[color=blue]
> ... I have had other people in our area that brew good beers
> tell me our water is very good for beer brewing.[/color]

There are two things to check for your water... 1. do they use Chlorine
or Chloramines. And, 2., what is the mineral content of your water.

Your note above seems to indicate that the mineral content (#2) is fine.
If your water is just chlorinated, that is fine too. However, if is had
chloramines, then you need to do some extra treatment to get rid of it.
Just using "spring water" from the store should prove or disprove this
as your problem.

[color=blue]
> -Sanitizer-
> One-step that I have purchased from my local beer supply house
> ([url]www.listermann.com[/url]) comes in a small bag with the official label. I
> guess they could be repackaging it though. It is like a extra strong
> ziplock bag..[/color]

Listermann's should be good... talk to Dan there and see if he can help
you. He frequently posts to some of these groups, like
"rec.crafts.brewing."

[color=blue]
> -Bad flavor and stomach aches-
> It will really give you a stomach ache ...[/color]
....[color=blue]
> So, I think I have a good idea now from all of your responses that the
> problem is related to a cleaner of some kind. Either Chlorine in the
> water, or some leftover residue from a sanitizing product.[/color]

It is rare that anyone mentions actually getting a stomach ache from
their beer. That makes me think it is some chemical.

[color=blue]
> I learned later that Dawn dish soap leaves a residue that[/color]

I use cheap dish soap and just rinse well.

[color=blue]
> That being said, would it be ok to boil water and put my equipment in
> it to sterilize it and kill off any remaining residue? How about
> pouring boiling water in the fermenter? How long would I have to boil
> for?[/color]

I think that is way overkill. There should be no need to try to
sterilize with boiling water... sounds a little dangerous too.

[color=blue]
> I had a brewing friend ask his brew mentor about my issue. His friend
> replied with "Don't use those sanitizers. Flush out your equipment
> with a little bleach and water, rinse well, and then brew". Any
> thoughts on this? I'm not wild about bleaching something that will
> contain an edible drink, but it would be a different cleaner![/color]

That's what I do. Just a few tablespoons bleach in 5 gallons. Use about
a 15 - 20 minute contact time, then rinse well with hot tap water.
That's it. It works well and the chlorine is all gone. Any chlorine from
your tap water shouldn't be a problem. The main benefit from One-Step
and others is that they are no-rinse. Rinsing has never been a problem
for me.

[color=blue]
> -Other cleaners I have tried-
> Chlorinated "PINK" powder. The local supply said this should kill
> anything.. Aparently, it kills the taste of beer too! I rinsed
> several times after that and still did the one-step stuff after that.
>
> B-T-F Brand Iodine - Followed the directions on the stuff to a tee.
> Again, I followed with One-Step after several good rinses.[/color]

You certainly don't need to follow those with One-Step. That's overkill
again... and that mixture of different chemicals may be doing something
strange. Chlorine based cleansers should be rinsed (tap water for
rinsing is fine in 99% of the cases). Pick ONE sanitizer and stick with
it... don't mix them. Personally, I clean with cheap dish soap and
sanitize with bleach and just rinse everything well with plain tap water.

Derric