I can't seem to brew!

[Hagrid]

The plaster/medicinal taste usually comes from chlorine in your water. You need to add a campden tablet. This should deal with that problem. The other reason for medicinal taste is an infection

I use a wild camping filter (the sawyers is good because you can screw a bladder to it and hang it before you start. It removes all sort of rubbish and chlorine. I’ve used it in my meads and ginger beer to great effect. I’m not a fan of using chemicals when I can avoid it but campden tablets are a good shout too.

Not_so_brite, have you got any friends who brew you could get together with (is a socially distant way, maybe FaceTime or WhatsApp.) to help.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I would be careful with Sodium permanganate as it isn't an organic bleach it's inorganic and contains managnese. Sodium percarbonate is in my opinion the best solution in that it is firstly oxidising so sanitises also it's decomposition product is sodium carbonate which is a pretty good cleaner and de-greaser. It is suitable for no rinse as tou are left with a mild solution of Sodium CArbonate which will effectively just raise pH slightly.

I'm not sure what manganese tastes like but wouldn't fancy it. Sodium Permanganate is very toxic to aquatic life!

ABSOLUTELY!! I meant to say percarbonate - will edit and credit you.

Thanks for the heads-up! :hat:

 

[Andrew Elliott]

I thought Sodium Permanganate was a strange one as it's relatively uncommon unlike Potassium Permanganate whic is used in purple beer line cleaner!

 

[MyQul]

I use a wild camping filter (the sawyers is good because you can screw a bladder to it and hang it before you start. It removes all sort of rubbish and chlorine. I’ve used it in my meads and ginger beer to great effect. I’m not a fan of using chemicals when I can avoid it but campden tablets are a good shout too.

Not_so_brite, have you got any friends who brew you could get together with (is a socially distant way, maybe FaceTime or WhatsApp.) to help.

Fortunately for me, although my Thames water is chlorinated it's not chlorinated enough to cause any problems so I dont need campden tabs

 

[Simzter]

Morning all :)

I’m an absolute novice - but have done plenty of research.

I’ve just read ‘Beer Brewing 101’ and right now I’m confident about my first batch.

Amazon will let you subscribe to their Kindle Unlimited for 30 days and you can read the very same title at no cost.

It talks in depth about cleaning/sanitising, types of yeasts and their temp ranges and has a table with all the problems you mentioned above - their probable causes and how to avoid them.

Spend an hour reading the first couple of chapters and I reckon you’ll be back on track

 

[cushyno]

Loads of great tips provided by forumites here. Doesn't that just show how much we've all gone through the same issues? The answer may not always be straightforward.

You have a choice. Take all these measures and apply them. You're more likely to make great beer, but you may never know the single cause of the problem. Or, you eliminate one factor at a time but you'll need to be prepared to make other duff batches.

It strikes me that it's all too easy to throw money at the problem, yet many factors can be eliminated with a good process.

From my experience the medicinal/plasticky flavour comes from either chlorine/VWP, or stressed yeast. It's ok to use bleach for cleaning so long as it is rinsed thoroughly afterwards. Adding campden tablet (or sodium metabisulphate powder at 0.01g/L) is like insurance. It removes chlorine and chloramine from your water, including any left after rinsing the bleach out. As I measure out my brewing water and treat with campden in the FV and then tip into the kettle I know both have been dechlorinated.

Everything your beer touches from the moment it comes out of the tap as water until going in your mouth could taint the flavour. Think if any of these have been cleaned with bleach/VWP/washing up liquid:

• Vessel for collecting water
• Any hoses (some non food grade hoses can introduce plastic taints)
• Spoon or stirring paddle
• HLT
• Kettle
• Mash tun
• BIAB bag
• Filters
• Funnels
• Siphon tube
• Bottles + caps / kegs
• Drinking glass

Cleaning and sanitising is one thing to be keen on, rinsing is another. I always rinse the FV, bottles and bottling equipment with starsan and leave to drain. A little starsan foam left is nothing to worry about.

