This is interesting. I haven’t heard of it before, but, I used a brand new tube of yeast on the Kölsch. Also, my packaged beer was not abused or exposed to excessive heat. Basically, cold crashed beer was transferred to a keg and then immediately moved 5 feet to my serving fridge.
Do you ferment in a plastic bucket?
I ferment in a plastic big mouth bubbler.
I started tasting an off flavor in my beers until I switched to a stainless fermenter. Maybe a good cleaning and sanitizing will do it.
Does it have a valve on it?
OTOH, I’ve used nothing but buckets for the last 12-14 years and have never had off flavors from it.
There is a valve. I remove and clean that before filling.
I just bought some craftmeister alkaline brewery wash, new tubing, and Iodophor. I also got a $35 pin lock with QD’s. I am going to experiment fermenting in that keg to see if I can cut oxygen out of the back end of my process. I’ll be doing closed transfers into purged kegs also.
But, I may have just gotten sloppy on fermentation. I have been cutting the time in the fermenter lately. I looked at my notes and the blonde was in the fermenter for just 6 days. That’s including a 24 hour cold crash. That may not have been enough time for the yeast to clean up. I have noticed fast flocculating yeasts (WLP041 in this case) sometimes leave behind diacetyl and need a rest. I may have rushed it.
The Kolsch was in the fermenter 10 days. But, it took 36 hours to Krausen and then I cold crashed 24 hours on the back end. I wonder if that was too fast, also.
I am back in town tonight and will be trying my krausened Kolsch.
Cool! I’ve not had that experience. …even after a serious bleach bomb. Hopefully, the cleaning, sanitizing, using kegs, and slowing down the process will put Tommy’s beer back on track.
I have four buckets now but one of them is the original from the homebrew kit I got in 2004. I’ve been meaning to replace that one though; the plastic piece on the handle fell off and the metal really digs into my hand.
+1 for the bucket brigade
I now routinely wrap the plastic on the handles with white duct tape to prevent that plastic from cracking.
Another longtime bucketeer here. I am eyeballing a couple SS brewbuckets, though.
I started with buckets, then picked a stainless Vessel from Indie GOGo campaign, then got a 30L speidel. Problem is, I can fit 2 buckets in my chest freezer, but only one if any of the others. Been doing a lot a split batches and double brew days with smaller batches sizes, so my fancier fermentor have been sitting on the sidelines for a while now.buckets are dependable and simple to use and clean
To each his own, but that’s a LOT less fermenter time than I usually allow (I brew all ales, BTW). I don’t even check my gravity until my wort has been in the fermenter for two or three weeks or so. Even longer for higher ABVs. It can be hard to be patient, but I’ve found it’s worth it.
Day 2 of tasting the krausened Kölsch and the beer is clean (no butter).
What is the LODO method for unclogging a dip tube? Lots of foam when serving. It’s not over carbonated. I put my pressure gauge on the out post. It read 8 PSI. That was after 48 hours in the fridge.
Maybe you could put a liquid post connector on your CO2 tank and push a blast through the dip tube? Make sure you’ve got a check valve on the gas line, of course, or at least make sure the pressure from the tank is higher than the pressure in the keg. Vent from the lid purge valve.
That’s a good idea. I’ll try it.