Flavour got worse after conditioning

[Duxuk]

Bubbles in a syphon tube are likely to be CO2. A beer has considerable CO2 dissolved in it at the time of bottling. When it gets disturbed the CO2 is released. You just don't want to get bubbles or foam in the bottles since this could be caused by the stream of beer mixing air in to it.
If the beer warms at any time before bottling then it will release CO2. Cool it again and it may absorb oxygen from the spce above the brew in your FV. So try to keep the temperature stable.

 

[Sandimas]

Just checked my notes, it was a 10.5-11L brew which yielded 15 X 500ml bottles... I added 12g EKG at the start of the boil and 23g Fuggles after 55 mins...

That's plenty of late hops for an English ale, assuming you allowed them to steep for 30mins or so then your beer should still taste of them months later. 25g is my standard late hop for 17L brews, I'm drinking several now made in Aug-Oct and they still have plenty of hoppiness. I still don't think it's hop fade despite others thinking it is.

 

[matt76]

Bubbles in a syphon tube are likely to be CO2. A beer has considerable CO2 dissolved in it at the time of bottling. When it gets disturbed the CO2 is released. You just don't want to get bubbles or foam in the bottles since this could be caused by the stream of beer mixing air in to it.
If the beer warms at any time before bottling then it will release CO2. Cool it again and it may absorb oxygen from the spce above the brew in your FV. So try to keep the temperature stable.

No - despite my best efforts I had a bad seal between the rigid racking cane and the flexible clear plastic tube. I recall it was pulling air in at the join causing bubbling.

I've since abandoned the rigid pipe and just use the flexible (silicone?) tube - first rule of engineering: keep it simple

 

[Ghillie]

To be clear, it's not gone bad, it's not suddenly repellent...

Flavours are very hard to describe - I had a bottle last night but more in the name of research (really!).....

It's drinkable but just not enjoyable, like it's dull, it's lost the crisp refreshing "i think I'll have another sip" zing it had originally.

I have two bottles left - if i could get one up to you then you're welcome to try it...

So it's not ******, it's just dull. Two very different things bud

Thanks for the kind offer to post a beer, but without having a fresh beer as a reference point it wouldn't be conclusive. I'm also no beer expert either, certainly when it comes to beers that use traditional hops like Goldings and Fuggles.

 

[Ghillie]

No - despite my best efforts I had a bad seal between the rigid racking cane and the flexible clear plastic tube. I recall it was pulling air in at the join causing bubbling.

Does your beer now taste like wet cardboard? This is one buzzword which I can tolerate the use of, because it's very much fitting and applicable to oxygenated beers.

If your beer did suffer oxygen exposure when bottling, you may well notice a darker colour respective to what the first few bottles looked like when you opened them. Oxygen exposure usually doesn't dull or taint a beer immediately, and can often take quite a while to become evident.

 

[foxbat]

My money is on oxidation. It'll kill flavour without actually being an infection.

 

[matt76]

Does your beer now taste like wet cardboard? This is one buzzword which I can tolerate the use of, because it's very much fitting and applicable to oxygenated beers.

If your beer did suffer oxygen exposure when bottling, you may well notice a darker colour respective to what the first few bottles looked like when you opened them. Oxygen exposure usually doesn't dull or taint a beer immediately, and can often take quite a while to become evident.

Sorry, I should have been more clear originally what I meant by $h1t homebrew!

Yeah, wet cardboard would be a good description so perhaps oxidation is the culprit, especially given the trouble I had syphoning this batch.

Many thanks all for your input - awesome place this !

 

[Ghillie]

Sorry, I should have been more clear originally what I meant by $h1t homebrew!

Yeah, wet cardboard would be a good description so perhaps oxidation is the culprit, especially given the trouble I had syphoning this batch.

Many thanks all for your input - awesome place this !

Nice one pal, identifying what went wrong is how you move forward!

Good luck with the next brew. Have you head of a little bottler. They're really good and may well be worth investing in.

 

[matt76]

Nice one pal, identifying what went wrong is how you move forward!

Good luck with the next brew. Have you head of a little bottler. They're really good and may well be worth investing in.

"A wise man is one who doesn't make the same mistake twice" my maths teacher told me - having bottled AG#4 this evening I'm confident to say I've long since got syphoning and bottling nailed now

AG#1 was a good beer, but something went wrong and it didn't keep so well - I've a good idea now what that was, and I can take that. If I make it again I can be confident I won't make the same mistake.

Cheers all for the advice and helpful suggestions