Plastic/astrigent taste

Not quite sure how else to explain it. Kind of has a plasticky smell/taste, or maybe astrigent, although I'm not quite sure what that tastes like.

I have used bleach to sanitize in the past, but switched to oxyclean and starsan this batch. I use bottled water and not tap water. Could there still be residual bleach imbedded in the fermenter? It is plastic. I don't know where else the chloriphenols could have come from.

It tastes ok initially, besides the plasticky taste, but has a really harsh finish, almost hurts the back of the throat. You know, like a minute or two later. Anyone else have this issue?

I kind of have a sore throat now after drinking it. Needless to say, I didn't want anymore after that one...

I had a similar issue with the plastic taste, although not the sore throat, but I solved it by simply changing my beer line (which I thought was pretty clean). Could not believe the difference. Not saying that's the solution, but just something to consider. Line is fairly cheap so worth testing if all your other processes seem to be in order.

Are you talking about your keg setup, or your tubing for siphon/bottling?

I bottle my beers. I think either my tubing is bad, been through 10 batches now, bought some new tubing and auto siphon. Or my primary is bad. Like I said, I used bleach to clean it in the past, but switched to oxyclean free. I always thought I rinsed it out good, but now I'm wondering if the bleachiness is imbedded in the fermenter. Or it's the oxyclean.

My next batch is almost ready for a test. We'll see if it too has the plasticky/harsh smell and taste....

I keg. Sorry, kind of at a loss now so maybe the more experienced folks can chime in.

Astringent and plastic are two completely different off flavors but you can get them both.

Astringent is a harsh, puckering type of dryness that can occur from tannin extraction as an example. Plastic can be from improper cleaning products, clorophenols, chloromines.

Here are two articles you can look at:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html
http://www.kroc.org/Links/TroubleshootingGuide.htm

recipe and fermentation temperatures and type and amount of yeast pitched please

I just picked those two characteristics cause i don't know how else to explain it. It kind of smells plasticky, but has a really harsh finish on the throat.

It was a Big Ben pale ale lme extract kit from Midwest. Used a swamp cooler to ferment, kept in mid sixties for 3 weeks in primary, and used safale s05 yeast. I boiled all the lme with hops for 1 hr, per instructions.

One note I can make, is I did not filter any of them hop/break debris. Just cooled the wort, aerated, dumped in primary, added yeast.

The first time I brewed I did this. That brew had a harsh, bitter taste. I wonder if not filtering out the hops causes this? And yes, I enjoy pale ales, ipa's, and other hoppy beer.

Leaving break material and the hops is not an issue as they all settle out in the trub and unless you are leaving the beer on the trub for months there should be no contribution to off flavors.

If you are not allowing the beer enough time to condition and be in the fridge you could be sampling a beer that is just not ready yet. The harshness may mellow.

You can try doing late additions with your LME instead of 60 minutes. Add half when you begin the boil and add the rest at flame out. This can improve your beer all the way around from color to taste.

Plastic smell and taste can also be caused by infection so evaluate your system/set up and be sure you properly clean and sanitize all components including the spigot on your bottling bucket. If your tubing is old and discolored, change it as well as cleaning your bottle wand. If you smell any bleach residue in your buckets then thoroughly clean them again with OXY and let them sit out for several days to allow the bleach to go away.

what is the total elapsed time, from brew pot - to fridge - to glass?

Brewed wort, 3 weeks in primary, bottled, has been bottle conditioning In a 70-75* dark room for over a month. The few that I have tasted have been in fridge for over a week. So the beer is over 2 months old, from brew day to drink day.