my amber ale is drinkable, but theres a plastic taste there...

[RLFoley]

just drank my first beer from my autumn amber ale batch today and its good except for the slight plastic smell/taste im getting. anyone know if this will mellow out over time, or is it permanent? i read that it could be the PH levels in my water causing this and if thats the case, any recommendations on water additives? thanks

 

[Yooper]

just drank my first beer from my autumn amber ale batch today and its good except for the slight plastic smell/taste im getting. anyone know if this will mellow out over time, or is it permanent? i read that it could be the PH levels in my water causing this and if thats the case, any recommendations on water additives? thanks

It's usually permanent. It's probably from chlorine or chloramines in the brewing water. Using chlorine free and/or chloramine free water will fix that.

Many water departments now use chloramine, and not plain chlorine, in their water supplies since it's more stable. That means it won't boil off. If your water supplier uses chloramine, you can either buy some bottled water (reverse osmosis water is great), or use a tablet called a "campden tablet", crushed and dissolved in the brewing water before brewing. 1/4 tablet treats 5 gallons of water, causing the chloramine or chlorine to dissipate very quickly.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Is it like a "vinyl" plastic, or more like a "rubber band" or "band-aid" kind of plastic flavor/aroma?

If it's the former, then I'd concur with Yooper on this one. If it's the latter, then I suspect a slight infection.

 

[Glynn]

It's usually permanent. It's probably from chlorine or chloramines in the brewing water. Using chlorine free and/or chloramine free water will fix that.

Many water departments now use chloramine, and not plain chlorine, in their water supplies since it's more stable. That means it won't boil off. If your water supplier uses chloramine, you can either buy some bottled water (reverse osmosis water is great), or use a tablet called a "campden tablet", crushed and dissolved in the brewing water before brewing. 1/4 tablet treats 5 gallons of water, causing the chloramine or chlorine to dissipate very quickly.

^^^^^^ the brew goddess

 

[RLFoley]

its definitely the band-aid smell/taste

 

[duboman]

http://www.kroc.org/Links/TroubleshootingGuide.htm

Look under Phenolic and you will see description of the off flavor and reasons for its occurrence.

Yooper is the beer Goddess.....

 

[Yooper]

http://www.kroc.org/Links/TroubleshootingGuide.htm

Look under Phenolic and you will see description of the off flavor and reasons for its occurrence.

Yooper is the beer Goddess.....

Hey, just because I dumped 10 gallons of band-aid beer doesn't make me special!

In my case, the "band aid beer" was from a contaminated yeast starter, so "band-aid" can definitely be infection related. A plastic-y phenol taste is usually the chloramine/chlorine, but as Tiber mentioned this may have well be an infection if it's more "band aid" than plastic.

 

[Pappers_]

Agree with the above. In addition, I've read that chlorine will dissipate from your water if you leave if out overnight. That won't work with chloramines though.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

its definitely the band-aid smell/taste

Then I'd wager on it being a phenolic infection.