Kolsch tastes like a rubber band

Ingredients
1

I brewed my kolsch with 1056 and it was one of “those” brewdays…

… had to trade out a bazooka screen because it got a hole in the middle of vorlauf. Went to “no-sparge method” afterwards…
… still wouldnt clear on vorlauf, got some husks in the boil.
… only got ~ 4 gal after the boil because there was so much sediment.
… couldn’t get the temp past 80F. Put it in my keezer overnight to get down to 65F.
… forgot to cover the carboy when i put it in the basement.

After primary, it tastes hot and rubber-bandy. Could any of these brewday follies have caused this?

2

How did you clean and sanitize your equipment.

Rubber-bandy or sometimes referred to as medicinal.

I’m thinking the flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

3

I use star-san.

I’ve heard young meads have a rubber-band taste… could a few weeks of lagering help it out?

4

Is it husky or grainy tasting?

Lagering may do the trick.  Give it a few weeks and try it.

5

First off, you have to use a kolsch yeast to brew a kolsch. With 1056 you brewed a blonde. You won’t get the unique kolsch-like characteristics from 1056.

[quote]… couldn’t get the temp past 80F. Put it in my keezer overnight to get down to 65F.

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What temp did you pitch the yeast? I can’t tell if it was 80 or 65? Leaving it over night to get it down into proper pitching range won’t hurt anything as long as you are sanitary.

I see you use star san. Did you filter your water? Chlorines or Chloramines can leave a rubber band or band aid character.

The other possibility is you picked up a wild yeast. A lot of times I get “rubber band” flavors in my young belgians, especially saison strains, so this could certainly be a yeast off flavor - something other than 1056.

6

In your “young” belgians? So does a bit of conditioning clean that up?

7

If, when you say, “clean” you mean clean like a kolsch … no. The “burn rubber” character I find in my belgians fades into a nice clove phenol though. Not appropriate in your case.

So what temp did you actually pitch the yeast? Curious…

8

65F after an overnight stay in the keezer. I have two immersion chillers (one in an ice bath) and still cant get wort temps below 80F.

9

I can’t either this time of year. Your pitching temp was fine. Maybe just some fluke, hard to say. If it is a wild yeast it may not age into a very good beer. But maybe whatever you are picking up will age out.