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Common Beer Problems
Discussion for article - Common Beer Problems
http://www.brewingkb.com/articles/commo … blems.html
When this was originally posted I wrote up a lengthy response to this article but after the "WTF articles" thread I decided not to post it because it was rather criticizing and perhaps overly technical. However I had saved it as a Word doc and selected a few points I thought were important to new brewers.
ndickerson wrote:
The most common faults come from improper brewing.
This is a very general statement and I think the topic can be elaborated upon. I believe that many common off flavors and aromas in beer can be traced back to a few things.
Proper yeast pitching rates and fermentation temperatures are two of the most important aspects of brewing. Pitch enough yeast so they do not become stressed and produce off flavors, long fermentation start times and sluggish or stuck fermentations. Unhealthy yeast often have a hard time cleaning up fermentation by products such as diacetyl and acelteldehyde. These are compounds that are produced by the yeast, reabsorbed after fermentation and processed and removed from the beer. Diacetyl is often described as a buttery flavor and having a slick mouthfeel. Aceteldehyde tastes and smells like fresh Granny Smith apples.
High fermentation temperatures produce lots of esters and fusel alcohols. These alcohols are often harsh and do not mellow much over time – trust me I speak from experience and held onto a case of Irish Red ale for 9 months after accidently leaving a space heater on and letting the fermentation climb into the 80’s overnight. Even after all that time the beer was still unpleasant to drink. These alcohols often cause nasty hangovers.
Cooler temperatures will produce a cleaner product as long as those temperatures are still in the ideal range for that particular yeast strain. However if temperatures are too low, yeast can become dormant and stop fermenting.
Also, cleaning and sanitization are absolute necessities if you plan on brewing good beer. Keep in mind that if it’s not clean, it can’t be sanitized. Everything that touches your beer post boil needs to be cleaned and sanitized – siphons, tubing, wine thiefs, carboys, buckets, bottles, kegs, etc. I prefer Oxyclean and PBW for cleaning and Star San Sanitizer. Wild bugs will ruin your beer and the last thing you want to do to is dump 5 gallons of time and money down the drain because you got lazy.
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