Beer tastes like plastic

gentlemen, I made two blonde ales using Notty yeast. Everything seemed fine and looked fine but both of them tasted like plastic. This is a tried and true recipe and i have never had this problem before. I visited the thread about what infections look like and I did not see anything out of the ordinary in my fermentors. I pitched a little hot 90 or so but have done this in the past with no problem. I have a freezer set at 66 degrees for fermenting temp. Can anyone give some advise on what the problem may be. Dont wanna loose another. Thanks

Garrett

Please help

Check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/nottingham-yeast-128940/

My last IPA brewed with Nottingham and fermented at 65-69 F smelled and tasted like rotting bananas.

After a month, the flavor is starting to fade a little.

Nottingham may have some issues just now...Safale US-05 may be a good substitute if you prefer dry.

When one of my LHBS's told me that the when the plastic fermenters turn yellow it is time to pitch them in the garbage. Could that be it?


So now I went to glass only. Of course now I am worried about how much I am drinking, trying to move the full glass around. I was cleaning one and set it on the concrete ever so easily (apparently not easy enough) it made that noise and I let it go before the whole carboy went into pieces. Got a nasty cut, but could have took my hand off if I didn't let it go when I did.

I keep towels handy now to set them on, another note is that dang carboy hauler that goes around neck, I have been told that the neck can snap off, It is made for carrying empty carboys, or for balancing while you are carrying it from the bottom.

Hope it is an easy fix for you.

Stuntmantoo said:

When one of my LHBS's told me that the when the plastic fermenters turn yellow it is time to pitch them in the garbage. Could that be it?
:

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If you use Iodophor, your plastic will always be yellowish.


You didn't use a garden hose at some point during the brew day, did you?

I did use the hose, i think this may have caused the off taste because brew days have been in the hundreds lately and my black hose was stretched across my lawn to the garage where i brew. Have since made a batch with bottled water, no results yet. I was mainly worried about infection and knowing if i have some other bigger problem.

GHB said:

gentlemen, I made two blonde ales using Notty yeast. Everything seemed fine and looked fine but both of them tasted like plastic. This is a tried and true recipe and i have never had this problem before. I visited the thread about what infections look like and I did not see anything out of the ordinary in my fermentors. I pitched a little hot 90 or so but have done this in the past with no problem. I have a freezer set at 66 degrees for fermenting temp. Can anyone give some advise on what the problem may be. Dont wanna loose another. Thanks

Garrett

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Pitching yeast at 90F is asking for trouble. Not having a previous problem could be chalked up to luck but by doing what you describe you are essentially playing Russian Roulette with your batch of beer. The plastic taste is phenolics. They are produced by many yeasts at high temps and can also be produced by wild yeast or bacteria. Note that an infection will not necessarily cause a change in the appearance of the beer. Review your sanitation procedures and be sure to both pitch and ferment at the recommended temperature range of the yeast.

If my memory serves me correctly phenolics can also come from sanitizing with bleach if not rinsed thoroughly. I just recently had this problem and picked up some starsan.

Synovia said:

If you use Iodophor, your plastic will always be yellowish.


You didn't use a garden hose at some point during the brew day, did you?

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MAN!!!!
I am going to learn not to listen to that one LHBS and just read these posts...

Thanks Synovia

I got one LHBS that is further away from me, but they seem to know a lot more.

GHB said:

I did use the hose.

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That could have certainly been it. Vinyl has a well known penchant for leeching, especially at warmer temps...

Several of my previous batches tasted like plastic.

I decided to try brewing "Water", checking throughout the process for off flavors and smells. I did, just water through the same process I would when brewing and took samples at each step through the process. BK, HLT, MashTun, CFC and BK after a 20 minute boil and finally straight from the RV water hose.

In the end... I got rid of the potable water hoses. Tasting the samples in reverse order revealed a slight smell/taste to a horible taste straight from the hose. I can't beleive I had never tasted the water I was putting into my brew!!!

I now use PEX tubing and a carbon filter. I flush for a few minutes everytime I use the hose to eliminate anything from that water sitting in the tubing in the sun. Three batches later... no plastic smell/taste.

I now taste the water from the hose & filter before I even begin.

Good luck.

My buddy had the same issue. We found it to be the garden hose.

I'd definitely second the previous comments. Remember drinking water from a hose on those hot summer days? Ick. Regardless of "potable" hose or not...

Ditch the hose and, for that matter, run your water through an active carbon filter (e.g. - Brita).

I just had the same problem with my kegerator. But it was with carbed beer. I force carbed my beers and some friends came over and had some pints of beer, it was good tasting blonde ale. 5 days after that, I poured a glass and it tasted like plastic. (I left the tap conected to the keg and the 7 feet of beer line)
Should I connect my faucet and beer line every time I want to get beer from my kegerator to avoid getting hose tasting or plastic tasting beer?

garae10 said:

I just had the same problem with my kegerator. But it was with carbed beer. I force carbed my beers and some friends came over and had some pints of beer, it was good tasting blonde ale. 5 days after that, I poured a glass and it tasted like plastic. (I left the tap conected to the keg and the 7 feet of beer line)
Should I connect my faucet and beer line every time I want to get beer from my kegerator to avoid getting hose tasting or plastic tasting beer?

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To be honest, I've never had this happen. I'll sometimes go weeks without pulling a pint from a particular tap and have never had a plastic leeching taste. I have liquid tubing from AHS. I know that Lowe's and HD sell liquid line, but they may be water only line. That material will leech BPA when in an acidic environment like beer so leeching plastic flavor may not be far fetched. If you get your line from a big box store, that may be your issue. If not, I don't know what to tell you.