Hi. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help. I'll try to keep his short. I've been mash brewing at my new house for about a year, on and off. A little while ago, I made an imperial stout. It had a very strong medicinal off flavor to it. I took it to my brewing supply shop. They told me the flavor was most likely chlorine/chloramine. They told me to try campden tablets on my water. I did, made a decent tasting ipa using campden, and then another imperial stout. It tasted ok after the boil and even right after fermentation. I let it rest for a couple months, and I taste it today, and that same mecinal off flavor is there. Not sure what to do. Is it the water? Should I just switch to bottled water? Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
What yeast, what pitch rate, and what fermentation temperature? I think some yeasts may throw medicinal aromatics when they are stressed. You presumably are making a big beer (Imperial Stout), which is already stressful. These fermentation variables may need more control. Hard for anyone to advise with greater certainty without more info.
It doesn’t take much untreated tap water to give a chlorphenol off flavor. Untreated tap water used to top up, or for other things is all it takes. We are sensitive to chlorine, but maybe 10,000 times more sensitive to chlorophenols.
If what you are tasting is indeed a chlorophenol than water is a likely suspect. Could you please provide more details on how you specifically sanitize your brewing equipment. Some homebrewers choose to brew with RO water and add mineral salts (e.g., Calcium Chloride, etc.) to 'build up' their brewing water; that is an option for you if you want to try it. Also, bottled spring water should not have chlorine/chloramine in it. A tricky part is knowing what exactly is in that water from a mineral perspective, if that is of concern to you. Cheers!
Thanks for the response and sorry for the late reply. I used 2 packs of Safale S-05. http://www.northernbrewer.com/safale-us-05-american-ale-yeast Not sure on the pitch-rate. Unfortunately, I have not gotten into temperature controlled fermentation yet. I kept the bucket in my basement in an area that stayed between 68-71 degrees. Hope this helps better understand what my issue might be. Thanks again for the help.
This particular brew was made pretty cleanly, in that I didn't screw up much and didn't add any water that wasn't treated with campden tablets. I do rinse everything with starsan and my tap water. It would certainly be a small amount getting the wort. Thanks for your help.
I think the taste is chlorophenol, though I am going to get more opinions at my homebrew shop today. I actually just went through a cicerone class and don't recognize the off flavor as any of the common off flavors. I am a fairly thorough sanitizer and use Star San. I'm thinking of trying to 'make my own water' so to speak, simply because the water is only the variable I haven't fully changed. Thanks for your help.
No water softener. We do live in a shitty old house with shitty old pipes. Not sure if that could affect the water . The pot is fairly new a brand I know people use to brew with. Thanks for your help.
If the ambient temp in the basement was 70F, the beer probably fermented really warm. Could that have created some fusel alcohol? FWIW, I use one of those big blue plastic cooler tubs to place my fermenter into and I fill it with some water and put frozen plastic water bottles to keep the fermentation temp within range (depending on style/goals low 60s to low 70s). A lot of "stuff" happens during fermentation and the temperature is a big factor into what gets produced. This could be the cause of your troubles.
This might actually be it. The off favor could very well be fusel, though I don't have much experience with that off flavor. In fact, doing reading, I let the beer rest for a few months, but didn't rack it to secondary, and i didn't realize that extended exposure to the yeast can also create fusel alcohols. I really like your idea of using water and ice to keep the fermentor cool. I even have one of those tubs. Thanks for the help. I have lots of things to work on with my next imperial stout.
I'm leaning towards a problem with "big beer" recipe formulation/process...sounds like the IPA came out fine...I've tasted many an Imperial Stout that screamed Robitussen
