Beer tastes like chemicals/plastic

[jamnich314]

The first batch I brewed was a Brewers Best Pumpkin Spice Porter kit. It say in primary for about three weeks then I bottled it. I tried some when I took my FG sample before bottling and it tasted pretty good. I let it sit in the bottles for two weeks and put one in the fridge just to see how it was expecting it to still taste "green."

It had a pretty nasty after taste that seemed like a cross between cleaner/plastic. I figured that was the "green" taste people had talked about so I dumped it and waited. It's been two more weeks so I tried another tonight. The taste is still there. I had my wife try it to make sure it wasn't just me and she spit it out back into the bottle saying it tasted like cleaner. You can even smell it. It smells like the bad taste.

I used StarSan for all of my sanitation. I don't know what happened. Did I somehow get an infection during the two weeks after bottling? Would leaving a few drops of the sanitizing solution in the bottle after cleaning and drying cause this (I dried them for a while but they weren't bone dry). I used the suggested concentration of StarSan to water. Would using new vs. used bottles make a difference? It doesn't seem like any flavor leaching since it didn't taste that way before bottling and it was only in the bottling bucket for an hour tops.

I'm really hoping my first batch isn't ruined. I know people say to let them condition in the bottles but it's been a month now and I don't see the bad taste going away. For what it's worth, when I tried the one today, I didn't really notice the horrible after-taste until a couple swigs in (I drank it out of the bottle in case it was still bad...didn't want to have to clean a glass for no reason).

Any ideas?

 

[azmark]

Chlorine can produce this taste. What cleaner did you use before the sanitizing? How did you treat your water? Unfortunately this is a taste that doesn't condition out.

 

[feinbera]

Do you brew with tapwater? Could be chloramine, which a lot of municipal water supplies have switched to from chlorine, and which produce similar off flavors. Unlike chlorine, chloramine doesn't boil out, at least not in the hour or two max you're gonna spend boiling as a homebrewer. Luckily, you can get rid of the it with campden tablets; one should treat all the water you need, and it's just a couple bucks for a pack of 20.

 

[mkyl428]

I agree chlorine is likely the cause...

Could come from tap water, or if you used bleach somewhere in your cleaning process & didn't rinse enough.....


You may find this helpful.......
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

 

[ballsy]

Idk, it takes a lot of chlorine to really come through strong and in a porter I would be surprised. Starsan gives zero taste ( try a sip of it after properly mixed and it's like water) and you used that for sanitizing but what did you use for cleaning? Get a water report from city's last testing and if chlorine/chloramine levels significant then just use the Camden tabs. I got a pack of 100 for like $10 which will last 400 batches (1/4 tab/5gal H2O).

 

[snowtires]

I'm javingnthe same thing with my beer. Although my friends say it tasted fine. I think its the cloves. Try tasting some cloves by themselves

 

[The_Bishop]

Could be overspiced. What was the recipe?

 

[jamnich314]

I know I have Chlorine in my water not sure exactly how much though. The thing's that's throwing me off is that the taste wasn't there after fermenting. It only showed up after having sat in bottles for a couple weeks.

Are you all saying I should also be using filtered water when sanitizing? Would the mixture of StanSan with Chlorinated water cause that taste?

It's hard to characterize what the taste is really like. I read that How to Brew section mkyl posted and I feel like it could be one of a few off-tastes: Acetaldehyde, Medicinal, Solvent-like. When I tasted it the first time it tasted "green." I know that's hard to describe but I knew people said it will be "green" after only a couple weeks but tasting it really did taste green. I don't know if it was green like a green apple or green like cleaning product though. My wife seemed to think it was much nastier than I did.

The fermentation temp wasn't an issue as it was constantly between 64 and 66 every time I checked.

