First All-Grain results in metal beer!

Hi everyone,

I hate to put another post out there on all-grain gone wrong, but this is one I've found mixed answers for here on the site.

I made my first all-grain batch a month ago, it was a best bitter recipe I crafted and was so excited to try. Anyways, being my first all grain it was the first time I used my new turkey fryer setup with aluminum pot. I followed the instructions in the FAQ about putting it in the oven for 30 min, and I thought that would have built up an oxide layer. After the boil there was a distinct ring of oxidation in the brewpot, slightly below the wort level.

Upon racking, a really strong astringent smell came from the fermenter, which at the time, I thought had nothing to do with the aluminum pot. However, today I pulled the first pint and sure enough, there is no hint of best bitter at all, and it extremely metallic.

Has anyone else experienced that smell from the primary when the resulting brew tasted metallic? any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. all the vitals checked out fine, i.e. OG, FG and SRM are all well within range so the overall all-grain process seems to have gone ok.

 

Well, I can't tell you for sure if you have attracted an astringent flavor from the aluminum, but I use an aluminum boil pot, and to cure it I filled it with water and boiled for 30 minutes and have never had any off-flavors or odors.

 

What yeast did you use? I made an ESB using Wyeast London Ale (as the LHBS was out of London ESB) and it tasted metallic, but the profile of the yeast mentioned a mineral flavor.

 

That's very interesting, I did use the London ale yeast. I thought I had a good handle on fermentation temps but maybe that had something to do with it. Not that that makes it right though, the metallic taste is terribly overwhelming. Anyone else had this issue with the London ale yeast?

 

I don't have any definite answers, but I do know that for a long time I would accuse bottle with "rusty caps" of giving a metallic taste to some beers (commercial and homebrew). However, it wasn't the cap. "Metal" taste is definitely possible with some flaw in your brewing. Oxygenation at bottling maybe?