Folks, some experience here would be appreciated, cos Im stuffed if I know what it could be...
Ive kegged two ales in the last week, both extract based with steeped grain and generous (pellet) hopping, wort cooled in ice bath down to 24C within 25 minutes. Primary fermentation (7 and 9 days respectively) indicated nothing untoward and temperature steady throughout (20C). Attenuation was as expected using 1056.
I racked them off with some gelatine in the secondary, using a nice, long sanitised tube curled around the bottom of the secondary to minimise oxidation. They both spent a nice two week holiday in secondary, sitting at 16-18C. Both very pleasant out of secondary, dropped yeast out nicely, my only concerns were that the bitterness better settle a bit on them (one was heavy on the Chinook).
I racked them for a CC (brand new 20L blue Willow jerries, using nice long tube to the bottom of the jerry), where they sat for CCing 3 and 4 weeks respectively (2C).
Racked to keg (using nice long tube to the bottom of the keg see the pattern here?) burped the oxygen out of the keg, then pressured up to 300kPA, shook my booty, turned gas off, shook booty again, let settle for half an hour, then had a taste.
Beautiful pour (at 70kPA), good colour, clarity, head, aroma, hops on the front palate nicely balanced, exhibiting all the right characteristics (grapefruit from the Chinook, etc). Bitterness has settled, nice bodied malts, all good. Until after the swallow. Right on the back palate, what I would only describe as wet cardboard. Not a nice finish, and after a pint, getting more and more pronounced to me. Mates seem to think its all good, but then again, one of them drinks Emu Export by choice.
So go figure. If I was a betting man, Id peg 2-trans-noneal as the culprit. But Id be lying if I didnt say Ive been VERY careful with oxidation between primary/secondary/CC/keg.
Sanitation wise, Im using bleach and/or Slingshot for all my plastics, and Singles for the keg, Im putting a bit of CO2 in the keg before I rack the beer into it to create a blanket.
The only things Ive recently changed are the use of starters, (stored in brand new, sanitised PET bottles in fridge at 4C), and starting to CC. I rinsed the jerries with boiling water 2 or 3 times, left them a few days filled with water to absorb any taste, then sanitised them before use. Oh, and Im force carbonating to 300kPA, instead of over a couple of days, but I cant think the CO2 would be the cause?
Im going to give them a couple of weeks in keg to maybe settle down, if not, Im thinking of degassing them, racking them off and dry hopping the bastards till I mask it and if that doesnt work, Ill drink them later on in a session, when my tastebuds arent so refined.
Anything else obvious Im missing?
Ive kegged two ales in the last week, both extract based with steeped grain and generous (pellet) hopping, wort cooled in ice bath down to 24C within 25 minutes. Primary fermentation (7 and 9 days respectively) indicated nothing untoward and temperature steady throughout (20C). Attenuation was as expected using 1056.
I racked them off with some gelatine in the secondary, using a nice, long sanitised tube curled around the bottom of the secondary to minimise oxidation. They both spent a nice two week holiday in secondary, sitting at 16-18C. Both very pleasant out of secondary, dropped yeast out nicely, my only concerns were that the bitterness better settle a bit on them (one was heavy on the Chinook).
I racked them for a CC (brand new 20L blue Willow jerries, using nice long tube to the bottom of the jerry), where they sat for CCing 3 and 4 weeks respectively (2C).
Racked to keg (using nice long tube to the bottom of the keg see the pattern here?) burped the oxygen out of the keg, then pressured up to 300kPA, shook my booty, turned gas off, shook booty again, let settle for half an hour, then had a taste.
Beautiful pour (at 70kPA), good colour, clarity, head, aroma, hops on the front palate nicely balanced, exhibiting all the right characteristics (grapefruit from the Chinook, etc). Bitterness has settled, nice bodied malts, all good. Until after the swallow. Right on the back palate, what I would only describe as wet cardboard. Not a nice finish, and after a pint, getting more and more pronounced to me. Mates seem to think its all good, but then again, one of them drinks Emu Export by choice.
So go figure. If I was a betting man, Id peg 2-trans-noneal as the culprit. But Id be lying if I didnt say Ive been VERY careful with oxidation between primary/secondary/CC/keg.
Sanitation wise, Im using bleach and/or Slingshot for all my plastics, and Singles for the keg, Im putting a bit of CO2 in the keg before I rack the beer into it to create a blanket.
The only things Ive recently changed are the use of starters, (stored in brand new, sanitised PET bottles in fridge at 4C), and starting to CC. I rinsed the jerries with boiling water 2 or 3 times, left them a few days filled with water to absorb any taste, then sanitised them before use. Oh, and Im force carbonating to 300kPA, instead of over a couple of days, but I cant think the CO2 would be the cause?
Im going to give them a couple of weeks in keg to maybe settle down, if not, Im thinking of degassing them, racking them off and dry hopping the bastards till I mask it and if that doesnt work, Ill drink them later on in a session, when my tastebuds arent so refined.
Anything else obvious Im missing?