Off flavour (dare I say twang)

[Gggsss]

Hello all. Wondered your thoughts on the following.

I’m an all grain brewer with many brews under me belt. Most beers are decent enough, and the ones that are not are just a little underwhelming but not unpleasant and certainly drinkable. Problem is my last couple of beers have finished up tasting strange/off. Evoking harrowing memories of early extract brewing.

I bottle, don’t keg.

First dud was a Kolsch. Fermented with CML Kolsch yeast (as normal with temp control fridge) then lagered/conditioned as normal. Final beer had a very strong alcohol taste that dominated the beer (which was only around 5%).
*

Second was a Hazy IPA. Again controlled fermentation (usual temp no variations to my usual methods). Tasted amazing at bottling. After carbing and conditioning they have only what I can describe as the dreaded homebrew twang. There’s a good beer hidden underneath the twang, but the off flavour is highly noticeable (and f***in annoying).

*I didn’t taste the Kolsch at bottling

All my usual brewing, fermenting and bottling practices are followed. Nothing has changed, so why would I have 10 good and 2 horrid (for example)????

Only thing I can think is an issue at bottling. I reuse my Star San a few brews (I do top up with newly made), but do check the PH accordingly. I also use sugar packets/sticks from Pret etc. I can only think there is a issue with the sanitizer and/or the priming sugar is an issue (only packaged in paper sachets and sat in shops for weeks/months).

Any thoughts people? It’s doing me nut in (and I’m bottling 25l of Gose today with fingers crossed).

Thanks in advance

 

[Clarence]

What temperature did you ferment at? If it gets too hot, some yeasts can be a bit funny.

 

[Gggsss]

Clarence - Kolsch about 16-17 if memory serves and IPA at 19 (CML ale yeast). All constant using temp control. As mentioned tasted good out of the fermenter (IPA).

Also to add, bottles carbed around 16-18, so nothing stressful in terms of temp.

 

[phildo79]

If this is two brews in a row and the twang is similar, even though it's two different styles, then something is almost certainly interfering with the beer. I suggest a deep clean and replacing the easy stuff like grommets, air locks, o rings etc. If you can swap out some equipment for the sake of £20, then do it. Ask yourself this, do you really want to go to the effort of making another batch, only for it to have the same twang?