pumpkin ale. plastic flavor??? whats up here

brewed up this recipe;
Grains
9.5 lbs. American 2-row
2 lbs. Munich Malt
.5 lbs. Crystal 80L
.5 lbs. CaraPils/Dextrine Malt

Hops/Fruit/Spices and Schedule
3.63 lbs. Canned Pumpkin (2 big cans of 100% pure pumpkin) boiled 90 min.
.75 oz. Northern Brewer (Pellets, 9.0 %AA) boiled 60 min.
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.50 %AA) boiled 30 min.
2.5 Tsp Cinnamon, boiled for 10 min.
1.5 Tsp Nutmeg, boiled for 10 min.
1.5 Tsp Allspice, boiled for 10 min.

beer is drinking now and although im getting some really good reviews on it im tasting an off plastic like flavor. it is subtle and not always present even within a single bottle. ive had 3 people (2homebrewers)with very good palates try it and they confirmed no infection.

so what is it? could it have been boiling the spices for 10 minutes and creating off flavors much like when you steep tea for too long? im baffled. aside from this one minor problem the beer is very enjoyable and highly drinkable.

I would like to know this as well. I did a batch and followed renoenvy recipe and it too has a subtle plastic taste. I only tasted it while bottling so it was very green. I'm sure it will be gone once conditioned.

HopJuicer said:

I would like to know this as well. I did a batch and followed renoenvy recipe and it too has a subtle plastic taste. I only tasted it while bottling so it was very green. I'm sure it will be gone once conditioned.

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It's slowly been fading away every day sine bottles has been done. I'm guessing it's an off flavor produced by spices boiling.

High clorine content in your brewing water is the most common reason for a plasticy off-flavor. Do you happen to use tap water without filtering it, or have you recently cleaned any of your equipment with bleach?

The other would be something plastic used in the brewing process that is not rated for high temps and is leaching plastic.

I'm guessing it's an off flavor produced by spices boiling.

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I've never heard of boiling spices causing any off flavors. I live about 3 blocks from an organic market, and use alot of random spices on a whim, especially in Hefeweizens. I always add these as 5 min additions in the boil, and have never had an issue.

probably the chlorine in the water. maybe ill use spring water next go around. this was the first time noticing it though and this is my 6th batch

I have never had this taste before. I use tap water ran through a filter a got at morebeer. It is a year old and i know they recommend replacement at 1 year or a ridiculous amount of gallons ran through the filter. Other than that I have used the same equipment for 1.5 years. I am telling myself that this will age out. The beer tasted good and could be great once the flavors meld together less the faint plastic.

Just use campden in your tap water. Knocks out chlorines and chloramines instantly. And obviously avoid bleach as a sanitizer.

ill probably just use the spring water. rather have that then campden even though the campden seems to be used with most large scale commercial brewers.

never used bleach. i use 1step for its environmental friendliness. going to rebrew this week with a slight adjustment to the recipe and also with spring water. will post results.