TCP taste from my Hoegaarden clone

[redmarko]

Hi

I am really annoyed at my latest batch of hoegaarden.
I brew all grain.

This is my 4th batch and first to have a taste and light aroma of TCP. The beer is 3 weeks old.

The only thing I did different this time was to use bottled water instead of tap.

The other thing is that my pale malt has been sitting for about a year.

I sanitise with starsan.

Any ideas what has ruined my beer and can it be rescued?

[alix101]

Did you leave the lid on when boiling. ...

[redmarko]

No, it is open top.

[Rick_UK]

Too high fermentation temps can leave this kind of taste.

[redmarko]

I think the fermentation was at too high a temp for 2 days out of the 14.

Is the batch ruined or will the tcp taste subside with time?

[daddies-beer-factory]

I am no expert but I think this is an infection.
I had this on one of mine a while back - it gave me bad guts so I chucked the entire brew .
Good luck !

[Rick_UK]

I had a brew get too warm during fermentation and it never lost the astringent taste. Ended up throwing most of it though it wasn't undrinkable - just not pleasant.

[alix101]

Just thought to look for the simplest reasons DMS.....But it sounds like Chlorophenols , campden tablet will take care in the future... But there are several other possibilities.... I had this problem using Milton as an experiment to sanitize ..ended up pouring it... yeast can be a cause also if the fermentation temperature was high.

[Belter]

I am no expert but I think this is an infection.
I had this on one of mine a while back - it gave me bad guts so I chucked the entire brew .
Good luck !

An infected beer should never give you bad guts. The PH and alcohol level of beer will kill all bugs. Hence how lambic works with E.Coli etc. Gypsum can give you bad guts in high amounts depending on person.

[hophit]

My vote is for the temperature being too high. I did 2 brews for a party in the summer during the heatwave (posted about it before) and the taste of TCP was so strong it made my guts churn - the whole 80 pints went down the draiin...never making that mistake again. It hurt me.

[ferry george]

I had this problem a few years ago, and put the cause of problem down to fermenting at too high temperature, and it's a real bummer cause the tcp taste will not go away, so dump the brew and start again.

[pobrien20]

I always thought it was mainly caused by a reaction between some of the compounds in hops and chlorine in the water. If your water is treated with Chloramines, rather than just Chlorine (which you can just boil off or leave to sit overnight), you need to use Campden tablets to neutralise the Chorine.

http://morebeer.com/themes/morewinepro/ ... flavor.pdf

Chlorophenol
•
Tastes/Smells Like:
Plastic, Vinyl, Iodine
•
Possible Causes:
Using chlorinated tap water to brew or rinse equipment is the most common cause for plastic-like or medicinal flavors. Medicinal flavors can also be the result of using cleanser or sanitizer that is chlorine or iodine based. Some wild yeast will contribute to a similar medicinal taste.
•
How to Avoid:
Don’t use chlorinated water to brew or to rinse equipment that will come into contact with the beer. If chlorinated water must be used, use a water filter that removes chlorine or boil the water for 15 minutes and then cool to room temperature to force out any chlorine that may be present. Always use the recommended amount and concentrations of sanitizers. Most sanitizers will not cause any off flavors when used properly. When using bleach, use one-half ounce per gallon of water, let equipment soak for 10 minutes and always rinse with sanitized (pre-boiled) water.