Pages: 1
Rubber Stoppers make beer taste funny!?
How do 
I just bottled a Nut Brown Ale that has spent 1 week in the fermenting bucket and then a straight month in a 5 gal glass carboy.. Upon tasting, I noticed a sort of cleanser like rubber taste in the beer. Other than that it was pretty good. The only thing I can figure is that the the rubber stopper (pretty strong rubbery/cleanser-like smell) is what gave that off flavor.. I bought the stoppers from a local brew shop (beer necessities) so I would think they should be made for brewing.. This one has "Fermenthaus USA #7" written on the top.. Anyone have a similar issue or any suggestions?
-MM
More likely its actually an incomplete rinse out of your cleanser or sanitizer. What type of cleanser and sanitizer do you use.
If the stopper never came in contact with the beer, its hard to imagin the stopper giving flavor to the beer. I have used many a new stopper and never had this issue.
Also, how long was the beer in primary? If your yeast weren't healthy then some of them could have undergone lysis and that will give you a rubbery taste too.
I've been using 1 step no rinse sanitizer for all my brews.. I try to get all of the sanitizer off of the equipment best I can.. I usually turn the buckets upside down and let them drip dry.. The carboy is more difficult to get completely dry. I just hold it upside down a few times and shake the hell out of it..
This beer was in the primary for a little over a week, then in the secondary for a full month... the taste is not really rubbery.. It's hard to describe almost a plastic flavor.. The rubber stoppers have the exact same odor... Do your rubber stoppers smell at all? These fermenthaus ones are pretty potent -
Meanwhile I have just transferred a holiday ale into 2ndary (glass carboy) and just used a piece of sanitized plastic wrap/rubber band to vent.. I have read it's okay to use this type of homemade airlock rig.. Whats you opinion on this method?
Shanks
I can't say that I recall smelling my stoppers recently. Next trip to the brewhouse I will have to sniff a few and report back.
Sorry, I forgot to mention... Stopper sniffing is the 2nd stage of bucket licking... Don't let it sneak up on you
So far the plastic wrap seems to be doing the trick and doesn't smell nearly as much like a chemical factory... It could probably also be implemented in some sort or stopper sniffer rehab program if needed... We should probably try to be pro-active with this thing -
-M
i'm fairly new to brewing and so i hope this answer is accurate. brewchez lemme know if i'm off point. what brewchez mentioned regarding sanitation could be right in that improper sanitation could lead to phenol producing bacteria known to give band aid like flavors. could this be the rubberish effect you're describing? as i understand it could also lead to cleanser-like aromas and flavors as well.
Ha! I'm a brew noob if there ever was one! Thanks for the response.. I may have neglected to get all of that extra sanitizer solution out of the carboy.. I left the nut brown in the carboy (secondary) for a full month trying to make up for a previous mistake I made somewhere.. hehe I always seem to screw somethin up but I guess that's how you learn.. I gotta tell you that Brewchez is probably the biggest reason I still have some brew sanity I didn't want to bring this up but I actually have a Shrine dedicated to the man... Yep..
I know seems pretty outrageous to think that the stoppers are penetrating the beer and throwing off the flavor.. It may have been that I swirled the carboy alot trying to get a full fermentation.. or maybe after a month the stopper smelled like the beer and I got it twisted... I'm definitely gonna try and limit the amount of excess sanitizer solution left in the brew equip. Hopefully the bottle carbonation/fermentaion will get rid of that nasty lil off flavor..
Thanks as always and "a salam alikom" peace be with thee and happy brewing till next time
I should point out something to not confuse people.
I use Star San, no rinse sanitizer. I usually put a gallon of sanitizer in my fermentors. Cap it and shake for 10 seconds to coat the whole thing. It gets really foamy. I let it sit a minute or two while I do other things. Then I shake again. Then I rack the liquid out, to sanitize my clean racking cane.
SO my fermentor usually has alot of foam in it. I will then siphon my beer right into the foam. I used to be concerned that you would be able to taste the Star San, but you can't.
SO I don't completely remove my sanitizer, STAR SAN, from my fermentors.
I do however remove with good rinsing my cleanser, PBW (another 5start product) I have noticed chemical type flavors when I didn't clean out the cleanser adiquately.
I don't know what cleanser/sanitizer combo you are using, but I wanted to be clear on my method.
If you are removing all the cleanser and using a no rinse sanitizer, then perhaps you are getting some wierd flavors from a contaminant as djgray1200 suggested.
As always thanks for the kind words.
I too use one step, and if you get a rubbery taste out of your beer, it's not from your sanitizer. somehow, you have allowed your beer to get contaminated. The rubber taste is a classic ID of a stray bacteria introduced into the fermenting process. On your next batch, you MUST make certain of sanitization of anything that comes in to contact with your wort after is has cooled to below 170 degrees F. If it was me, I would drink it, but I have a cast iron gut. It might loosen your system up a bit, if you know what I mean.
To reemphasize I have chosen to quote myself:
brewchez wrote:
If you are removing all the cleanser and using a no rinse sanitizer, then perhaps you are getting some wierd flavors from a contaminant as djgray1200 suggested.
Pages: 1