Infected beer question

[arringtonbp]

I brewed an irish red quite a while back (7-8 months or so). It was clearly infected when I bottled it (pellicle, cloudy layer on top with quarter-sized bubbles). Oddly enough after it carbed up and cleared up, it turned out to taste pretty nice....

EXCEPT.....


It has a bad bitter metallic aftertaste. What type of beer infection can cause this? Is it possible it's not from an infection, but from a temperature or other type of issue?

 

[beerman0001]

I don't think that was caused by the infection.

 

[ChaosStout]

"Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals dissolving into the wort but can also be caused by the hydrolysis of lipids in poorly stored malts. Iron and aluminum can cause metallic flavors leaching into the wort during the boil. The small amount could be considered to be nutritional if it weren't for the bad taste. Nicks and cracks ceramic coated steel pots are a common cause as are high iron levels in well water. Stainless steel pots will not contribute any metallic flavors. Aluminum pots usually won't cause metallic flavors unless the brewing water is alkaline with a pH level greater than 9. Shiny new aluminum pots will sometimes turn black when boiling water due to chlorine and carbonates in the water.

The protective (grayish) oxides of aluminum can be enhanced by heating the clean pot in a dry oven at 250°F for about 6 hours."

From How to brew

 

[arringtonbp]

"Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals dissolving into the wort but can also be caused by the hydrolysis of lipids in poorly stored malts. Iron and aluminum can cause metallic flavors leaching into the wort during the boil. The small amount could be considered to be nutritional if it weren't for the bad taste. Nicks and cracks ceramic coated steel pots are a common cause as are high iron levels in well water. Stainless steel pots will not contribute any metallic flavors. Aluminum pots usually won't cause metallic flavors unless the brewing water is alkaline with a pH level greater than 9. Shiny new aluminum pots will sometimes turn black when boiling water due to chlorine and carbonates in the water.

The protective (grayish) oxides of aluminum can be enhanced by heating the clean pot in a dry oven at 250°F for about 6 hours."

From How to brew

ooooooooo. I bet it is the ceramic coated pot I'm using. However, only one of my beers has it, and all of them were brewed with the same equipment. The only one with the nasty bitter/metallic taste was the infected beer. Odd

 

[Realidad]

From what I know an Irish Red ale is left for a VERY long time before it can be drunk. This might not have anything to do with it but its a guess.

 

[arringtonbp]

From what I know an Irish Red ale is left for a VERY long time before it can be drunk. This might not have anything to do with it but its a guess.

Really? I don't see how it's much different than any other red ales (except for the fact that irish red is my favorite).

 

[mojo2008]

My Irish Reds have turned out incredibly...are you telling me that if I let them aged longer they'd be even better!?!

 

[arringtonbp]

My Irish Reds have turned out incredibly...are you telling me that if I let them aged longer they'd be even better!?!

The beer in my OP is at least 6-7 months old at this point. The beer is incredibly clear and tastes very nice....except at the end when the off flavors kick in.

The beer is excessively bitter (which shouldn't be the case given the low amount of hops) and has a sort of nasty metallic aftertaste that is not present in any of my other beers, since fermented with the same equipment.

 

[ChaosStout]

Maybe you pot recently got a chip in it?

 

[Geordan]

From what I know an Irish Red ale is left for a VERY long time before it can be drunk. This might not have anything to do with it but its a guess.

To be clear, I don't think that traditional Irish Red Ales are meant to be aged any more than any standard ~50-60 point ale -- they're definitely not something I can imagine cellaring for a year before it's "right."