I brewed a double batch of IPA with a buddy about 8 weeks ago. We split this into two 5 gallon pails and 2 weeks later into two carboys. His was fine, but mine developed a bit of white stuff on the top of the beer. It smelt fine and tasted OK so I bottled it after 2 more weeks. After being in the bottles about 10 days I decided to try some. I noticed that all the bottles had …

I am trying to understand the nature of contamination in beer. I find it difficult to imagine (considering there are wild yeasts and moulds and micro-organisms in the air - aren't there?) a scenario where a beer is 100% free of contamination, or is this normally the case with a properly brewed batch? Or is it a case that when contamination is lower than some threshold we don't notice it and that beer is considered to not be contaminated? I …

This term pops up from time to time and it often cited as a reason to go to all grain. But maybe its because I don't really know what it tastes like. Do you believe in extract twang? How do you get rid of it, aside from all-grain brewing? Can you get rid of it?

Say a beer has been exposed to too much oxygen and it is now giving off cardboard and stale flavors (oxygen-related off-flavors). Say another beer has been exposed to too much light and is now lightstruck (skunked). Do any mechanisms exist (at either homebrewer scale or even the commercial/laboratory scale) to reverse either of these flaws?

I had some turbo yeast left over, and figured I'd try make a couple litres of ginger beer (sugar, grated ginger, a little lime juice) and elderflower wine (sugar, elderflowers, lemon juice and zest) with it. Both have ended up with the same extremely unpleasant bitter flavour. They're currently undrinkable. Is there anything I can do to get rid of it? Currently I'm aging the elderflower wine and hoping for the best; I started the ginger beer later and that's …

I've just tried the first bottle from a batch of APA I brewed and it has a very distinct (and unpleasant) earthy / peaty flavour. Reminiscent of healthy soil. The beer also finishes with a very sharp acidic bitterness (also unpleasant). What could have caused this? Is it a process error somewhere? Infection / mishandling? Just a poor recipe? Is it likely to disappear with age or should I flush the lot? Fermentables: 3kg Light malt extract (syrup) 0.5kg Dextrose …

So I was planning to make some white wine, I started with some green grapes and after checking the pH it was too low so I added some citric acid which made the juice became too acidic, to bring down the acidity I added some Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking soda) and the pH was balanced out. Now my fermentation is complete and after cold crashing I realized the wine tastes like soap water, is there anything I can do to fix …

I've been making homebrew for 8 years now. Recently, (over the last 8 months or so) I've noticed that in almost all of my beers, there is a distinct clove-like aftertaste. I assume that there is an off-flavor coming from somewhere, but I'm not quite sure how to track down where it's coming from. It's an uphill battle, too, because I'm especially sensitive to this aftertaste and don't like it. Others to whom I give my beers don't seem to …

I have brewed a number of ales which have all turned out delicious, and recently I attempted my first Pilsner (92% Pilsner malt, 8% flaked wheat) which did not turn out how I expected. There is a prominent off-flavor, it tastes mostly like butter scotch but I can't quite put my finger on it. After the boil I chilled to room temperature and pitched Wyeast Bohemian Lager at room temperature then brought my fermentation chamber down to 55°F. Fermentation Timeline …

I recently brewed a pale ale, 100% 2 row, ~13*P, hopped to about 40IBU with Azacca, and fermented with Voss Kveik at around 30*c. I ended up with an awful hose water flavour, which I can only assume is chlorophenols. I have had this flavour only once before, about 5 years ago, on a different brewing rig, with entirely different ingredients. I'm confident in my sanitation, and as I haven't had this issue before with this setup, I'm confident in …

I am exploring what in my process could have possibly caused this flaw, but it is likely old yeast propogated in a starter and then pitched, as this has not happened to me ever before. What I am trying to figure out, is if flavor additions (and cold serving temp) made to the beer after it has already been kegged could mask this flaw adequately for a weekend's worth of consumption (Labor Day party). Here are the stats: -Jamil's American …

I tasted the beer when it came out of the fermenter and it was great. I cooled it to 4 degrees then I racked it into the keg and force carbonated - about 1 minute at 300kPa, a good few minutes of vigorous shaking later it dropped to 140kPa so left it for an hour. I then tapped the keg and it was all foam - very overcarbonated... my regulator is a bit dodgy so will go for less CO2 …

Our last 4 or 5 batches have had a distinctive sour flavor to them even though each has been a completely different style (wit, brown, 2 stout, hefe). What are the common reasons to get a sour off flavor? Extra Info / What we have tried: Extra sanitization, but either we are still missing it or thats not the problem we do BIAB have a consistent 64F fermenter not all done with the same yeast (but it was all dry …

Recently I brewed two batches of a copycat Christmas Ale. You can ignore the recipe's water adjustments, since I didn't do them. Before fermenting, the wort smelled and tasted perfect - just the right amount of sugar and spice. I figured that it would turn out fantastic (both batches). The first batch sat in the bottle for 2 weeks, and when I tasted I was quite disappointed. It had essentially no spice characteristic in smell or taste, and it had …

I have had a recurring off-flavor in my ales that I would like help identifying and preventing. The flavor is a yeasty flavor with some savory components. I have tasted it a few times in commercial beers, but usually it's less pronounced and fairly tolerable. In my homebrews, it can be overwhelming and I've even tossed a few batches because of it. Prior to fermentation (post sparge), the flavor is not there. It only appears after fermentation has started. It …

I brewed a New England IPA and kegged it. The first few pours after moving around the keg come out very cloudy, with a few small leftover hop bits and likely some yeast in suspension. These pours have a distinctive off flavor that I can best describe as metallic. It also produces a slight burning sensation in the back of my throat. However, later pours that come out clear have no sign of this off flavor and are citric, fruity, …

I have made 3 batches of beer now which each had the same off flavour but I don't really have a clear idea of the source of the problem. It's a kind of soapy cleaning flavour but doesn't match up any flavour descriptor that I've come across. It persists across split batches so is not down to fermentation problems as far as I know but seems to be inherent in the beer. I did think it was something to do …

I have recently made a batch of pale ale malt and willamette SmaSh, I used a BIAB setup and "no chill"-ed it in a cube over night. I'm overall pleased with the final prodect, however it has a distinct aftertaste I can only describe as "dusty". It should be noted that I could not squeeze the air completelty out of my cube, I left the beer in primery for about a week after fermantation was done(I wasn't sure), fermentaition temprature …

I haven't had the chance to brew in about two years and I've been storing my copper wort chiller in a storage locker for most of that time. Upon moving and retrieving it yesterday, it's got some really interesting coloration on it. The bronzed color is worn off in little splotches and circles here and there. I'm not sure what caused it (be it storage with too much access to the air or improper cleaning the only time I used …

I brewed a DDH NEIPA recently and it was a great learning experience. I got the aromatics I was looking for but the flavor was bitter. The batch was bound to be wonky because of size limitations because I could only brew a 3-gallon batch on a stovetop. The final beer was SUPER cloudy and had some sediment in it and when bottling a lot ended up settling out of the beer. Primary fermentation was at 72°F then down to …