My first brew tastes of bleach/chlorine :(

[Snetty]

I tried a bottle of my first brew (Wilko's Golden Lager iirc) when I put it in the garage to condition, tasted ok, but with a pretty strong harsh hit of chlorine. I put it away to condition and tried another bottle about 2-3 weeks later and still the same result.

I assumed that I've messed up sterilising my equipment/bottles but in retrospect it'd have to all be soaked in steriliser to taste THAT bad. Am I missing something and this is simply a case of the lager needing to condition?

At this stage I'm about ready to poor it all away so that I have some spare bottles for another couple of brews.

oh, suppose it makes sense to add in as much info as possible. I stupidly followed the instructions on the kit packaging rather than googling. Which resulted in me bottling the beer rather early (according to what I've read). This has resulted in a v. small layer of yeast/cake/whatever in the bottom of each bottle, could the taste in fact be yeast?

The bottles aren't really very carbonated either, they hiss a little when you open the bottle but nothing like a commercial ale, let alone lager.

Any advise welcomed.

 

[Snetty]

Was really hoping for some pointers, am I not asking the right questions?

Should I consider the batch a lost cause or is it fixable?

 

[Monte Cristo]

Hi Snetty
What did you sterilise with and how did you do it?
A layer of sediment at the bottom of each bottle is normal can you post a pic?
:hat:

 

[midnight rider]

Hi Snetty,
Without actually tasting your brew all I can do is guess. Treat the below as pure speculation: I've only been brewing for about a year but have had my fair share of failures!

The sterilising solution you used - was it sodium metabisulphite? If so, can you confirm absolutely that your fermenting bin was thoroughly rinsed afterwards? If an abundant amount of sterilant remained (and it really doesn't take much), I think this batch could be a write-off. I know of no way to remove it thoroughly.

If the chlorine taste you refer to has an acidic taste, again it's probably a write-off. This could be because of oxidation.

Was the wort exposed to the air for a long time (30 minutes could do it) before you pitched the yeast? This could cause infection and again it's probably a write-off.

However, the chlorine taste you refer to - is this more of a citrus taste, even a harsh citrus taste? This could be most likely. You can tell by the nose. If so then don't worry as time will solve the problem eventually. Park this brew for at least another couple of months then return to it. I find that brews are remarkably resilient once you've actually got it fermenting properly (no sterilant, no oxidation, no infection) and time solves most problems.

 

[beerhunter]

snetty, did you use tap water?

 

[Snetty]

phew, lots of helpful comments!

beerhunter, yes I did and actually noticed this may have been a source of the taste problems when I drank some and noticed a chlorine taste (damn wife has me drinking filtered water normally). Is it the norm to use bottled water for brewing?

midnight rider, I used the Wilko's stuff that seems to be ubiquitous.. so probably yes.

I recognise that my taste buds could be way off, so who knows what the "chlorine" taste actually is.. you could well be right and it's actually more acid. I think that I'm going to sit on it in the garage for a couple of months and hope for the best. I have enough bottles for the brew that's in at the moment.

and yes, the wort probably was exposed to the air for ~30 mins, the instructions told me to let it cool! Urgh, well the first brew was never going to go smoothly. I'll just let it loiter in the garage for another 2 months and give it a go then, if it tastes odd then it'll go down the drain.

Finger's crossed for the Hoppy Copper Bitter that's in the FV atm!

 

[Maffa]

I've let my wort cool (still covered though) for a good few hours on occasion before pitching and not really had an issue.

I have recently done some pitching of dry hop pellets to add citrus taste and I think I added too many, it took a good 10 weeks conditioning before that dettol taste went, so bear with it.

Not rinsing enough is another cause of an anticeptic taste, if this is the case the brew will be a write off

 

[Snetty]

Thanks for the reassurance Maffa, I'm just a bit impatient I guess

so beerhunter mentioned tap water, and I noticed someone in another thread mention anti-chlorine tablets with tap water... what's the score there, should I be using bottled?

 

[Hopping_Mad]

Rinse, rinse and rinse again if using chlorine based sterilisers or bleach! Or use no rinse sanitiser like Star San which doesn't leave odour/taste.

I either use bottled water, or make sure a treat tap water with half a Campden tablet half an hour before using as the tap water round my end is very chlorine-y !!!!

Leave it in the bottles for a couple of months and hope for the best. Get your friends, neighbours, pub, rugby club - whoever, saving bottles for you. I've always got about 100 with beer in and 100 empty!

 

[Snetty]

Rinse, rinse and rinse again if using chlorine based sterilisers or bleach! Or use no rinse sanitiser like Star San which doesn't leave odour/taste.

I either use bottled water, or make sure a treat tap water with half a Campden tablet half an hour before using as the tap water round my end is very chlorine-y !!!!

Leave it in the bottles for a couple of months and hope for the best. Get your friends, neighbours, pub, rugby club - whoever, saving bottles for you. I've always got about 100 with beer in and 100 empty!

Gotcha on the beer bottles, my friends are kinda unreliable but fortunately I'll manage on my own

I'll pick up some Star San before my next brew and cross my fingers for the one that's in the FV atm

 

[mac.eightball]

+1 to star san, its like rocking horse **** over here atm for some reason buts i have been using it for ages, i mix a 5gal batch up and leave it in a bucket to be used over and over again, just tip it back in to the bucket after use. check the ph periodically and when its gets above 3.5 then bin it and mix a new batch. no rinse, no taste, great results.

 

[Dave1970]

If you can't find Starsan Malt Miller has Neales brand no rinse that is much the same thing

 

[Dads_Ale]

I have used VWP for sterilisation and cleaning, rinsing in tap water, for my last 10 brews and have not had any problems.

Having said the above I now add a campden tablet at the end of rinsing.

 

[nixhaz]

I had a batch that I messed up by not rinsing enough... and it didn't taste of bleach but of TCP. The flavour never went away, and I finally ditched it last week after about a year in the bottle!

I use half a crushed campden tablet to get rid of any chlorine in the tap water. You just crush it, chuck it in, stir and leave for a bit to let the chlorine dissipate. You could also use bottled water instead..