Acetaldehyde in bottles

[tavish2]

I seem to have an issue where i am able to make a really nice beer and keg it with out acetaldehyde. But once I bottle it (using a beer gun caping on foam) and after a few months in the bottle I end up with this wonderful green apple flavor. what would cause this after i have already fermented the beer and its been in the keg for over a month before i bottle it? the beers normally sit in the primary for 2-3 weeks. I tranfer to my kegs about 1.5 weeks after i have consistant gravity readings after fermentation..... and this only happens in the bottles. any ideas??

thanks!

tavish

[Petedadink]

are you using new bottles every time? replace your lines often? My scotch ale that people thought was great on draft picked up a band aid flavor in the bottles I did. Used old bottles. I could have been I didnt clean them enough, or possibly from the caps.

[tavish2]

its not the bottles or the lines. i have bottled beers after that didnt pick up any acetaldehyde through the same beer lines. also if it were the bottles it would not be every bottle, it would be random. but its my understanding that acetaldehyde is a by product of fermentation that is reabsorbed once you complete the fermentation process.

[BDawg]

From the set of off flavor flash cards at the BJCP site: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/OffFlavorFlash.pdf
Causes:
- Premature removal from yeast
- Premature flocculation
- Oxygen depletion
- Bacterial spoilage
- Oxidation

Prevention:
- Allow ferment to complete
- Good yeast strain
- Aerate wort prepitching
- Practice good sanitation
- Beer handling to avoid O2 contact
- long lagering will reduce

Acetaldehyde is also made by oxidizing ethanol.

How long have you had and used the beer gun? I know I didn't taste any acetaldehyde in your beers back in June at Larry's. Were you priming or using an old fashioned CPBF then?
Also, have you changed sani practices? Both of these can happen after a long period in the bottle.

Let's meet up sometime soon and I'll see if I can taste anything else (if you want).

HTH-

[Quin]

I got the same flavor (Chardonnay, winey, green apple...) this summer using the Wyeast Kolsch yeast after bottling. The flavor wasn't there prior to bottling.

It dissipated after several weeks in the bottle. Give it some time.

[tavish2]

From the set of off flavor flash cards at the BJCP site: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/OffFlavorFlash.pdf
Causes:
- Premature removal from yeast
- Premature flocculation
- Oxygen depletion
- Bacterial spoilage
- Oxidation

Prevention:
- Allow ferment to complete
- Good yeast strain
- Aerate wort prepitching
- Practice good sanitation
- Beer handling to avoid O2 contact
- long lagering will reduce

Acetaldehyde is also made by oxidizing ethanol.

How long have you had and used the beer gun? I know I didn't taste any acetaldehyde in your beers back in June at Larry's. Were you priming or using an old fashioned CPBF then?
Also, have you changed sani practices? Both of these can happen after a long period in the bottle.

Let's meet up sometime soon and I'll see if I can taste anything else (if you want).

HTH-

well, as far as the beer gun goes, i have been using that since Feb. I do not bottle condition anymore. I have been using pure O2 through a .5 micron difusion stone. also how long will mixed iodaphor keep in a keg? Im wondering if my beer just isnt finishing all the way. I have noticed that some of my FGs on these beers were a little high maybe 2-4 Specific Gravity points high... so maybe there was some additional fermentaion in the bottle? its kinda odd cause i will leave the beer in the primary for at least two to three weeks and there is no change in specific gravity when i keg. I must have something wrong going on here though....

I would love to get some feed back from you on some of my beers. I sent in a whole bunch to a competition and the feed back I got back was very inconsistant. There were huge spreads of points between judges (on the same entry, one was a 12 point spread) and contradictions in their analysis of the beers. I was really suprised that nearly every beer I entered had comments that would be on the opposite ends of the spectrum from other judges on the same beer. One comment that really stood out was one judge said on a wet hopped pale ale of mine, "No hop flavor or bitterness, too malty for the style" the other judge judging the same beer said "Skunky hop flavor and firm bitterness, no malt character". nearly all the sheets were complete opposites of each other. Other comments were very inaccurate in their so called guesses, "Cut back on the bottling sugar just a bit to have more mouth feel. (is it just me, or should you not be guessing what the brewer is doing in the procees cause most of the time your wrong?) I feel like I got little feedback that is worth anything. So yeah, Im feeling a little screwed by entering that competition and I would appreciate some decenet feedback.

sorry about that, i will get off my soap box now.....

thanks for the help and offers BDawg!

[Mylo]

Sounds like a poorly run comp with very inexperienced judges. Try another, more reputable one.

Oh, and BDawg was a fantastic judge, back in the day when he used to drink beer. He has completely sworn it off now and is exclusively drinking wine coolers. I think the pomegranate/raspberry is his favorite.

It is a shame, because he is located very close to you. I'll judge your beer instead. Send them off to me.


Mylo

[tavish2]

Sounds like a poorly run comp with very inexperienced judges. Try another, more reputable one.

Oh, and BDawg was a fantastic judge, back in the day when he used to drink beer. He has completely sworn it off now and is exclusively drinking wine coolers. I think the pomegranate/raspberry is his favorite.

It is a shame, because he is located very close to you. I'll judge your beer instead. Send them off to me.


Mylo

well i did make a kiwi wheat and a mango wheat.... maybe that will do the job?