Taste test for first batch

I brought a bottle of my first brew to my LHBS for a taste test. He thought it was good but like me, felt there was an off flavor there. It's not bad, just a little something. For some reason it doesn't leave an aftertaste though, which is good. We went over my process step by step and he came up with a couple of possible causes.
One was the use of an aluminum brew kettle. Another was the use of dishwashing liquid/soap to clean equipment, fermenter, bottling bucket etc.

He didn't say that this would cause an off flavor but he did say I shouldn't have poured hot priming solution into my bucket as this will kill yeast.

Other than that the beer isn't bad. I purchased a 5 gal glass carboy while I was there for my next batch so I can rack it into a secondary.

Here are two photos:

1st brew

Brew against light


Tommy

Brewno said:

He didn't say that this would cause an off flavor but he did say I shouldn't have poured hot priming solution into my bucket as this will kill yeast.

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You are putting 2 cups of hot liquid into 5 gallons of cool liquid. You might lose a couple thousand yeasties, but the other hundreds of millions of them will survive. I would not be concerned about this point at all.

I've read somewhere that dishwasher detergents can lead to a lack of head when pouring into a glass that's gone through the dishwasher (try and type that sentence without the first half sounding naughty!). It has something to do with the non-spotting agents they put into them. My guess is those same agents MIGHT cause something funny to happen during the brewing.

Jason

About the dishwasher rinse agents, that is true, I know in the second edition of How to Brew, Palmer talks about it.

One was the use of an aluminum brew kettle. Another was the use of dishwashing liquid/soap to clean equipment, fermenter, bottling bucket etc.

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I used an Aluminum Kettle for months before I got my Keggle with no issues, I also used to clean my gear with Dish soap and found if not rinsed well enough that can affect taste and head retention. So I'd think most likely the off taste was from not rinsing all the soap residue off the equipment.