Star San cause metallic flavor?

Hello,

On march 15th I brewed an American wheat extract kit from northern brewer. 1.5 weeks in primary and then kegged. I've been letting it age in kegeraor until now and when I taste it has a definite metallic smell and taste. After letting it sit in the glass for about 5 min it doesn't have the smell or taste anymore.

This is the first time I have ever had any off flavors in my beer. I'm using same water, same equipment. However some things did go wrong and I would like some input if they might be the reason...

1) the kit was kind of on the old side. I got it in June 2013. Just now got around to brewing it. Don't know if old extract would be the cause of this.

2) I like to cold crash my beer and usually check it every day to make sure my airlock doesn't go dry or too much sanitizer gets sucked in. This time I some how managed to forget about it for a couple days and all the star San from my blow off bucket had been sucked in. At least 1/2 a gallon probably closer to 1 gallon of sanitizer. The sanitizer seemed to be all floating on top so I just made sure not to siphon it off when racking to my keg. Could that much star san in a five gallon batch cause a metalic flavor?

Thanks for any advice/tips that I get here.

Happy home brewing!

How did you carb the keg?

While I imagine a brew blended with 10 to 20% Star San would likely have some acid bite, that it seems to lessen with a few minutes time may suggest another factor. If you did some kind of burst-carb thing, maybe it's CO2 bite instead...

Cheers!

Suspect #1 is usually carbonic acid. That much StarSan in the mix may be a contributing factor along with it.

Give it a week. It may very possibly fade away.

day_trippr said:

How did you carb the keg?

Click to expand...

I carbed it to 25psi and let it sit for several days then prime the keg again to same pressure, rinse and repeat until it is carbed the way I like. It is the very tail end of my co2 tank. That wouldn't make a difference would it?

oh and suck backs are my freddy krueger, too. someone said to me just sanitize a piece of foil and replace your airlock with it before cold crashing. makes sense. trying it on next batch.

i vote for over force carbing..... how the heck did a gallon of star san get in again?

BushMasterBrews said:

I carbed it to 25psi and let it sit for several days then prime the keg again to same pressure, rinse and repeat until it is carbed the way I like. It is the very tail end of my co2 tank. That wouldn't make a difference would it?

Click to expand...

I suspect your rather curious carbing technique is at the bottom of this...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

I suspect your rather curious carbing technique is at the bottom of this...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

+1.

If you want to burst carb, simply chill to 38-40*F, 30psi for 36 hours then set to serving pressure.

The best way to avoid suck back during crashing is to use S-air locks with StarSan or vodka.

I have talked to a few other people I know who have been brewing for much longer than I have and they seem to think it is most likely the old extract.

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I'll be sure to utilize it in future brews.

-cheers

old extract tastes like pen ink