Is it me or the recipe?

[meathead]

I've made this recipe for what is meant to be a JSGA mid strength
Both times I've made it, it tastes like arse water
Is it me, or the recipe?

23 litre batch

2.37kg pilsener
.77kg Munich 2
.77kg wheat
.3kg caramalt

Mash 69deg 60mins

11gm Amarillo 60mins
15gm Amarillo 15mins
15gm Amarillo flameout
20gm Amarillo dry hop 3 days

US05

 

[droid]

Can you describe the arsewater better ? Thin? Sour? Sweet? Vinegar? Poo?

 

[razz]

Neither I'd say. If it tastes that bad then it would have to be an infection, from dirty equipment most likely. You haven't described anything other than your recipe.

 

[mtb]

Agreed with razz. The recipe looks fine. How do you sanitise & do you sanitise everything the beer comes into contact with? Something as simple as a siphon with nooks & crannies harboring bacteria, or a grimy tube you use to transfer from fermenter to keg, can ruin all your hard work. Look at the equipment you're using, it's almost definitely the problem.

Something more descriptive than arse water will be helpful too as droid mentioned (although I sympathise, I once described a steak as simply "arse fungus" because I could find no better description)

 

[meathead]

I brew twice a month and this is the only recipe I've had a problem with.
Has a definite vinegar taste, so bad that it makes me feel sick to swallow it.
It tasted like crap out of the fermenter too but no visible signs of infection.

 

[manticle]

If it has vinegar sour notes, I doubt it's the recipe.

 

[Zorco]

I just dumped 40 litres because of vinegar. Made me sick too.

Sanitation, not recipe I assert. This was my first batch using a stainless steel pot as the fermenter. Also, my fridge failed and cycled on and off during cold crash causing the beer to drop to -1.0 and then up to ambient - [probably a few times actually].

 

[MickGC]

do those stupid little fruit fly things cause vinegar?

 

[Mardoo]

It's you.

 

[Mardoo]

Not the vinegar, the issue. No disrespect, it's also me and lots of folks all over this place.

We're creating a biological refuge for yeast, at the same time as we've warped it to our ends, thank god. We need to feed it well, give it a good environment, and keep its competitors out. We are yeast Mom. No, really.

But anyway, we all have to learn how to do those things. Until we do, it's us.

 

[Grott]

As above, sanitisation problem would be the go. One thing many forget about is the fermenter tap, not pulled apart and cleaned/sanitised and the threads. Is it the same fermenter used for these brews? You state it tastes crap in the fermenter therefore problem probably in that area.
Cheers.

 

[MHB]

It could be both!
It does sound like you have an infection problem, that aside why are you mashing at 69oC?
I would also think the grain bill isn't all that close to what Malt Shovel are using, which is I believe pretty heavy on wheat around 1/3 IIRC. You have a fair wack of Munich2 which would add plenty of body and some colour, the Carra is probably going to push the colour a bit dark. I don't believe they have used Amarillo for about 5 years or more, last I heard it was just getting too hard to find (not saying it isn't a good hop just not what is in the JS)

If you want better feedback you need to supply more information on your process L:G, OG, FG, method BIAB, 3V...
The reason I ask is, with the grain bill you have and anything like a sensible yield (75%) I get an OG of roughly 1.055, not exactly a mid strength, so I suspect that apart from the mash temperature you might have some process issues that need work.
Mark

 

[contrarian]

If you are saying that your other brews taste fine are you sure you like Amarillo? It can be a fairly powerful hop and isn't to everyone's taste.

 

[meathead]

Thanks all for the feedback
Perhaps it was an infection
Grainfather double batch too
At least I haven't bottled the second batch yet because the first was so bad
It just seemed like a coincidence
I make DSGA so Amarillo is fine with me

Back to the drawing board

 

[technobabble66]

Sounds like an infection. Acetobacter, probably. Tho that normally sits on top (it's anaerobic) and forms a pellicle. And though it produces vinegar, my experience with it didn't produce arsewater, just beer vinegar.
So maybe something else.

Once the first one's been infected, you have to pull out all the stops to re-sterilize everything otherwise the next one will be infected also.
So that means doing some stuff you might not normally bother with, like pulling the FV tap apart (or throwing it out and replacing - it's $2 at bunnings!). Lots of hot water and sod perc thru everything then Starsan the hell out of it all. Including the inside of your fv fridge (ie: wiped down w starsan). And pull apart and clean all of your other taps - crud hides in there also, and mold spores can potentially survive the boil.
My sympathies!!

 

[meathead]

Might be a bit late for that
Next brew already in fermenter, but will definitely follow that procedure
As a side note brew was very cloudy out of fermenter

 

[meathead]

As I work my way thru the bottles to dump it turns out they're also gushers.
Is this a sign of infection too?

 

[mtb]

Absolutely.

 

[technobabble66]

^^ true
(though could also be hops debris or too much priming dex of course. Given the circumstances I'd def go w mtb on this one).