47 replies to this topic

[SteveMillerTime]

So I decided to try out my Chocolate Raspberry Porter last night (it's been bottle conditioning for a week now) since I'll be entering it into a homebrew comp in May. Smells, great and tastes great...until the aftertaste hits you... i'm getting a slight plastic taste from the damn beer. I also noticed this taste in my last batch which I brewed back in September (it's been aging), which was a honey ale. At first I figured it was just the honey.Here, my water company started added Chloramine to the water around June of 2012 (later for different counties). ####ING KIDDING ME?! This totally ####s me up and pisses me off. I feel like I should call the water company and make them pay for ruining my beer. Ugh, I'm so pissed off right now. The water company has ruined my 2 competition entries...I honestly don't even know if I wanna bother entering them now.I'm gonna try using campden tablets in the next brew to see if that eliminates the flavor...god I hope so, I really don't wanna have to buy water from the store...

[SteveMillerTime]

Note to self: apparently using the word #### in the title will get it removed. balls.

[Dean Palmer]

Campden doesn't work after the fact as the point is to break the chlorine/ammonia bond and dissipate these before brewing. Once the chlorophenols are formed during brewing I think the only way to get clear of them in the beer is time, and maybe then they may not totally change enough. I'd give the beer some time and see what happens.

[SteveMillerTime]

Campden doesn't work after the fact as the point is to break the chlorine/ammonia bond and dissipate these before brewing. Once the chlorophenols are formed during brewing I think the only way to get clear of them in the beer is time, and maybe then they may not totally change enough. I'd give the beer some time and see what happens.

Yup that's what I said. lol...I said I'll be trying em with the next brew session which will be my warrior's pose apa - the honey ale has been sitting in a keg for 180 days, so i haven't tried it yet. hoping to get all of the parts i need for my CPBF tomorrow and will fill some bottles tmrw or sunday morning.

Edited by SteveMillerTime, 29 March 2013 - 11:43 AM.

[SteveMillerTime]

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Edited by SteveMillerTime, 29 March 2013 - 11:43 AM.

[SchwanzBrewer]

campden tabs work, I use the powdered kind same thing just not a tab- Potassium Metabisulfite, in all my water because we have chloramine. Since I started using it I haven't had any chlorophenols in my beer.

[Mya]

campden tabs work, I use the powdered kind same thing just not a tab- Potassium Metabisulfite, in all my water because we have chloramine. Since I started using it I haven't had any chlorophenols in my beer.

powder is a lot cheaper too

[Brauer]

Potassium metabosulfate or Campden is a life saver around here. It's usually not a problem in the winter, but I've forgotten it a couple times after a warm spell in the Spring and got burned with chlorophenols. I never leave it out, anymore.

[djinkc]

Potassium metabosulfate or Campden is a life saver around here. It's usually not a problem in the winter, but I've forgotten it a couple times after a warm spell in the Spring and got burned with chlorophenols. I never leave it out, anymore.

We have it here too in the water district I'm in. It goes in every batch. To cheap and easy to leave out.

[Brauer]

We have it here too in the water district I'm in. It goes in every batch. To cheap and easy to leave out.

Our water makes a fantastic base, otherwise. I've considered a carbon filter to remove the organic flavors that can crop up occasionally in the heat of the summer, since we get our water from a reservoir. Other than that, however, the metabisulfate is just too cheap, easy and effective.

[Clintama]

The last time I bought Campden it was $3.50 for 100 tablets. Cheap insurance at 3.5 cents per batch.

[SteveMillerTime]

Awesome, I'm glad to hear the campden tabs have worked for everyone. All I have to do is cut the tablet into 1/4 (per 5 gallons), crush it, and drop it into my strike water right?I just picked em up from my LHBS yesterday along with a few specialty grains for my warrior's pose APA i plan on brewing next weekend.As for today, i need to bottle my honey ale before the guests get here. really curious if aging 180 days did anything to the phenol flavor.

[Mya]

Awesome, I'm glad to hear the campden tabs have worked for everyone. All I have to do is cut the tablet into 1/4 (per 5 gallons), crush it, and drop it into my strike water right?I just picked em up from my LHBS yesterday along with a few specialty grains for my warrior's pose APA i plan on brewing next weekend.As for today, i need to bottle my honey ale before the guests get here. really curious if aging 180 days did anything to the phenol flavor.

it will mix into the water better if you crush it up

[positiveContact]

Awesome, I'm glad to hear the campden tabs have worked for everyone. All I have to do is cut the tablet into 1/4 (per 5 gallons), crush it, and drop it into my strike water right?I just picked em up from my LHBS yesterday along with a few specialty grains for my warrior's pose APA i plan on brewing next weekend.As for today, i need to bottle my honey ale before the guests get here. really curious if aging 180 days did anything to the phenol flavor.

I'd use 1/2 tab for all of the water for my 5 gallon batch water. maybe i'm being paranoid.

[Brauer]

I've switched from Campden to Sodium Metabisulfite. Same difference, of course, but I have been just throwing in a pinch of the powder. I recently bought a better scale for weighing out salts, so now I add 30 mg/gallon, which is from the AJ deLange calculated amount that would treat the worst-case 3 mg/L of Chloramine.

[positiveContact]

I've switched from Campden to Sodium Metabisulfite. Same difference, of course, but I have been just throwing in a pinch of the powder. I recently bought a better scale for weighing out salts, so now I add 30 mg/gallon, which is from the AJ deLange calculated amount that would treat the worst-case 3 mg/L of Chloramine.

any idea what the tabs weigh? I have a bunch so I won't be buying the powder any time soon.

[Murphy]

any idea what the tabs weigh? I have a bunch so I won't be buying the powder any time soon.

0.4-0.5g/tablet

[positiveContact]

0.4-0.5g/tablet

so let's say 450 mg which would be good for 150 L or about 40 gallons. so yeah - I've been overdosing my 10 gallon batches

[SteveMillerTime]

haha awesome, had no idea this many people actually used tablets/powder. I can't wait for my next brew day. Thanks for all of your help guys.

[positiveContact]

haha awesome, had no idea this many people actually used tablets/powder. I can't wait for my next brew day. Thanks for all of your help guys.

for a long time I filtered my water through a brita pitcher. holy snot did this suck. once I discovered campden tablets I was a happy, happy man.