Done with bottling... weird taste

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WDT

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I have kegs, but i've been bottling a few batches here and there. The last 3 batches i've bottled all have a strange 'cold tinge' taste to them up front. Then I taste the beer. They don't fizz like crazy.

My sanitation is a simple water rinse, followed by a star san soak for about 10 min. Then sitting on the bottle tree. Bucket is sanitized with starsan and the spigot is also sanitized between sessions.

I'm using the priming sugar that comes with the kits that I buy.


Kegged beer is fine though? Any thoughts?
 
I'm not sure of your exact timing, but the sanitizing must be done just before using the equipment. Also, is your simple water rinse being done with hot water? At least a triple rinse is probably best.
 
Hold those bottles up to the light and see if you can see yeast lines or crud stuck to the insides. Home brew has a lot of yeast and proteins that can be tricky to remove. Use oxy clean rather than just a rinse.
 
Some questions to ask yourself that may attribute to the off-flavor you're sensing:

*How long have I been reusing these bottles? Maybe their quality is deteriorating over time?
*Am I getting everything out of the bottles? Maybe I should run a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher?
*Am I priming with too much sugar so all I taste is metalilic carbonation?
*Maybe I'm not using enough priming sugar so all I taste is bitterness?
*Is the issue related to my bottle caps? Am I storing them right? Maybe I'm using crappy twist-offs?
*Maybe I should pour the beer into a pint glass instead of sampling it from the bottle?
*Maybe it's a recipe or a technique issue?
*Maybe the kits I'm buying just suck?
 
I'm not sure of your exact timing, but the sanitizing must be done just before using the equipment. Also, is your simple water rinse being done with hot water? At least a triple rinse is probably best.
Click to expand...

After I i'm done with the bottle I rinse it out good with hot water and store it until I'm ready to bottle with it. I will just throw those bottles in a bucket with starsan and soak them for 10 min or so. The time between the star san soak and actually filling and capping is probably another 5-10 min.

Hold those bottles up to the light and see if you can see yeast lines or crud stuck to the insides. Home brew has a lot of yeast and proteins that can be tricky to remove. Use oxy clean rather than just a rinse.
Click to expand...

Good idea.

Some questions to ask yourself that may attribute to the off-flavor you're sensing:

*How long have I been reusing these bottles? Maybe their quality is deteriorating over time?
*Am I getting everything out of the bottles? Maybe I should run a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher?
*Am I priming with too much sugar so all I taste is that metalilic kind of carbonation?
*Maybe I'm not using enough priming sugar so all I taste is bitterness?
*Is the issue related to my bottle caps? Am I storing them right? Maybe I'm using crappy twist-offs?
*Maybe I should pour the beer into a pint glass instead of sampling it from the bottle?
*Maybe it's a recipe or a technique issue?
*Maybe the kits I'm buying just suck?
Click to expand...

*Bottles are reused commercial bottles, i'm pretty new to the hobby so they've only been reused once.

*Good idea.

*This is what it tastes like.

*Not twist offs.

*Always pour into a pint glass

*Not likely since i've done a couple more than once and the keg went great.

*AHS? I have had good success with them so far.
 
How long are you cooling the bottles before tasting them? If they've been stored at room temp and then only put in the fridge for a few hours, what you might be tasting is carbonic acid as the CO2 dissolves into solution. If you've only been cooling them shortly, try leaving one cold for a few days and trying it then, see if that gets rid of it.

Otherwise, it doesn't sound like an infection that I can figure out with "cold tinge", that sounds more like acidic (tannic?) to me.
 
I bottle within 5-10 minutes of the bottles coming out of a hot dishwasher. Been doing this for the past 40 brews and I never had a single problem.
 
erikpete18 said:
How long are you cooling the bottles before tasting them? If they've been stored at room temp and then only put in the fridge for a few hours, what you might be tasting is carbonic acid as the CO2 dissolves into solution. If you've only been cooling them shortly, try leaving one cold for a few days and trying it then, see if that gets rid of it.

Otherwise, it doesn't sound like an infection that I can figure out with "cold tinge", that sounds more like acidic (tannic?) to me.
Click to expand...

I've had some that have been in there for a week or so. No different. It's not sour or acidic tasting. I've had an IPA, 2 porters and a stout all with this flavor. I used carb drops in one batch of brown ale and it has that twang to it too.

I don't think it's the priming sugar now that I think about it.
 

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