Oktoberfest Salvage-able?

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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Johnnyola
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:40 pm

Oktoberfest Salvage-able?

Post by Johnnyola »

Hi all.

I'm on my third year of brewing an Oktoberfest. Seem to have some problems this year. I've already bottled the beer and did my two week test tonight. The beer is a bit cloudy and the taste is very Malty/Bitter (if that is possible). There's a bit of a malt aftertaste and the head (small one at that) has a malty yeasty aroma. My wife claims it smelled like vinegar but her favorite beer is Corona so she is suspect. I don't smell it and I'm more olfactory-inclined than her.

Here's the backstory - I used a different yeast than last time, liquid instead of dry, and our water quality has deteriorated since last year. I used tap water which I boiled the bejesus out of to get rid of the chlorine. Our water can be rusty but this batch wasn't. The fermentation took about 2-3 days to really kick in and went for about 7 to 9 days. It smelled like sulfur the first few days but that went away.

Can I let this sit in the bottle and will the flavors mellow out?

Am I contaminated and stuck with a Malty Lambic style beer?

Thanks

Johnny
Johnnyola
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:40 pm

Post by Johnnyola »

Ouch - no sugesstions?

Anyway - figured out it was a nice tart Phenol aftertaste thanks in part to the tap water conditions. So much for "local" flavor. From now on - it's spring water all the way.
manplant
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:15 am

Oktoberfest Salvage-able?

Post by manplant »

One suggestion I may make is to hook up a water filtration system onto your faucet, such as a Brita or a PUR. These filters remove 99.99% of Cl, heavy metals, Benzene based compounds, and BACTERIA. Ive used this water pre and post boil, and as all my rinse water for a dozen batches and have had no problems, whilst preserving the great taste of water from the blue ridge mountains in upper SC. They cost about 28 bucks and include 1 filter cartridge that lasts 100 gallons. Replacement cartridges are about 15 bucks.

There are main water line filters that can be installed in the 75-100$ range, purchased at Loweds or HD, but Im not sure of their efficacy on bacteria and Cl removal.

If you do continue with spring, carefully read the label to determine the source. Many alleged spring waters are pulled from municipal water supplies and may contain Cl anyway.
Manplant
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