
But I have learnt to just ignore the temptation. Ideally I have learnt that the beer needs at least 1-3 months to settle down before it comes into it's prime.
Marty
Gybrid. I tried reading this post twice to be sure, but still may have missed what others judge your brew to taste like.
I'm new to the game too and the best discovery so far is to NOT drink 'our' brews at the just above frozen temperatures of commercial beers.
New taste sensations is what homebrewing is about FOR ME. Mature brews do improve, and to hell with what others think - comparisons are between your brews, and not something made by CUB.
If your brew 'stinks' after a few months in the bottle and tastes 'off' at that time then something did go wrong - wait Mate, wait.
I'm new to the game too and the best discovery so far is to NOT drink 'our' brews at the just above frozen temperatures of commercial beers.
New taste sensations is what homebrewing is about FOR ME. Mature brews do improve, and to hell with what others think - comparisons are between your brews, and not something made by CUB.
If your brew 'stinks' after a few months in the bottle and tastes 'off' at that time then something did go wrong - wait Mate, wait.
EVERYTHING is worth my interest!