I have been brewing for a few years now and we moved from sacramento ca to farminton ia i have had more water issues than i ever have. i get ornge flavor in the beer does not matter what style or yeast. so i went with spring water from county markit and then i get a rubbing alc tast can any one help me with this ???
Help
What is your recipe and brewing process. Also briefly describe you fermentation schedule and temperature. Having this info. will help us better understand your issue.
12lbs 2 row
12oz roasted barly
1lbs cristaal 60
1lbs biskit
fermit at 68 one week rak into 2nd for a weeek then into the keg
yeast was irish ale
mash at 154
boil 90 min
3 oz hops at one at 90 one at 60 and one at 15
what kind of hops?
Do you make a starter? what batch size?
for 5 gallons I am guessing and around 1.060ish? you would need a pretty good size starter.
stressed yeast (under pitched) could produce fusels which might come across as rubbing alcohol. Stressed yeast can also produce unexpected esters. Although I have never heard of an orange ester. Sacramento water is pretty soft. what were you using for brewing salts?
do you check your pH?
I don’t add salts in my water in sac no problems but in Iowa I get all these issues I make a big starter 1lbs of DME and a teaspoon of nutrition for the yeast
I would start out by looking at your water then.
Sounds to me like you are dealing with mash chemistry issues.
I would start with getting a water report from your local water supplier/municipality or from Ward Labs. If you bought water and are still having problems then you need to look at your process. you mention rubbing alcohol, what type of cleaner/sanitizer are you using as you might be getting chloramines from them. Camden tablets can help with that or you need to switch products that have no chlorine in them.
Only time I have gotten an orange ester was from a severely stressed Belgian strain. It wasn’t too bad but definitely not an expected result.
I use star San I got orange in 4 batches 4. Different Yeats the rubbing alcohol is from water I bought at county market from library Illinois so could it be that water? I brewed at a buddy of mine about four weeks ago and that turned out great just stumped
A lb. of DME? What size starter?
Try getting some RO water and adding salts per bru’n water or ezwater or similar and see if you get the same result.
Indeed. 1 lb of DME is enough for a 4.5 liter starter. could be WAY over pitching produced the orange? I know there is evidence that over pitching can cause high esters but I have not heard of higher alcahols from that.
Rule out the water by getting some from a different source. Why rack to secondary after a week? Let it be. Less chance for bugs. Check the dates on your yeast. Is your LHBS getting fresh/refrigerating?
I used water from Quincy Illinois had made a big beer that tasted great
okay,
So the water you purchased was chlorinated hence the ‘rubbing alcohol’ (could it also be described as medicinal?) This can actually be dealt with via pre boiling, letting it sit, Camden tablets, or carbon filtration.
The water at home… I don’t know. Orange says to me hops or stressed yeast.
the water from Quincy IL sounds like a winner for that style (Barley wine?)
Google Bru’n water and start to look into the effect water chemistry can have.