Yet another "Plastic/Rubber taste" thread

I'm trying to find the cause of a massive plastic/rubber taste (VERY much a 'new hose taste') in one of my brews. So overwhelming that it is undrinkable.

To provide context, I did three 5 gallon batches in 3 weekends. For some reason SWMBO was ok with this! Anyway, the middle batch, the lovely Centenniel Blonde, is the only one with this taste. I used the same water, hose, equipment and process with the only exception being a new plastic primary fermentation bucket. I did wash the bucket before sanitizing. All samples taken from first runnings, pre-boil and post-boil did not have any hint of this taste and were otherwise unremarkable.

Reading all the search threads leads me to a few possible sources:

1.) The hose used to provide water.
The hose was the same used on all 3 brews, yet this was the only one with the horrid taste. The hose was not kept under pressure and was not out in the sun for an unusually long time.

2.) Yeast autolysis
This might be it, but I've read that it's fairly rare. Here are the vital stats:
OG: 1.041
Pitched: 2 smack packs Wyeast 1056 @ 70 degrees
Fermentation: (so far) 2.5 weeks at 68 degrees, temperature controlled in mini fridge

3.) Chlorine / Chloromine in water
Water in all batches was treated the night before with Campden tablets

4.) New tubing
No new tubing

5.) New plastic primary fermenter
I did wash this with oxyclean and thoroughly rinsed before sanitizing

Did I miss anything? Could this actually be an overpitch/autolysis situation? I'm hesitant to dump this batch because of all the fantastic threads warning against such, but everything else I've read leads me to believe this won't mellow out.

What do you use for sanitizing?

What were the other 2 batches? A blonde is somewhat of a delicate beer. If the other beers were hop heavy and/or high in roasted malts those may have masked this plastic/rubber taste.

Homercidal said:

What do you use for sanitizing?

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Star-san, and I'm 99% sure it's at the right dilution.

dgez said:

What were the other 2 batches? A blonde is somewhat of a delicate beer. If the other beers were hop heavy and/or high in roasted malts those may have masked this plastic/rubber taste.

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First was a kolsch, very similar in characteristic. The second was a SMaSH with Vienna and Calypso, not too overly aggressive with the hops but worlds of difference than the centennial blonde and the kolsch.

grab a pint glass, walk out to the back yard and pour yourself a nice glass of garden hose water. Is that the taste you are talking about?

dgez said:

grab a pint glass, walk out to the back yard and pour yourself a nice glass of garden hose water. Is that the taste you are talking about?

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Yes. That's exactly the taste. I had my wife try the same test and that's exactly it.

I've had this same problem. It's strange how it seems to happen sometimes, but not always. My new hose that caused the problem initially no longer imparts that taste. i no longer take any chances, however. I have had a plastic taste in my beer around 7 days in fermenter that cleaned up. I'm not sure what that taste is, but I think it's a yeast by product that they clean up when left alone for a few weeks. I've had it in a caramel amber ale, and a wit. I am now brewing a scottish ale that has the same flavor at 7 days. Hope it's gone by three weeks.