Klarstein Mundschenk

[Druss]

Little to no Milton residue suggests some! This could be your cause, what did the beer taste like before you bottled it?

It's probably the only beer I've ever brewed that I didn't taste immediately before bottling, sods law really, that certainly would have narrowed it down a bit.

I use Milton to sterilise everything, have done for decades, this is the first time I've ever had off flavours of any kind.

The more I read up on this, the more I'm inclined to believe it may have actually been the water after all. I've only ever done one gallon at a time, left the water overnight to de-chlorinate and it's been fine.

This was the first time I've brewed five gallons at a time, would it need to sit out longer? Would stirring it every once in a while help? Or is it a good idea to use a campden tablet?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I always use a few mg of sodium metabisulphite. Add it into the unit as I fill it with water.

 

[Caramel Ox]

I have had that off flavour before when accidentally pouring yeast sediment into the glass. Maybe from bottling with too much suspended yeast? Or it was just certain strains?

Neither water or kettle seem likely sources to me - not that chlorinated water couldn’t be an issue but plenty of people use no treatment.

 

[foxy]

Ultrasonic cleaning in degreaser followed by a good rinse and finally passivation.
So not from the unit, most likely infection in the beer.

 

[Druss]

I just finished bottling the second batch I made in the Mundschenk, it smells and tastes like beer, no TCP whatsoever.

I put this batch directly on the trub from the previous (infected/chlorophenol infused) batch so I was a bit worried that there would be eighty odd bottles of beer going down the sink, but it seems fine.

I'm intending to reuse the trub again for my next brew, but as that won't be for a couple of weeks, I've filled a sterilised water bottle with some of it and set it aside in the fridge. There was an almost imperceptible smell of TCP that came from that, I'm assuming it was what was left over from the ruined batch.

So I'm still not really any the wiser, although, on checking my notes it seems the dodgy batch was made with tap water that was left to stand for about ten hours or so and the (so far) good batch used water stood for about 48 hours.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Might be worth getting one or two bottles in a high temp area, airing cupboard, above boiler as a fast ferment / condition to give you a hint if it is infection.
You haven't changed any variables for this second brew except a brew has been done in the klarstein.
Was the fermenter thoroughly cleared of Milton before the first brew?
I wouldn't use the yeast harvest until sure the 2nd batch is okay.
Infection may also be hinted in first batch with the development of gushers.

 

[Druss]

Might be worth getting one or two bottles in a high temp area, airing cupboard, above boiler as a fast ferment / condition to give you a hint if it is infection.
You haven't changed any variables for this second brew except a brew has been done in the klarstein.
Was the fermenter thoroughly cleared of Milton before the first brew?
I wouldn't use the yeast harvest until sure the 2nd batch is okay.
Infection may also be hinted in first batch with the development of gushers.

I did consider keeping a couple of bottles somewhere particularly warm and seeing if they became energetic/murky on opening, but the three or four I've opened so far have been clear and only lightly carbonated.

The fermenter was emptied out and was more or less dry before the first brew so I doubt it was residue that caused it.

I've kept harvested yeast from similar batches in the fridge for a couple of months before and it's been fine, this one should keep until I can test the current batch (I bottled it all today but also filled a one gallon keg for the purposes of testing in a couple of weeks).