Horrible of flavor...I need help!

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ericbreen

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I was an extract brewer for about a year, and never had this problem. I am on my 6th all grain batch and I continue to get what can only be described as a "vinyl tubing" taste in my beer once its kegged. Things I have done:
1. changed all my lines beer and gas
2. took my faucets apart for deep cleaning
3. tasted my beer prior to kegging and my buddy and I tasted no off flavors
On my last batch I tried the beer after 24 hours in keg and I already had the off flavor! any help would be appreciated.
 
Not sure this will help me answer your question, but are you force carbing or priming? Also, I have heard (but cannot back it up) that some CO2 tanks can create a metallic "industrial" taste or odor to the beer. Is your tank new? Has it been inspected recently?
 
Have you taken your kegs apart for deep cleaning? There might be some creepy critters in there somewhere. Otherwise, I'd say it's your gas. Have you tried conditioning in your keg with out the additional Co2 with the same result?
 
The 'plasticy' taste sounds like an infection???

I lost a few batches to that. I got a plastic band-aid flavor that just kept getting stronger. When I sampled from my carboy everything tasted fine. I traced it back to my bottling bucket. Could be getting picked up when you rack to your keg. Maybe your autosiphon, or something in the keg itself?
 
I don't care much for the mouthfeel of table sugar so I stick with dextrose, but either will get the job done. My general rule of thumb is 3/4c of dextrose to 1c of water for a 5 gal batch. Not that you asked.
 
I don't care much for the mouthfeel of table sugar so I stick with dextrose, but either will get the job done. My general rule of thumb is 3/4c of dextrose to 1c of water for a 5 gal batch. Not that you asked.

Can I use normal granulated sugar in lager or is brewing sugar better

There's a beginners forum for this.
 
Haven't had the problem personally, but the brew books say that vinyl taste is Chlorophenol. The common causes are chlorinated tap water or chlorine or iodine based cleaners used at too high a strength or not rinsed properly.
 
Co2 tank is new, gonna dismantle the keys and give them a thorough cleaning. I though water initially, I use tap water, but my buddy uses he same water when we brew and he does not have the same issue.
 
This is so damn frustrating, I never had this issue before the corney kegs are the x factor. I bought them reconditioned when I started all grain , but I got them at my home brew store and was told everything was replaced and cleaned
 
This is so damn frustrating, I never had this issue before the corney kegs are the x factor. I bought them reconditioned when I started all grain , but I got them at my home brew store and was told everything was replaced and cleaned

When you open them, do you smell anything? When I got mine, it has a weird 'caustic soda' smell.

Make sure you take it apart (keep the "out" post and stuff separate from the "in" stuff- trust me on that, and keep each keg's parts separate) and check all the o-rings and hold the diptubes up to the light to make sure they are clean as a whistle. If anything has an odor, clean and/or replace.
 
This is so damn frustrating, I never had this issue before the corney kegs are the x factor. I bought them reconditioned when I started all grain , but I got them at my home brew store and was told everything was replaced and cleaned

I would recommend changing out all of the o-rings and soaking the keg, dip tubes, and disassembled posts in PBW or oxyclean free overnight.
 
Also, are you pouring out the first few ounces after the beer has been sitting for a while? I usually notice an off taste if I don't do this.
 
Haven't had the problem personally, but the brew books say that vinyl taste is Chlorophenol. The common causes are chlorinated tap water or chlorine or iodine based cleaners used at too high a strength or not rinsed properly.

This

Brew a batch with RO water
 
Are you using bleach to sanitize? That flavor may also arise if you fail to thoroughly rinse the bleach.
 
I've fortunately not had a problem with my corny kegs. It sounds like you've got an issue with the kegs or your sanitizer, or both.

Do you and your friend sanitize the same way? I highly recommend StarSan for sanitizing and Oxyclean for cleaning. Oxyclean is a basic cleaner and after a thorough rinse coupled with the acidic StarSan, there's nothing left to interfere with your beer. I also pour about 1 gallon of sanitizer into the kegs, pressurize, and let that sit until I need it.
 
You dont happen to use a normal garden hose for water when you are brewing do you?

I did that once early on and my beer tasted like bandaids.
 
You don't have to switch to RO water, just use campden to knock out the chloroamine
 
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