 

[CliffC]

As a matter of interest Not_so_brite where abouts are you in the UK?

One of the Members in your area might be able to tell you something about your water.

 

[strange-steve]

It's sounds like a rather discouraging experience, but I think going back to the basics and focusing on the rudiments of brewing will help you through.

Medicinal flavours are often caused by wild yeast contamination (since you're using Campden tablets for water treatment anyway), so first things first you need to make sure to get rid of any possible equipment contamination. There's a 4 step process that will do the job.

1. Make sure everything is physically clean, put all your bits of equipment (paddles, hoses, bottling wands etc) into your FV, fill it with warm water and add 2 scoops of unscented oxyclean. Leave for 30 mins then give everything a rinse in warm water.

2. Put everything back in the FV, fill it with cold water and add 50ml of thin unscented bleach. (If any of your equipment is SS then leave it out of this step.) Leave for 30 mins then rinse everything in cold water.

3. Make up a sodium metabisulphite solution by crushing 5 tablets into 2L of cold water. Pour this into your FV and swirl it around to make sure it constants the entire surface, including all of your other bits of equipment. This is an effective sanitiser but it will also neutralise any residual chlorine from the bleach. Leave for 30 mins then rinse everything in cold water.

4. Starsan everything liberally, either with a spray bottle of by pouring some solution into the FV and shaking. Make sure everything is coated and stays wet for at least a couple of minutes.

This will ensure there's no lingering contamination in your equipment, you're effectively using 4 different types of sanitiser. You can do this deep clean at any point and then just another spray with starsan is all that's needed before you use the stuff.

 

[Clint]

Crikey if that lot doesn't fix it you're looking at Tiger Tim and a box of Swan...

 

[strange-steve]

Crikey if that lot doesn't fix it you're looking at Tiger Tim and a box of Swan...

That's step 5, just before gamma irradiation.

 

[Not_so_brite]

Thanks, all - really appreciate the advice and feedback.

As a matter of interest Not_so_brite where abouts are you in the UK?

Central London.

In any case, I have a bag of grains for a Californian Common, so will have a crack at this next weekend. Before I start, all equipment will go through a full clean and will use some of the approaches you have suggested. If this batch also fails, keep an eye out in the classifieds for a bunch of equipment that will be up for grabs! :)

Cheers all.

 

[trueblue]

Thanks, all - really appreciate the advice and feedback.



Central London.

In any case, I have a bag of grains for a Californian Common, so will have a crack at this next weekend. Before I start, all equipment will go through a full clean and will use some of the approaches you have suggested. If this batch also fails, keep an eye out in the classifieds for a bunch of equipment that will be up for grabs! :)

Cheers all.

Remember if you use VWP rinse, rinse again and if in doubt rinse again.

 

[CliffC]

London water is generally fine for brewing (I live just outside) and should make good beer without any treatment. I use 1/2 crushed campden tablet in 30 litres water in the boiler just before heating to take the chlorine out but don't think its strictly necessary.

Other than the good advice on sanitising and rinsing, suggest you make sure your yeast gets a good start. If using dry yeast, hydrate it in 100ml cool boiled water and when you pitch it should be a similar temp to the wort. If you can ferment somewhere in your home which has an even temperature day and night. Away from radiators and the sun. At this time of year that should be possible. Resist the temptation to keep opening the lid to check on your brew. Just Leave it for 7 days and then check the gravity.

If you are going to brew a Californian Common now I would look very carefully at the yeast you have. Many yeast specific to this beer are supposed to fermented at cool temperatures (closer to that of a lager). If you brew outside the yeast's temperature range you risk having off-flavours. At the moment my room temperature is 23c. If you don't have any way of controlling the temp consider using a bullet proof ale yeast more suited with the correct temperature range (e.g. Safale US-05).

Finally, don't give up. You will soon be making great beer every time. In your area there is a fantastic and friendly brew club (am I allowed to mention them on here?) with members that make fantastic beer and are an excellent source of advice.