I'm worried I just ruined my second batch I bottled two days ago as I used all of the same equipment and sanitizing methods. I didn't use bleach at any time. I lightly scrubbed the bottling bucket with StarSan solution and let all the rest of my equipment soak in StarSan solution. All the bottles I used were brand new and I cleaned them by submerging in then scrubbing with StarSan. I didn't use OxiClean Free or anything like that figuring they were new and looked very clean to the naked eye so a good sanitizing would do the trick.

I really don't think it's an overspicing problem. It's just the Brewer's Best Pumpkin Spice Porter kit. In fact, I even spilled a little bit of the spices on the ground when I was pouring it into the wort. This taste is pretty off-putting. You can even smell it if you stick your nose close to the mouth of the bottle. It smells green/chemical/plastic-y. Like I said, very hard to describe. I have a brewing buddy who's been doing it for a few years and I'm going to have him try one to see but I'm quite depressed right now.

 

[RM-MN]

I know I have Chlorine in my water not sure exactly how much though. The thing's that's throwing me off is that the taste wasn't there after fermenting. It only showed up after having sat in bottles for a couple weeks.

Are you all saying I should also be using filtered water when sanitizing? Would the mixture of StanSan with Chlorinated water cause that taste?

It's hard to characterize what the taste is really like. I read that How to Brew section mkyl posted and I feel like it could be one of a few off-tastes: Acetaldehyde, Medicinal, Solvent-like. When I tasted it the first time it tasted "green." I know that's hard to describe but I knew people said it will be "green" after only a couple weeks but tasting it really did taste green. I don't know if it was green like a green apple or green like cleaning product though. My wife seemed to think it was much nastier than I did.

The fermentation temp wasn't an issue as it was constantly between 64 and 66 every time I checked.

I'm worried I just ruined my second batch I bottled two days ago as I used all of the same equipment and sanitizing methods. I didn't use bleach at any time. I lightly scrubbed the bottling bucket with StarSan solution and let all the rest of my equipment soak in StarSan solution. All the bottles I used were brand new and I cleaned them by submerging in then scrubbing with StarSan. I didn't use OxiClean Free or anything like that figuring they were new and looked very clean to the naked eye so a good sanitizing would do the trick.

I really don't think it's an overspicing problem. It's just the Brewer's Best Pumpkin Spice Porter kit. In fact, I even spilled a little bit of the spices on the ground when I was pouring it into the wort. This taste is pretty off-putting. You can even smell it if you stick your nose close to the mouth of the bottle. It smells green/chemical/plastic-y. Like I said, very hard to describe. I have a brewing buddy who's been doing it for a few years and I'm going to have him try one to see but I'm quite depressed right now.

This is the cause and the solution was posted above. Campden tablets remove the chlorine. Get some and use them as directed before you start your next batch.

 

[jamnich314]

This is the cause and the solution was posted above. Campden tablets remove the chlorine. Get some and use them as directed before you start your next batch.

I didn't use this water for actually brewing though. All the water used during brewing was filtered. The only time I didn't use filtered water was when I sanitized everything before/during/after bottling. Even the water used for sanitizing during brewing was filtered.

 

[GHBWNY]

If your second batch (different style, I presume) comes out with the same off-taste, then you can be sure it's a water problem. But hopefully, it will be fine. While it may be little consolation, the fact you are aggressively pursuing the source of your problem and not giving up means you will eventually be a successful homebrewer. At some point, you'll be rewarded for your efforts by the "best" beer you ever tasted --- your own. Hang in there --- we've all had simlar problems, it's part of brewing. I learn more when things go wrong, than when things go right.

 

[GHBWNY]

I didn't use this water for actually brewing though. All the water used during brewing was filtered. The only time I didn't use filtered water was when I sanitized everything before/during/after bottling. Even the water used for sanitizing during brewing was filtered.

Filtered how? Like a Brita or something similar?

 

[jamnich314]

If your second batch (different style, I presume) comes out with the same off-taste, then you can be sure it's a water problem. But hopefully, it will be fine. While it may be little consolation, the fact you are aggressively pursuing the source of your problem and not giving up means you will eventually be a successful homebrewer. At some point, you'll be rewarded for your efforts by the "best" beer you ever tasted --- your own. Hang in there --- we've all had simlar problems, it's part of brewing. I learn more when things go wrong, than when things go right.

