What went wrong?

[N1ckW]

I hope someone can help. I am quite new to brewing. My first brew was a festival Razorback which turned out awesome. I then tried the festival Landlord. Everything went ok but when the beer was ready it had a banana aftertaste. I left it a while longer but still no change. So i tried another brew. This time the festival Stag summer ale. Again the brew & fermentation went well but again it had a banana aftertaste.
The only thing i did different between my first brew and the other 2 was change my sanitiser. On the first one i used the VWP powder sanitiser. On the other 2 i used starsan as i wanted to speed up the sanitising process. Could this have been the cause?
All brews were fermenting in the bucket at about 22 degrees. I followed the instructions the same for each one. 1 week after i started the brew i added the hops. I then bottled 2 weeks after this as it was still fermenting after the second week.
If anyone can offer any advice before i start my next brew it would be appreciated. I was going to go back to the VWP steriliser on the next one but any other advice would be great.

 

[Dads_Ale]

I use Vwp and StarSan.
After use I clean and sterilise with VWP, rinse well and fully dry equipment and store. I do not seal kids but cover openings with the blue paper roll stuff you get from screw fix.
On brew day I sanitise with Star San before use.

 

[peebee]

Right, first the sterilising: VWP is a cleaner and effective sanitizer to boot. "Star San" has no cleaning ability, it is only a sanitizer (and can't sanitise bugs embedded in any crud it can't clean off), but unlike VWP doesn't need rinsing out (VWP must be; about three or four rinses is good). I use both, with "Star San" as the final rinse (might even rinse that out with boiled water, but no need really). I don't think either can be blamed for "banana" flavours.

"Banana" flavours are a known by-product of some yeasts at high temperatures (above 20 degrees) - desirable in wheat beers. Perhaps this is a trait of the yeast you are using? Probably not? Trying a different ale yeast next time seems a good plan. Keeping the temperature down (16-8) is another good plan. See what others have to say.

 

[Fil]

+1 to above

i use starsan as a sanitiser, and generic unscented laundry oxi as a cleaner, starsan isnt a cleaner.. soaps and detergents are best avoided as they are/contain head killing chemicals which are tricky to rinse off completely..

when looking at the range of temps a yeast is comfortable fermenting at aim for the bottom end of the range if you can, quite a few folk without temp control take a break durring the warmest months as keeping a brew cooler than ambient is a more challenging job (without a brewfridge) than keeping it warmer during the colder months..

 

[Covrich]

I agree its probably from the yeast I am surprised that you get them as low as 22 degrees but it could be possible that your thermometer is out a bit??? it is desirale in some styles like PeeBee says.

I would suggest you clean down all your equipment and use a neutral yeast like Safale US 05. This gives off a clean flavour which allows the hops and maltiness to come to the fore, it is also pretty resistant to higher temps, that said hopefully with summer coming to an end you might be able to help regulate a lower temp

 

[N1ckW]

Thanks for all the replies. I might hold off a couple of weeks till the temperature starts to cool down. I know that one of the brews was on when we had that very warm spell a few weeks ago so that could be it. My first brew was done in may when it wasnt too warm. I used the yeast that came with the kit but i might substitute it next time. Thanks again