Three of the last 5 beers I've made came out tasting really bad. It's a bad bitter (not from hops) industrial type taste - undrinkable. I did notice on these beers as they were fermenting that there was no air lock activity - although they did ferment fully. I brew small batches 2 - 1/2 gallons. When I opened the valve for samples, it did seem to have a bit of a surge to it. After cleaning this last batch it seems like the air lock was kind of clogged - although I couldn't see any blockage the water didn't pour out of the air lock easily.
The beers that turned out OK were not in a fully sealed fermenter, so CO2 had a way to escape. (using a brew demon where the top allows for co2 to escape.
Is it possible to get a bad bitter taste like this due to CO2 not being able to escape the fermenter?
edit to add: these are all NEIPAs - which usually I have no problem with. Could it be Ethyl Acetate that is staying or pushing into the wort since it can't escape?
The beers that turned out OK were not in a fully sealed fermenter, so CO2 had a way to escape. (using a brew demon where the top allows for co2 to escape.
Is it possible to get a bad bitter taste like this due to CO2 not being able to escape the fermenter?
edit to add: these are all NEIPAs - which usually I have no problem with. Could it be Ethyl Acetate that is staying or pushing into the wort since it can't escape?
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