off flavor in secondary?

[Arbe0]

I am having a problem with an infection in my beers. I really try hard to keep things clean and sanitized. I just bought a new fermination bucket, lid and new hose. But then I thought maybe could I be keeping it in the secondary too long?
Primary for a week and secondary for 2 weeks then bottle.
what do you think?

 

[Arbe0]

ohh I haven't used the new fermenter , lid, and hose yet.

 

[sbaclimber]

Primary for a week and secondary for 2 weeks then bottle.
what do you think?

This is exactly what I was doing for a long time, with for the most part good results. I did have a few beers with some off flavors though, so I have switched to Larry's suggested 2 week primary, 1 week (max) secondary / dry hop. I can't say yet if it has made much of a difference, but in the meantime, I have discovered that the worst off flavors I have gotten so far have been from using harvested yeast that sat waaaaay too long in the fridge, not so much due to time in the secondary.

 

[LarryBrewer]

What are you using as a sanitizer? What kind of flavors are you getting?

It could be anything from the source water, to bad yeast, to fermenation temp, to old ingredients... the list goes on.

2 weeks in the secondary is a long time to wait. 2 weeks in the primary and straight to the keg/bottle is my preferred approach because it saves time and the beer turns out the same.

 

[TheZel66]

I usually keep in primary only until active fermentation continues, or my desired final gravity is reached. I like to get it off the bed of trub, yeast as soon as possible. Then on to the secondary until it clears. I never keep it in a fermenter (I use glass carbuoys) any longer than needed.

For example, I recently brewed a brown ale on a Saturday, and bottled it the next Saturday. It was one of the best I ever made.

 

[Nosybear]

Russ, how do you know it's an infection? What does the beer taste like? What are you using as sanitizer and how are you using it? Remote diagnosis is tough in the best of conditions. With incomplete info it's at best a guess.

 

[Foster82]

Do your buckets have spigots? If so they can be a prime source of infections (lots of hard places to clean properly).

 

[Arbe0]

thanks for all the people that replied.
I use PBW and Star San. I use a bucket with out a spigot for the fermenter for a week then carboy for secondary for 2 weeks.
The beer has a cardboard smell. At first there was very little head, but now after 2 weeks it seems to have more head and it still doesn't taste right but not as bad as before.
I got another beer ingredient kit (naked blond, should be an easy brew) from the local store (the Brewhut) and will try it with the new fermenter and hose as soon as I can get to it.
Remembering what I could have done wrong.... Dam...I don't remember if I cleaned the sink before I cleaned my brew stuff and bottles with pbw and sanitized with StarSan, got in a hurry.

 

[LarryBrewer]

If it is one of those canned kits, it might just be really old. Make sure to go with fresh LME/DME and fresh hops next time.

Cardboard flavor can be from oxidation, which comes from exposing the beer to too much air, or stale ingredients.

It also sounds like the beer is a little green, and under carbed, so just wait a few more weeks and it will likely improve. Oxidation however, will reduce the shelf life of the beer so that may be working against you.