Band Aid ... Now what

[ColumbusAmongus]

Alright, now that my third brew in a row has a band aid flavor, I think that I know where it is coming from but I need some help.

This current brew was a simple AG pale ale recipe. The mash pH was 5.74. It was out of that 5.2-5.6 range but is that enough to cause astringency? It didn't seem too extreme so I kept on truckin. This was the first mash where I monitored the pH though so if 5.74 is in the astringent causing range then maybe that is the case for my past brews.

From the past occurrences, I thought it could be chlorine from my water so I used a quarter tablet of campden in my mash water for this go around.

I sanitized my carboy (plastic) and auto siphon with star san for a good 2.5 hours while brewing. To take my kettle out of the equation, my friend and I used it not too long ago at his house and those brews turned out fine with his auto siphon and carboy.

After ~4 days fermenting (airlock activity done), I dry hopped and shook up the carboy. Before adding the hops, I got a nice whiff of the band aid smell after removing the stopper and said OH F#^**. I pulled a bit out and sure enough, it was like sucking water out of a wet band aid.

I think it is either the siphon or the plastic carboy that might need replacement. Both are about 1.5 - 2 years old. I was wondering if anyone thought otherwise but also before replacing them, do you think a good bleaching might help if I have a nasty contamination that is hanging around after a good star san hit? Thanks!

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Let me add some yeast info.

Used cal V that was marked used before Oct 2012. Made a starter with it (1 cup pilsen DME / 1 Q water) let it go for 24 hours at 70F. It smelled fine at pitching, which the wort was 70F and OG was 1.060. Aerated via swirling vigorously. Fermented at 70F for a couple of days but it did drop to 68F which could have been band aid day but I didnt keep track that well so it could have been the day after.

When I cooled the wort, I actually didn't use a chiller, it was all in a bucket of ice with lots of stirring so post boil contam was minimized in that sense.

 

[msexton]

I was getting similar flavors in my first few batches until I started controlling my fermentation temps. I now make sure I cool the wort below 70F (usually 65F) and then pitch my yeast. I keep the carboy in a fridge at 65F or below and I have not had the issue since.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Hmmm...so it could be that slight temp drop? If this is yeast related, could it be something that they clean up if I can raise the temp?

 

[msexton]

I guess it may be possible but I didn't see that with my brews. They pretty much retained that flavor no matter how long I let them sit. It would reduce somewhat but it never went away completely. Wouldn't hurt to try though

 

[McChub]

I was getting similar flavors in my first few batches until I started controlling my fermentation temps. I now make sure I cool the wort below 70F (usually 65F) and then pitch my yeast. I keep the carboy in a fridge at 65F or below and I have not had the issue since.

Same thing for me

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Thats what I have experienced too. It seems like the flavor dies off a bit but doesn't go away with aging. I haven't caught it in the fermentor yet so I never tried to let it sit at higher temps with the yeast.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I see the value in pitching lower than 70 now

 

[Denny]

Did you add the campden to the water before you used it, or did you add it to the mash?

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I added it to the water as I was heating it for the mash. I didnt treat the sparge water however.

 

[Denny]

I added it to the water as I was heating it for the mash. I didnt treat the sparge water however.

I'd consider that a possibility. Also, you mention both band aid and astringency....2 very different things. Do you have both problems? Remember, astringency isn't a flavor, it's a mouthfeel. Neither of those is related to fermentation temps.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I'd consider that a possibility. Also, you mention both band aid and astringency....2 very different things. Do you have both problems? Remember, astringency isn't a flavor, it's a mouthfeel. Neither of those is related to fermentation temps.

Hmm... I am not sure. I would describe the big problem as having the band aid odor and flavor but I might be incorrectly perceiving the band aid flavor in combo with the hop bitterness as astringency.

Are you thinking that the sparge water needed treatment? I was thinking the campden wouldn't leave until I boiled the wort but maybe it is driven off or absorbed in the the mash?

 

[igotsand]

I use campden in both mash tun and HLT....
Are you using a water filter?
Try that next time...
Igotsand

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I don't filter. I think that I should def try to on the next go around. I will also try campden tabs in both mash and sparge water.

 

[SledgeH]

Have you tried bottled water from the store yet? One of the members of my brew club has some pretty awful water and uses gallon jugs from the store. It will allow you to eliminate 1 more variable at least.

 

[Denny]

Hmm... I am not sure. I would describe the big problem as having the band aid odor and flavor but I might be incorrectly perceiving the band aid flavor in combo with the hop bitterness as astringency.

Are you thinking that the sparge water needed treatment? I was thinking the campden wouldn't leave until I boiled the wort but maybe it is driven off or absorbed in the the mash?

You need to treat the water before you use it. Just having campden in the mash won't have any effect on the sparge water.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Ok thanks for the tip. Pretty much going to dump the bath and have a second go.

 

[mechanic65000]

An experienced member of our lhbc says he had the same issue...and I tasted his brew...not too tasty, but still gets you buzzed. He thinks his problem is a water issue...he uses hot water out of the tap in his brew pot before heating on stove to speed the process. He has had about three batches out of six turn out this way (band aid), and the times it turned out ok...he had used cold tap water for the whole process. He thought it was because of the concentrated sediments from the heater. May also be from deposits from the electrolytic action of the electric elements, metal piping and such. Ever heard of a sacrificial rod inside the water heater to control corrosion? Don't know what they are called, but they are designed to corrode instead of your water heater tank. So corrosion of the rod might add yucky stuff too.

That being said...try the bottled (spring)water trick. Or use a charcoal filter. I do think a fancy R/O system would work, but they are way to expensive to buy and maintain...unless your water is rrrreally bad. I have used bottled drinking water for my boil, and also stick a few in the freezer as I start to add to the fermenter, to cool 2 gal wort down faster. Without any pre boiling. No noticible contamination issues...yet... after four batches. If I wasn't so lazy...I would boil and cool it then put back in sanitized jugs. Then it would be ready and easily accessible as I needed it throughout the process.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out! Whatever you try let us know the results, soz we can avoid the dreaded "Band Aid Brew!"


our new club site...www.ettubrewte.org

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

There is a good two part article on probrewer about phenolics that describes the the isolation of a bacteria that causes this flavor. They isolated it and then inoculated a test batch to confirm the off flavor so it has me convinced my issue was poor carboy cleaning.

I filtered an entire batch through a britta filter and got the band aid flavor so I change my fermentor and brewed again and it fixed the problem.