Chemical Flavour In Brew?

[Mitchjazz]

Hey Gents,

I done my second BIAB. The first one went real well and i thought this batch was too,That was until i tasted it about an hour ago and it had a funny posion like taste to it. A couple of things i dont different was no chill in 20 ltr Willow Containers which i would not think would create this taste. Also when i sampled when taking gravity it was fine. The thing i think may of caused it was i used homebrand bleech to clean 19 ltr cornie keg?? I obviously rinsed well (3 times) and cleaned lines with bleech aswell and flushed with 5 liters of fresh water. I am ready for the hammering! What have i done wrong?

 

[Steve]

Hey Gents,

I done my second BIAB. The first one went real well and i thought this batch was too,That was until i tasted it about an hour ago and it had a funny posion like taste to it. A couple of things i dont different was no chill in 20 ltr Willow Containers which i would not think would create this taste. Also when i sampled when taking gravity it was fine. The thing i think may of caused it was i used homebrand bleech to clean 19 ltr cornie keg?? I obviously rinsed well (3 times) and cleaned lines with bleech aswell and flushed with 5 liters of fresh water. I am ready for the hammering! What have i done wrong?

Did you use boiling water to rinse and flush?

Edit...does it taste of bleach or band aids?

 

[manticle]

What are corny kegs made from inside? Stainless or something else?

Regardless of bad flavour, chlorine will pit stainless steel. As Steve suggests though, if not rinsed properly (super hot water and or sodium metabisulphite) it can lead to band-aid/dettol type flavours.

 

[Asher]

Was the bleach unscented?

Can you describe the off flavour a little better. 'like' something

What brand were the curtains? h34r:

 

[Brewme]

After you drain the keg and stand it upright again, use a blunt nail or something similar to push the pin down on the outlet connection. You will see some liquid building up at the bottom of the keg. The tube may have had some of the bleach mix in it.

I usually pump a small amount of sanitizer through the keg with CO2 'till it blows dry.

Just a thought,

Cheers

 

[WeaselEstateBrewery]

I poured four beers down the sink in a row a couple of years back if that's any consolation....

Look up the beer flavour wheel and see if any of these flavours describe how your beer tastes (link below) - the more closely you can describe the taste, the easier it will be to help you determine the root cause, ie if it's your washing / sanitising gear or whether you have an infection.

http://www.tastebeer.com.au/beer/137

 

[Mitchjazz]

Did you use boiling water to rinse and flush?

Edit...does it taste of bleach or band aids?

No i used tap water and thats exactly what it tastes like ..Bloody Band Aids!

 

[Mitchjazz]

What are corny kegs made from inside? Stainless or something else?

Regardless of bad flavour, chlorine will pit stainless steel. As Steve suggests though, if not rinsed properly (super hot water and or sodium metabisulphite) it can lead to band-aid/dettol type flavours.

Its all stainless im guessing this is my prob and its to late??

 

[felten]

The bandaid taste is from residual bleach (could also be beer spoiling bugs, but I think the use of bleach is the cause here) turning into chlorophenols, nasty. If you want to neutralise bleach you have to use hot water, not cold, and lots of it. Until you can't smell the chlorine anymore.

Reading back up, I think I just said what everyone else did, so there you go >_<

 

[Steve]

No i used tap water and thats exactly what it tastes like ..Bloody Band Aids!

Band aids is an infection unfortunately. Its not from using bleach to clean your stuff. Best to tip it....and instead of using bleach use no-scented napisan if you want to clean. Hard luck...and made sure you clean thoroughly next time with boiling water.

 

[fcmcg]

I'd say it was phenolic , if it has a band-aid taste...this is an infection...
Maybe grab some no-rinse sanitiser such as iodopher or star-san...so after you cleaned your keg..you need to sanitize...
Sorry bloke but i think your beer is lawn food....
Cheers
Ferg

 

[manticle]

Band aids is an infection unfortunately. Its not from using bleach to clean your stuff. Best to tip it....and instead of using bleach use no-scented napisan if you want to clean. Hard luck...and made sure you clean thoroughly next time with boiling water.

Band aids can be either infection or residual chlorine. Unfortunately I've experienced the former in commercial beer and the latter in my own.

@OP: Horrible stuff, pretty hard to drink. I'd clean the equipment well and get onto another batch. If it's steel inside, you don't want to be using bleach anyway. Sodium percarbonate and no rinse like starsan or iodophor. I think some people successfully use hot caustic to clean (not sanitise) too but I'd let someone who does recommend if and how.

 

[Mitchjazz]

Damm!! Not good news... It was my Christmas Holiday Brew. Ahh well guess ill just have to drink coopers over the break. Thanks for the replies fellas.

 

[Fourstar]

chlorophenols are from bleach or infections. rinse more and ensure you're santiation is up to scratch.

 

[Hatchy]

I'm glad I saw this today. I've got 2 cubes that are full of bleach that I'm going to use on the weekend. I was going to tip the bleach out, rinse with tap water & leave it open until it doesn't smell like bleach any more. Looks like boiling water is the way to go.

 

[juzz1981]

Hi,

I actually always use sodium percarbonate but the other day i used bleach and just rinsed out with cold water, I used this container to drain hot liquor from the lauter tun then added to the boiler.

Was thinking, if there was any residual bleach in the container that reached its way to the boiler then it would be boiled off??

maybe

 

[felten]

Chlorine is pretty unstable, even leaving chlorinated water out in a container overnight will remove it, so heating it should force it out of solution (chloramines require more effort to remove though). I remember someone on TBN saying they tested the water they used to mash in with, and the majority of the chlorine was removed by the time it had come to strike temp. Some people are more sensitive to chlorine odours than others, but if you can still smell it in the container then you need to rinse more.