wet cardboard smell :( any way to fix it?

[pat_00]

Just kegged my latest batch, my first try at dr. smurto's golden ale. Has a rather pronounced wet cardboard smell bummed, but it's my first real stuff up in a dozen or so AG brews.

I think I know what I did wrong, oxidised when racking to secondary.

The beer tastes fine, it's really just the smell. I assume it won't go away? Can I dry hop the bejesus out of it to cover the aroma?

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Can't say I've had wet cardboard before but if you already a fan of dry hoping why not, i'm sure it will mask the majority of the smell. Just make sure you drink it relatively quickly.

You could always hold your breath as you drink.... h34r:

 

[Florian]

If it's oxidisation you should also be able to taste the cardboard, it's a horrid taste in beer! Maybe you're still in early stages and it might become worse over time.
How long ago did you rack?

Yep, try to mask it with dry hops and drink fast, or mix it with lemonade and give to your better half as Radler.

 

[Truman42]

How did you rack to secondary? Let it flow from a hose resting at the bottom of your vessel or fall in from the top? If the latter then I can understand how you possibly got oxidation. If you let it flow in gently from a hose resting on the bottom of the racking vessel then Im curious to know what went wrong so i dont make the same mistakes?

What do you think you did wrong in your process to cause oxidation?

 

[pat_00]

I racked to secondary 5 days ago to dry hop and crash chill. My hose was not quite long enough, it only reached 2/3rds to the bottom of the secondary fermenter. I also filtered (bleeding air from filter) it between secondary and keg, not sure if that is a possible oxidation point.

I have brewed this exact way before without problems.

On looking at this again, it possibly might be the new secondary fermenter I used. It's a bunnings unit, I soaked in sodium perc solution and scrubbed the hell out of it. But it still might have leeched out some smells. Maybe that would explain why it's more of a smell than a taste?

 

[fcmcg]

Hope you only scrubbed with a soft cloth....
The plastic can scratch and harbour nasties , if you are too abrasive !
Cheer
Ferg

 

[pat_00]

I scrubbed with a plastic brush, I don't think its strong enough to scratch the fermenter.

 

[mitch.flint]

Hey guys, is it possible this was lightstruck? I know wet cardboard character in wine can be from lightstrike. Also some fungal byproducts such as TriChloroAnisol can have a characteristic similar to wet cardboard. TCA comes from the breakdown of chlorinated compounds by fungus, usually associated with corks but can be cuased if a chlorinated cleaning product comes into contact with the wine/beer.

Did/do you use any chlorine based cleaning products in or around your brew area?

By the way if it is TCA it is unlikely that dry hopping will cover it up. People/their noses are very sensitive to this compound.