Bad taste in my brew!

i just opened a bottle out of my first batch (IRISH RED brewers best kit) of home brew . I brewed this batch just shy of four weeks ago and it has been bottled for a day under two weeks it has a fantastic start but a bitter and funky burnt maybe metalic finish to it. im hoping its still "green" and that i havent ruined it some how , will waiting it out maybe help?

BostonianBrewer said:

i just opened a bottle out of my first batch (IRISH RED brewers best kit) of home brew . I brewed this batch just shy of four weeks ago and it has been bottled for a day under two weeks it has a fantastic start but a bitter and funky burnt maybe metalic finish to it. im hoping its still "green" and that i havent ruined it some how , will waiting it out maybe help?

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"Burnt" could be a couple of things- one is the obvious, and that is that possibly the wort was scorched during brewing. Is that possible?

Another thing I think of when you say "bitter and funky burnt" is chlorophenols. That is something that comes from chlorinated water + fermentation. Is it possible that you used tap water with chlorines or chloramines? That can cause a sort of plastic-ish medicinal flavor (think of band-aid smell, with a chloroseptic flavor). A too warm fermentation temperature can really exacerbate this, so if it got above 72 degrees or so, that would make it worse.

That's all I can really think of, but if you want to describe your brewing process we can look and see if something else stands out.

One other thing that may be causing it is the material of your brew kettle. If it's aluminum and you didn't condition it first, that can cause a metallic aftertaste in the first beer brewed with it. I learned that one the hard way.

Boiling usually gets rid of chlorine in the water.

Skullfingr said:

Boiling usually gets rid of chlorine in the water.

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But not chloramines....

where did you get the kit? I had that on our first two batches. We thought it was something we did and found out it was the ingredients. They were from Midwest brewing. Ever sense ordering from other vendors haven't had the back end burnt metal taste.

hockeybrew said:

where did you get the kit? I had that on our first two batches. We thought it was something we did and found out it was the ingredients. They were from Midwest brewing. Ever sense ordering from other vendors haven't had the back end burnt metal taste.

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How did you find out it was the ingredients? Midwest is pretty damn reputable, so I'd argue that, while not impossible, it probably wasn't the ingredients.

Thanks for the feed back guys! I did use a brand new aluminum pot i washed it before but didn't "condition" not sure on how to do that. I did use tap water because 5 gallons of filtered water was not available/affordable for me , and last the kit i used was relatively new . I have done some reading and could i some how have introduced oxygen into my beer while racking that might have given it an off flavor , how much air kills it just a little or a whole lot of bubbles --sorry im still a rookie

also i dont think i burn the wort i controlled my temps closely while i was seeping and boiling

BostonianBrewer said:

Thanks for the feed back guys! I did use a brand new aluminum pot i washed it before but didn't "condition" not sure on how to do that. I did use tap water because 5 gallons of filtered water was not available/affordable for me , and last the kit i used was relatively new . I have done some reading and could i some how have introduced oxygen into my beer while racking that might have given it an off flavor , how much air kills it just a little or a whole lot of bubbles --sorry im still a rookie

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Just boil water in the pot, until it's not shiny any more inside. That provides a passive oxide layer on the pot.

Tap water may be the culprit, if your water contains chlorine or chloramines.

I don't think it's oxidation you taste- that's a different off-flavor than you're describing.

But anyway for the original question, if I were you I would follow yooper's advice. From other posts I've read, he's a good problem solver

BostonianBrewer said:

Thanks for the feed back guys! I did use a brand new aluminum pot i washed it before but didn't "condition" not sure on how to do that. I did use tap water because 5 gallons of filtered water was not available/affordable for me , and last the kit i used was relatively new . I have done some reading and could i some how have introduced oxygen into my beer while racking that might have given it an off flavor , how much air kills it just a little or a whole lot of bubbles --sorry im still a rookie

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You can condition it in the oven if it will fit, or just fill it and boil plain water in it for an hour. You should see an oxidation layer (discoloring) after that....that means it's contioned, don't scrub that layer off, it's the protection.

finny thing is i had one when i racked and one three days after because i was so giddy to drink it and they tated GOOD its just weird they have gone so far down hill the last week and a half did the carbination make the off flavors more noticable? because its a red ale with floral hops and it dosent taste like that anymore thats why i maybe thought it areated and it took more than that first three days to really change the flavor ??? thank you guys again

brewingbound said:

But anyway for the original question, if I were you I would follow yooper's advice. From other posts I've read, he's a good problem solver

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Hehe.

nukebrewer said:

Hehe.

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Oo sorry I didn't even check I really meant no disrespect though.

Everybody please disregard my ignorance

any suggestions on my last message?

BostonianBrewer said:

finny thing is i had one when i racked and one three days after because i was so giddy to drink it and they tated GOOD its just weird they have gone so far down hill the last week and a half did the carbination make the off flavors more noticable? because its a red ale with floral hops and it dosent taste like that anymore thats why i maybe thought it areated and it took more than that first three days to really change the flavor ??? thank you guys again

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Usually, oxidation takes more than a couple of days to become apparent.

It's possible that as the flavors meld, some unnoticed flaws are showing up more but I don't think anything you've described points to oxidation.

Could it be carbonic acid from being over carbonated? I've heard that described as burnt. Does it seem over carbonated to you?

nukebrewer said:

Hehe.

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Wait.. you mean that guy in green in the avatar is not yooper?

Did you add your extract to the water with the heat on and did you adequately stir?