Thanks for the positive thoughts. Yes, the second batch is a different style and was a partial mash compared to extract kit. Tasted fine out of the fermenter so if things go awry in two weeks I'll know I have an issue.

 

[jamnich314]

Filtered how? Like a Brita or something similar?

With this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010EEVR8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944579842&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0010ED27I&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0XK2C4CE9Y1NVZSCVE83

 

[GHBWNY]

With this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010EEVR8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944579842&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0010ED27I&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0XK2C4CE9Y1NVZSCVE83

When was the last time you changed the filter cartridge? If it's not a fresh cartridge, you're potentially running your water through all that bad stuff trapped in it. Or at least not filtering efficiently.

 

[jamnich314]

My buddy and I brewed on the same day, using the same water filter and supply. His turned out great (Oatmeal Stout) so I don't think it was the filter itself. My seemed fine after fermenting then went downhill after bottle conditioning.

 

[azmark]

The band aid / medicinal taste tend to get stronger. The batch I had the same problem with tasted fine at bottling, two weeks in pretty offputting taste, a month in undrinkable.

By the time I dumped them, you could take one drink, and the taste would linger in your mouth for an hour, you couldn't get rid of it.

 

[jamnich314]

It didn't seem any better or worse than two weeks in but maybe it was. I guess I'll try another in a couple weeks and if it's still horrible I'll dump them. I'm really hoping the same thing doesn't happen to my second batch. If it's somehow chlorine, which was only present from the tap water use to make the StarSan solution before bottling and never any other time, then my second batch will be toast too...ARGH.

 

[alefort]

When this happened to a batch of mine, I managed to pin point it to a leaky chiller intake hose that managed to leak into the beer as it was being chilled. We got that nasty flavor from the old hose that the water ran through.

I also found that flavor to be accentuated when I overused Chinook.

 

[jamnich314]

Now that I think about it the wort chiller did leak a little. Wouldn't that off taste have come up when I tasted after fermenting though? It was in there for three weeks.

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

+1 on chlorine it gives the beer a vinyl taste

 

[tturner77]

My last four batches have been with relatively high chlorine water, yet have had no altered taste. Haven't need any adjustments. The chlorine levels need to be very high for that it my experience. My opinion would be wild/infected yeast, especially it being a kit. How long did fermentation take to start? If there was some lag time it opens it up to wild yeast. I always suggest my friends using kits run to the brew store and grab fresh yeast, there seems to be an abundance of problems with kit yeast.

 

[jamnich314]

My last four batches have been with relatively high chlorine water, yet have had no altered taste. Haven't need any adjustments. The chlorine levels need to be very high for that it my experience. My opinion would be wild/infected yeast, especially it being a kit. How long did fermentation take to start? If there was some lag time it opens it up to wild yeast. I always suggest my friends using kits run to the brew store and grab fresh yeast, there seems to be an abundance of problems with kit yeast.

I pitched the yeast at about 4 pm and by 8 am the next morning it was bubbling away. And I still don't see how using chlorinated water to make a StarSan solution would make it taste this off. I could see using chlorinated water to brew with but just for sanitizing doesn't seem right. But, I'm new so I don't know that much.

 

[jamnich314]

My brewing buddy says to just wait it out and give it time. I'm fine with that since there really isn't anything I can do but I'm really hoping my second batch won't be ruined as well...

 

[jamnich314]

I just drank some spiced apple cider and burped after. The taste of the burp was exactly the same as the off taste in my beer! Sooooo, I'm hoping that means time will mellow that flavor out and I'll actually have a good brew.

 

[snowtires]

Yeah jam. I knew it. I'm in the same boat, it is mellowing out. I was worried about infection as well but I think I'm just sensitive to that particular flavor. And Iike you its not easy to describe. Spiced beers are just not for me I think.