Hi everyone, looking for a little help... I recently entered a DIPA into a BJCP competition, and both judges noted phenolic/plastic tastes. No diacetyl or DMS, though. So, I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong...
Tropical style DIPA
5.5 gal batch
1.080 OG
1.012 FG
Equipment:
Mash tun is 10 gal Igloo cooler with recirculating electric RIMs, PID controlled
Fly sparge with 168F water
Mash:
2 row, honey malt, munich, & carapils from my LHBS
Store-bought distilled water with brewing salts (using BrunWater sheet to calculate)
Used PH meter to make sure PH was in range (I was at ~5.3)
Yeast:
Made 2L starter with WLP001, Fast Pitch canned wort, & Wyeast nutrient
Sat on stir plate for ~2 days at ~75deg
Cold crashed for 1 day & decanted ~75% of spent wort
Boil:
90 min boil
Lot's o' hops (nelson, summit, citra, amarillo) in hop spider w/ paint strainer bag
Added 1 lb DME (see below), 1 lb amber candi syrup, and wyeast nutrient
Chilled with plate chiller to ~72deg
Primary Fermentation:
Used 6.5gal bucket
Hit with ~90sec of O2 & diffusion stone before pitching
Placed in 65deg keggerator for 2 weeks
Secondary:
Used 5gal better bottle
Purged carboy with C02 from bike tire filler before transfer
Dryhopped with lots o' hops (same type as boil) for ~7 days
Sat in basement at ~70deg for ~7 days
Known brewing mistakes:
Had a brain fart when doughing in, and and used WAAAAY too much water (~8.5 gal instead of 6 gal). As a result, my mash was a little over 2.1qt/lb. Since I had measured my salts for 6 gal, my PH was a little off (5.3 instead of 5.4). Also, my efficiency was low, causing me to add the pound of light DME.
So, I know that the usual culprits for phenol production are mash water problems, sparge temp problems, and yeast stress problems. Sparge temp was below 170, so I don't think that was the problem. I purposely fermented at a low temp because I've read it gets you a nice clean taste with WLP001, and I pitched a good amount of yeast. Soooo, could my problem have been my mash screw-up? Or is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Thanks in advance!
Tropical style DIPA
5.5 gal batch
1.080 OG
1.012 FG
Equipment:
Mash tun is 10 gal Igloo cooler with recirculating electric RIMs, PID controlled
Fly sparge with 168F water
Mash:
2 row, honey malt, munich, & carapils from my LHBS
Store-bought distilled water with brewing salts (using BrunWater sheet to calculate)
Used PH meter to make sure PH was in range (I was at ~5.3)
Yeast:
Made 2L starter with WLP001, Fast Pitch canned wort, & Wyeast nutrient
Sat on stir plate for ~2 days at ~75deg
Cold crashed for 1 day & decanted ~75% of spent wort
Boil:
90 min boil
Lot's o' hops (nelson, summit, citra, amarillo) in hop spider w/ paint strainer bag
Added 1 lb DME (see below), 1 lb amber candi syrup, and wyeast nutrient
Chilled with plate chiller to ~72deg
Primary Fermentation:
Used 6.5gal bucket
Hit with ~90sec of O2 & diffusion stone before pitching
Placed in 65deg keggerator for 2 weeks
Secondary:
Used 5gal better bottle
Purged carboy with C02 from bike tire filler before transfer
Dryhopped with lots o' hops (same type as boil) for ~7 days
Sat in basement at ~70deg for ~7 days
Known brewing mistakes:
Had a brain fart when doughing in, and and used WAAAAY too much water (~8.5 gal instead of 6 gal). As a result, my mash was a little over 2.1qt/lb. Since I had measured my salts for 6 gal, my PH was a little off (5.3 instead of 5.4). Also, my efficiency was low, causing me to add the pound of light DME.
So, I know that the usual culprits for phenol production are mash water problems, sparge temp problems, and yeast stress problems. Sparge temp was below 170, so I don't think that was the problem. I purposely fermented at a low temp because I've read it gets you a nice clean taste with WLP001, and I pitched a good amount of yeast. Soooo, could my problem have been my mash screw-up? Or is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Thanks in advance!