Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

This is my first crack at an ESB.
Please any and all feed back is appreciated. Plan to brew Saturday or Sunday.
I have had a few ESB brews and have enjoyed every one of them(most recent being Big Groves) , shooting for a lower end ABV for the style that is an easy drinker.
Thanks all.
Thanks

On that topic, if any of the winners of last year's Ordinary Bitter want to post their recipes, or anyone else has a successful recipe for a good 3-5% bitter, I'm also interested in making something like that soon.

It's a sad day ladies and gentlemen. I had a lot of high hopes for this Brew, not sure really what I did wrong I can't pinpoint it down. My first guess would be pitching yeast at too high of temperature (74ish, temp got to 76 veggie i could get control) or not having my new sanke fermenter clean enough. The sanke Keg had a PBW soak for about a half hour and then triple rinse and then starsan before Brew was placed in it.

It has a heavy metallic flavor to it. And it's not from grains being stored poorly because I did a Saison a couple days later with the same base malt and that turned out fine.
The beer tastes good I just can't get over the metallic flavor that hits you up front. Does anybody know if something like this will fade with time? I almost want to dump it but not really sure with that idea, if it's something I can leave in The Keg for say four to six months and it will fade I'd be willing to do that.
Does anybody have any experience with anything I just described?

Bring it to the meeting for an impromptu sensory panel.
(also, Still hoping someone posts a proven Special Bitter recipe from the comp?)

What yeast? I know there's a specific English strain that can give off some mineral flavors.

I've also experienced this with just general oxidation.

- Josh Peanasky

It has a heavy metallic flavor to it.

Any chance you over carbonated the ale?

Josh. S04 yeast

Daryl its not carbed, tastes that way from hydrometer sample

Was your malt fresh?

Found this online, pretty comprehensive and a short read....http://kotmf.com/articles/flavor.pdf; I should probably print this off and have it ready at the quarterly judging.

METALLIC
CHARACTERISTICS: A harsh, metallic taste noted both
on the tip of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Can
be felt throughout the tongue and mouth in large
concentrations. Not desired in beer. Also described as
tinny or bloodlike.
CHEMISTRY: The ferrous ion (iron) and some organic
compounds formed by hydrolysis of cereal lipids in grain,
and oxidization of free fatty acids.
HIGH RATE FROM PROCESS: Iron or mild steel in
contact with beer; freshly-scrubbed stainless steel that
has not been allowed to oxidize (passivation); improper
filtering material; high iron content in water; poorly
processed grain.
REDUCTION: Use of stainless steel; low-iron water; use
of citric acid to re-oxidize stainless that has been
abrasively cleaned; use of filtering materials that are acidwashed
to remove iron; use of fresh, high-quality grain
malt.

I have not brewed with my well water lately....but I think it has a fair amount of iron in it. I have brewed with RO water from HyVee for the better part of the past two years.

Went and checked out recommendations for treating a SS Brew Bucket prior to first use, I copied it below. The link to it is: https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us ... t-Time-Use

What strength was your StarSan solution? 1oz per gallon is much stronger that what I use to sanitize.

First Time Cleaning
Pre-Clean: Prior to first-time use, thoroughly wash all surfaces of the vessel, including all valves and fittings, with Tri-Sodium Phosphate (TSP) in hot water, mixed with the manufacturer’s recommendations. Scrub with a soft terry cloth, and after the initial TSP wash, rinse thoroughly and dry all surfaces. Passivation: It’s good practice to periodically passivate all stainless-steel equipment with an acid based solution to establish a uniform passive oxide layer that will maximize corrosion resistance. Following the pre-clean step, fill the vessel with Star San at a concentration of 1 ounce per gallon at 70-80°F for 30 minutes. Moving forward, for best stainless performance, passivation should be performed at least once a year or anytime you believe you may have inadvertently scratched the surface. Cleaning and Sanitizing: As part of a regular cleaning regimen both pre and post-fermentation, wash the interior surfaces of your vessel with an alkali cleaner such as PBW at a ratio of 0.75 ounce per gallon. Then sanitize with Star San or another acid-based sanitizer per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

I believe we have a winner, passivation. I skipped this step, and it was an extremely old keg also. So my heavy pbw soak and vigorous scrubbing did more harm then good.... i will have to look into the amount of citric acid to use to passivate SS , using 1oz of star San per gallon in a 15 gallon keg would get expensive fast.
Thanks Daryl

Star San can be sprayed/misted, or rolled/shaken. No need to fill 15 gallons of it.

Very good info. Thanks to Daryl for doing the research and sharing!

andrewmaixner wrote:Star San can be sprayed/misted, or rolled/shaken. No need to fill 15 gallons of it.

I agree with Andrew.....sit out in some shade with a spray bottle of the strong StarSan, on a hot day, with a beer or two, and your fermenter. Take a sip of beer and spray down the inside of your fermenter, and repeat as necessary....keeping the insides of your fermenter wet with StarSan, and your insides refreshed with some nice cold beer.

40 minutes will pass in no time....and you will have passivated your stainless steel; and you, yourself will have been pacified.

WIN-WIN!

andrewmaixner wrote:Bring it to the meeting for an impromptu sensory panel.

I'll be bringing some, I'm starting to calm down the metal flavor has subsided a lot in a weeks time.

Spray star san works for or me.