Which is the solution

I have made several changes at the same time and am curious if anyone can lead me to which one was the most important change.

I in the last three batches went from partial mash to all grain, started using campden tablets, and changed out my hoses and one of my primaries from bucket to better bottle.

The initial problem presented itself when I moved my rv to a new site (btw: one of the hardest parts of being a "rv" brewer). It is an odd chemical type flavor in the beer. I noticed a similar taste when I leave a cup of water on the nightstand overnight. It has been present in the beer only. I have made a batch of apfelwein that seemed unaffected.

The information led me to believe that it was chlorimines, but I also made the other changes at the same time so I am not sure the campden tablets where the real solution. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

My guess would be the water.

That is what my original guess was. I just wanted to see what everyone thought. It seemed to make sense with the apfelwein turning out ok. I would just hate to have another 5 gal batch turn out almost undrinkable.

rvbrewer said:

I would just hate to have another 5 gal batch turn out almost undrinkable.

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Almost is a key word here. You made beer and you drank it too.

Seriously I would suspect your water to be the issue.

Does this describe the taste accurately?

John Palmer said:

Solvent-like
This group of flavors is very similar to the alcohol and ester flavors, but are harsher to the tongue. These flavors often result from a combination of high fermentation temperatures and oxidation. They can also be leached from cheap plastic brewing equipment or if PVC tubing is used as a lautering manifold material. The solvents in some plastics like PVC can be leached by high temperatures.

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Otherwise look here for more common off-flavors. Once you determine what off-flavor you are tasting then you can start diagnosing the problem.

I'd have to agree with the description, however, with a two kegerator it is killing me trying to find friends drunk enough to drink the "other" beer on tap. But with the posts I have had so far, I feel sane continuing the path I am on for the up coming 2 beers, 1 mead, and 1 apfelwein in the next week.