Phenolic off flavor

[TempeBrew]

Hello all, this is my first post, but I have scoured these pages for months and would first like to thank you all for the multitudes of information floating around in the threads!

So, I started working at a brewery in town on Monday and upon sampling their red today I was incredibly overcome by a strong phenolic, medicinal taste. The batch isn't sour so I don't think it's a bacterial contamination. What I did notice on monday was that the fermenter was running at about 85dF. I thought that was strange, but I figured they knew what was going on. Anyway, I'm guessing that the batch fermented at or around 80-85dF and the phenolic taste is due to the high temperature??? What do you think? I don't know what yeast it is yet and I'm not sure how long it has been in the tank... horrible, I know, but I just started.

My real question is how do I save the batch, assuming its chemical and not bacterial?? I've seen posts about campden tablets??? The brewers there said that this has happened only once before in the two years that they have been there and the flavor dissipated after filtering.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry I can't really give too much info. The batch is 6bbl

Thank you

[Ted Briggs]

My advise is dump it and start fermenting a t the proper temps for ale yeast- 65 to 70f

[ChesterBrew]

My advise is dump it and start fermenting a t the proper temps for ale yeast- 65 to 70f

I agree. Phenols are associated with some styles but a Red Ale ain't one of them. There's no point in serving bad beer and losing the respect of your customers.

[poltz]

If you have never had to dump a batch of beer, then consider yourself lucky. Here's your first one....dump it and move on... If the tank will only work around 80-85 degrees...work on a saison recipe, they love it there..

[GarySped]

As it is a rare occurence and could be expensive to pin down I agree it would be best to dump and move on. If you see it again under normal temperature conditions then a clean up/sanitation, water quality check and yeast examination would be the first things to tackle.

[BrewinLou]

Are you in the head position or a keg dog? IF you are not the head go ask the head why they are fermenting so high. Ask them if they are going for that flavor on purpose. I was at a brew fest the other day and tasted the same out of a pale ale from a brewery a couple hundered miles away. I asked a local retailer if that was a normal flavor for that beer. He said no. I assume it was a bad batch. Hoepfully they get things straightened out. Their other beers were fantastic.

[KWLSD]

I have seen this happen with malt that has come from oil-fired kilning, so might be worth checking.