@porkchop That’s one reason why I asked about saving his yeast. Everything else seems to be pretty sound.
@porkchop thought about the bug thing, but it doesn’t get any different with age and it is very slight–and I changed tubing and bottling wand between a couple of the affected brews. Attenuation has been normal, I think–around 1.006 for the saison, 1.005 for the blonde (it had a pound of candy sugar so pretty dry). The hefe was around 1.010.
@dave I don’t really know anyone who is a judge, but I do have a few guys at a local shop that I can give a sample to. Good idea.
Thanks for all the thoughts, guys. Keep it coming.
Ron
Things I know I’m going to do:
- New tubing and plastic stuff
- Get a better scale
- Hopefully get a ph meter
- Get a knowledgeable person to try my beer
- Hope this kolsch I just bottled is better, which will tell me that the chlorine thing is a possibility.
One other question–could leaving too much headspace in the bottle be contributing in any way? I’ve looked at a bunch of my bottles and there is an average of a good 1-1/2"to 2" of space below the cap. The beer is up the neck, but not far. Maybe I should be filling them fuller?
That may be worth the effort, yet you use O2 absorbing caps, so that may be ruled out… All the different strains of yeast, still the same? Barley from different suppliers? Hops from different suppliers? The only thing constant is water and equipment… Wheres Sherlock Holmes when you need him? Sneezles61
Oh well. Popped the first kolsch(all bottles and bottling equipment sanitized with non-chlorine water with starsan) and did NOT get the off taste. So maybe the sanitizer solution was a possible cause.
Revisited one of the belgians today (it had bottle conditioned about two weeks more than the first before refrigeration) and the off taste was less noticeable. Maybe it’s something that is aging out?
The more I think about it, I would describe this off taste as minerally, like the after taste of an alka seltzer if that makes sense. I’m starting to wonder if it could be the yeast esters that I’m perceiving since the three that have this taste are all german/belgian yeasts?
At least the kolsch is good!
Thanks for all the help,
Ron
and by the way, it’s not a true kolsch. Just NB’s version using dry yeast–us05.
[quote=“frenchie, post:25, topic:22243, full:true”]and by the way, it’s not a true kolsch. Just NB’s version using dry yeast–us05.
[/quote]
Uggghhhh… 
Yeah, I know. But it turns out to be a good beer. I call it budweiser with taste haha. Just a good, clean beer with a little more body and flavor than the cheap stuff.
Cheers,
Ron
I have a beer carbonating now that I brewed as my session pale ale. I’ve brewed similar beers before and enjoy them. What a do is low gravity grain bill with 2row. Then I hop it like a Pilsner with German hops( this one is magnum and mittlefruh ) then us05 mix 60s. Then cold crash and lager. Excellent beer IMO. Sounds like what you made.
Yep. It’s all pilsner with tradition and hersbrucker. I’ve fermented in the mid to high 5o’s using 05 and I get that fruity finish like I taste is Spaten. This one I fermented around 66-68 and it’s just pretty clean, I really like it.
I think you could use Hersbrucker with sawdust and get a good beer! Just don’t use plywood sawdust; the glue gives a strong phenolic off-taste!
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