IPA not so IPA and odd aftertaste

I recently brewed an AHS Stone IPA clone and put it on tap. From day one, this beer smelled AWESOME. Now that its on tap, its kinda eh...

For one, its DARK as all get out. I would say this beer reminds me way more of an Arrogant Bastard in that respect.
Hop bitterness is lacking a little, but the aroma is pretty close to on point.

The thing that 'bothers' me the most is this odd tasting 'burp' that I get when drinking it. No, it tastes normal with a regular burp but when I get that little 'mini burp' (Almost a throaty burp) from when I take a swig, it almost tastes like burned plastic. This this just from the hop profiles of this beer cause its really bizarre... Not really an issue, but just kind of strange... This happen to anyone else?
-Me

I have a different IPA and get the same thing. I sure would like to know what causes it.

It could be a couple of things that cause that plastic taste- yeast fermentation temperature can do that. Or chlorophenols from water or bleach used in cleaning equipment.

If you have chloramines in your water, that could do it. Otherwise, I'd guess that it could be a warm fermentation temperature.

Hmmmmm... Well, I used bottled water for this batch and closely monitored the ferm temps as well (it was my nice lil ferm cabinet)

Im inclined to believe it has something to possibly do with the hops, or maybe the fact that I tapped it a week after I primed it to naturally carb (then force carbed it)

Its not 'bad' just kind of odd...
The only other variable might have been not thoroughly rinsing the keg of Oxyclean before I sanitized it.
Could be a number of things...
-Me

If it's the same burp I get, it happens frequently for me. Usually my Pale Ale will do it but I had it recently on my Indian Brown Ale. I'm pretty sure it isn't fermentation temps in my case as it's usually pretty controlled in the upper 60's. I'm also curious.....

Could it be the Oxyclean? I used it during my cleaning/sanitation process. Not trying to hijack but I think this might be a common problem.

Sounds like chlorophenols. If you used bottled water, it could have been the oxiclean, like you said, or maybe it's your sanitizer. If you use star san do you filter or treat the water for chloring before mixing it up? The foam might be adding enough chlorine or chloramine to create that flavor you're getting. Our limit of detection for chlorophenols is extremely low, so it doesn't take much to taste.

KingBrianI said:

Sounds like chlorophenols. If you used bottled water, it could have been the oxiclean, like you said, or maybe it's your sanitizer. If you use star san do you filter or treat the water for chloring before mixing it up? The foam might be adding enough chlorine or chloramine to create that flavor you're getting. Our limit of detection for chlorophenols is extremely low, so it doesn't take much to taste.

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Interesting... I use just regular old tap water when I do my Star-San rinse of all the equipment. Everything that goes into the beer is acquired at the .30 machine. Ive been thinking lately that I need to just get a filtration system for my tap water here. It would be MUCH easier to fill a bucket with 6 gallons of water to heat as opposed to 8 or so jugs that I had to manually fill.

Ill keep an open (sensory of sorts) for this on my other beers getting ready to go on tap.
The pipeline getting filled - I need to ensure it stays that way
-Me

What type of bottled water did you use? Spring? Reverse Osmosis? Distilled?

I think it has to be the oxyclean. It's not a good idea to use oxygen base sanitizers for keg, or anything stainless for the matter. It will cause the metal to corrode slightly and will cause pitting. It is likely this reaction with the metal that is causing the strange taste. I clean all my kegs with iodophor which does not react with the stainless. You will notice that the iodophor does leave a smell behind since it is not rinsed and is simply air dried, however its been shown that this has no effect on beer taste. Try this in the future and I think you'll be greatly rewarded. Hope you can still enjoy the rest of the keg for now!

The iodophor is for santizing, and I may try it in place of my star san just to see if this may resolve the issue. The oxy clean is just my hot soak (before sanitization) Some say PBW is better.

I saw PBR on tap last night, I was tempted to get one....
-Me

Ok i see, however it still isn't good to use oxygen based cleaners at any point in stainless really. PBW is fantastic for hot soaking kegs, I would go that route and use iodophore to sanitize. best of luck!

FreddieK said:

Ok i see, however it still isn't good to use oxygen based cleaners at any point in stainless really. PBW is fantastic for hot soaking kegs, I would go that route and use iodophore to sanitize. best of luck!

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correct me if I'm wrong, but PBW and Oxyclean are very similar. I don't see how one would be bad for stainless, and the other ok. If oxyclean was causing corrosion, you would be having metallic off flavors, not burned plastic/bandiad.

I'd look into checking the spring water. Just because its store bought doesn't mean it doesn't have chloramine. If you are in doubt, treat the water with campden. 1 crushed tablet is more than enough to treat all of the water for up to a 10 gallon all grain batch. My water is suspect, and this is what I do.

I'm also thinking about switching to all distilled water for my starsan. I think even my starsan water, which I get from the tap too is causing some chlorophenol issues. I plan on buying a large plastic container with a spigot, like some chemicals come in, and mixing up a large batch. This way, I can always have mixed StarSan on hand, it won't go bad, and I don't have to worry about chloramines from my sanitizer.

StarSan degrades a little after time, though, doesn't it? I wouldn't think you'd want a huge amount sitting around for too long.

We just buy gallon jugs of distilled water water at the store for 89 cents or whatever, and add a bit of Starsan to the gallon (1/4 ounce per gallon, IIRC). Mix it up a bit, write the date you mixed it on the gallon jug, and voila - 1 gallon of sanitizer ready to go.

The date you mixed it doesn't matter as long as the pH is below 3. If StarSan degraded over time, it would also degrade in the concentrated form in the bottle (like iodophor or bleach). If the pH dips, just add a tiny bit of concentrate to bring it back up! Thats why StarSan is so great.