Sourness from Citra hops?

[SabreSteve]

That will make a very dry beer with a pH around 5.5 using RO water. City water could easily push pH over 6 during sparge. I wouldn’t want to mash that beer lower than 152*. Maybe try it again after decolonization and add some C20 to about 5%. If you can keep fermentation around 64* that could help. If fermentation gets up around 70* it can throw esters. If not infection, perhaps some fine tuning will take a turn for the better. Cheers!

So with prior batches I had run the water through a brita but I haven't bothered with my last couple batches because I didn't figure it probably removed enough to make a difference. Googled it though and it does claim to reduce chlorine so I think I'm going to bring the brita back even if it's kinda a pain to filter and store that much water

 

[thunderwagn]

So with prior batches I had run the water through a brita but I haven't bothered with my last couple batches because I didn't figure it probably removed enough to make a difference. Googled it though and it does claim to reduce chlorine so I think I'm going to bring the brita back even if it's kinda a pain to filter and store that much water

Just get some camden tablets. Dirt cheap and a pack will last forever.

 

[GFHomebrew]

So with prior batches I had run the water through a brita but I haven't bothered with my last couple batches because I didn't figure it probably removed enough to make a difference. Googled it though and it does claim to reduce chlorine so I think I'm going to bring the brita back even if it's kinda a pain to filter and store that much water

I run my tap water through a carbon filta with great results. Sometimes I add Camden tablet sometimes not I honestly can't tell the difference from beer to beer.
I'm still leaning toward bottles

 

[Craigerrr]

Definitely deal with the chlorine, Camden tabs are cheap and effective.

 

[Donoroto]

cheap and effective

Re-quoted for truth.

Campden (Sodium Metabisulfite) tablets are indeed inexpensive and effective. I use 1/2 tablet to de-chlorinate 8 gallons of tap water in (nearly) an instant.

 

[SabreSteve]

I'm leaning towards dryness. Just opened up the first bottle of my porter and it's got some of that dryness too. I didn't filter the water for either of those brews. I'll go back to that for my next brew.

 

[SabreSteve]

Have to say too that I never noticed it before but now I do smell a distinct chlorine odor in my tap water. Not sure if I've never noticed it before cause I wasn't looking for it or maybe they add more in the winter or something. Either way the brita (carbon) filter does seem to eliminate it.

 

[Group W]

My well water is not chlorinated but it is a bit alkaline. It works well for dark beers, but for light colored beers I switched to RO from Walmart. That helped, but I still struggled with a slight bit of astringency on the finish for the past year. I was crushing too fine, mashing too long and at too low of temps. I went through every step in my process with a few goals. My mash efficiency was near 90% and now is closer to 80%. More on what I did in another thread after I taste the last beer.

Start with good water and carefully control the mash and fermentation temps. I’m not saying you don’t have an infection to chase down, but your results sound familiar to my experience of late. Brewing is easy. Consistently brewing better beer than commercial craft brewers, now that’s a challenge. Cheers Steve!

 

[Nosybear]

Have to say too that I never noticed it before but now I do smell a distinct chlorine odor in my tap water. Not sure if I've never noticed it before cause I wasn't looking for it or maybe they add more in the winter or something. Either way the brita (carbon) filter does seem to eliminate it.

Chlorine additions vary over time, depending on how much disinfectant the water needs. If you're getting surface water vs. well water in Winter, it would need more chlorine.

 

[^Tony^]

I have used lots of citra at all stages and never had any tartness from it. I have also used a ton of S-05 but sour is not one of the flavours I've ever had from it.

A similar thing happened to me. I found a dead leaf (it was a windy day and I brew in my back yard) at the bottom of my brew kettle after i transferred to my fermenter. I was hopeful it dropped in prior to chilling so I went with the fermentation or if there was a problem the alcohol from fermentation would take care of things. I found an unusual tang in the samples I took near the end of fermentation and it attenuated to 1.008 when I was expecting 1.014. Same as you, the flavor reminded me a bit of lemonade to start. Pleasant but not what I was expecting. I thought it was the new recipe or the yeast (I'd never used the yeast before) so I kegged it and set it to condition. The brew was also abnormally cloudy brown and never cleared up. When I dumped it after 5 weeks in the keg, the hydrometer read 1.004. The first few pints were good but i noticed the tartness turn to straight up boozy sour after a few weeks, then to gaggingly absolutely terrible before I dumped it.

I spent a day sanitizing and cleaning all my gear. I will clean it all again in the spring before my first brew day. I tossed out all the tubing I used and boiled everything I could fit in a pot. It was my first infected batch since I started brewing. For me, I suspected a problem when I found the leaf. The higher than expected attenuation, evolving sour that turned to down right nasty and the brown cloud that poured all confirmed to me I had an infection. .

In your case, check out the plastic sides of the fermenter. I have heard plastic can harbour bacteria with even the shallowest of scratches.

On the bright side, I enjoyed the tartness on the recipe so I am considering doing a subtle kettle sour version this summer!

 

[Hop and Grain Brewstore]

Perhaps it is the specific crop. The crops change year to year. However, I've heard people voice that they don't use Citra and prefer the other 'C' hops. Other than that, the other posts make good points about water pH, etc.

 

[^Tony^]

Perhaps it is the specific crop. The crops change year to year. However, I've heard people voice that they don't use Citra and prefer the other 'C' hops. Other than that, the other posts make good points about water pH, etc.

They do indeed. Tons of good information from folks on this site! That's why I am a member!