Another-my beer has a metallic taste thread

So, I have searched, and haven't seen anything conclusive yet
every batch so far has had a metallic taste other than the graff.

every batch has been kegged, torn down, and cleaned with pbw, rinsed, and sanitized with starsan.

first 2 were true brew kits, with cans. one used idophor, the other starsan
3rd was cider
4th was two hearted clone partial mash with dme, and starsan.

the carbing was done @ 10 lbs @ 34 degrees, which is probably high

with the 4th, i didn't notice the metallic taste while carbing on Friday (i drank it a little flat), in fact it was pretty good. but Saturday i went for a bike ride with a friend, we came back, and it was a completely different beast. it was metallic and sweet, and the dry hopping aroma was completely dormant. i tryed venting it off to take some carbonation out, but it seems to still have the same metallic taste.

i am about to keg or bottle the 5th, first using filtered water, partial mash w/dme. but hope to have something else to try before i have to drink another batch of the metallic stuff.

Do you use a copper immersion chiller?
How long are you fermenting for?
Do you stick to the recommended dilution for the starsan and pbw?
What types of pots are you using (Aluminum or stainless)? Do you vigorously scrub them with steel wool?

Need some info on your process.

orgcandman said:

Do you use a copper immersion chiller?
How long are you fermenting for?
Do you stick to the recommended dilution for the starsan and pbw?
What types of pots are you using (Aluminum or stainless)? Do you vigorously scrub them with steel wool?

Need some info on your process.

Click to expand...

I knew i would forget something

No chiller at this time

3 weeks fermentation, 67-70 degrees for the first week.

very close on starsan, may have mixed a little heavy on pbw.

stainless pot, do B.i.b for the partial mash.

use a new clean sponge when i clean.


thank you for the help!!

How long from brew, to glass? IE, how much post fermentation time are you giving them?

post ferment is about a week, force carbing at 10 lb.

I s your water high in iron?

Not sure, i haven't done an analysis yet. It does taste alright out of the fermenter, the batch i am kegging tonight was made with filtered water, hoping to eliminate that variable.

I brew with well water which has a good dose of iron as well as just about every other mineral in it. I would get a metallic taste in some of my beers along with a harsh hop bitterness especially in pale beers. Cutting my well water with 30% distilled solved my problem. Maybe you can try that in your next batch and see how it tastes. My well water tastes great from the tap but its not the best brewing water.

Have you ever done a batch without force carbing? Could your CO2 be "dirty"? Where are you getting it from?

Co2 is from the the local home brew store, havent done a naturally carbed batch

I'd suggest separating the batch and naturally carbing some while force carbing the rest. If the naturally carbed comes out non-metallic tasting, and the forced carb comes out metallic tasting you've found the culprit.

I haven't heard of anything that would make me suspicious of your process or equipment so far. Water profile, grains *and storage*, CO2, extract... I dunno... start looking at all the common elements.

Thanks, i think i will try the natural/ force carb. Also going to double up on rinsing the pbw out. We will know more next week.

wow its been a month... the bottles tasted great, the keg tasted great... so consensus is water, the second batch w/filtered water was tasty too.

I also shared a bottle of the prior brew with some beer heads.. and they described the flavor as an off bitter, so my assessment of metallic may have been throwing things off too.

I was also going to add if you go to Beer Crazy I can vouch for the CO2 as I don't get a metallic taste from it.

Bottenbrew said:

I was also going to add if you go to Beer Crazy I can vouch for the CO2 as I don't get a metallic taste from it.

Click to expand...

Yep, Beer Crazy has been a great asset to me so far, defiantly glad to support them