Bad Taste From Fermenter

[Canumbler]

petesbrew if it's a real, confirmed, full blown infection I'd grab some commercial sanitiser that's not chlorine based as well, and cycle a couple of times through different sanitation techniques on that fermenter and anything that's touched it.

Make sure you kill the little buggers ;-)

 

[captian black beer]

I'd say there is a good chance you're getting the taste from scents in the Napisan. The best ones to use are the no-name brands, the ones that contain 346g/Kg of sodium percarbonate. Everything else has enzymes and fragrances. As said above, after using this stuff you need to rinse the hell out of it to remove all traces. It is used to remove all the organic matter left after fermentation. Follow up with a sanitiser.

Iodophor is easy to use. As you say, mix it up to working solution, spray or splash onto every part of your gear then let drip dry. I usually sanitise the laundry tub and let it drip upside down in there.

b_thomas, PSR is not odourless. It is a chlorine based cleaner. Although it doesn't stink as much as bleach, it smells. Dry and avoid inhaling it.

A better option than no-name brands if you can get it is just straight sodium percarbonate. It has no smell and degrades to form water and oxygen so it's no rinse as well. Your LHBS should be able to get it for you if they don't already have it. I recently bought a 25 kg bag of it, it's awesome stuff, cleans and kills everything it touches, I even use it to wash dishes now. However just remember it's a contact based sanitiser so whatever your using it on has to be immersed in it. If your to store a fermenter without a brew in it try something like sodium metabisuphite.

 

[sicklizard]

I'm sure you are already doing this but just in case, always unscrew the tap and blast out any residual trub. I use a spray of phosphoric acid just to make sure.

I had off flavours (soapy to my palate) develop after several months of successful brewing and then did the tap cleaning thing and no problems since.
Ben

 

[petesbrew]

Cheers guys for all the replies

I've read the sanitation article and have since bought most sanitisers/steriliers available, giving them all a go (can't hurt really).

The latest batch I've got going in the said fermenter is tasting like a beer should.
As for the actual flavour, it's just a case of a "Bilo draught with a bit of this and a bit of that" K&K recipe, so it's .... okay.

I'm pretty confident I've kicked the bad flavour now, and can get back into doing decent recipes, especially now that Summer is near the end, and I'm getting lower temps in the garage.

Cheers
Pete