Expert: Keith Patton - 6/4/2008

Question
I am a home brewer and I have noticed that the past 3 batches that i have brewed have skunked? I dont know what I am doing it tastes almost metallic. I have kept it out of the sun by covering with a blanket. What am i doing wrong?

Answer
Nicole:

Even the best of us have this happen, I just had to pour out 10 gallons, two 5 gallon kegs for the same reason.

It could be a number of things.

Bacterial infection can produce skunky odors and flavors (I think that is what hit mine.  Sanitize sanitize sanitize.  Try cleaning everything that touchs the beer, including replacing your siphon tubes and your bottles.  If you are using a plastic fermenter this is more difficult because scratches in the plastic can harbor the infection and is harder to sanitize.  Common bleach is good, but be sure to rince very thoroughly.  Iodophor is a better choice.

Another cause might be that you left the beer on the yeast too long at too high a temperature, this is caused autolysis.

Are you using a stainless steel boil pot?

Was your beer in the fridge during ferment or under a blanket at room temperature?  If the latter then autolysis is probably the culprit.

Here is a link to a table of faults and solutions.


http://www.bjcp.org/faults.html