gregblatz
Well-Known Member
Posting this in an effort to help others avoid the problem.
I dumped a 10 Gal batch a couple of months ago because it had a medicine, plastic taste to it.
I then brewed a 20 gal batch, guess what, same funky taste.
I have since ruled out the following:
Fermentation temp
Poor yeast health
Chlorine residue and/or Chloraphenols in tap water
Infection - Always a concern, but I have since ruled it out(read below).
So, sitting around with my brother in law, with off-tasting brew in hand, we just started brainstorming.
"what about this?" he says
"nope, can't be that because of XXXXX" I would say.
Finally, I did recall that I bought a new garden hose a couple of months back.
Kicked that around for a few minutes, next thing you know, we are out in the yard pouring glasses of water from the hose at 10pm.
Aha! Exact same plastic taste. The hose has a nasty rubber cure taste that is very very noticeable.
I have been kicking myself all weekend over this one. I hope that this helps others.
Always taste your water straight from the source before brewing.
I dumped a 10 Gal batch a couple of months ago because it had a medicine, plastic taste to it.
I then brewed a 20 gal batch, guess what, same funky taste.
I have since ruled out the following:
Fermentation temp
Poor yeast health
Chlorine residue and/or Chloraphenols in tap water
Infection - Always a concern, but I have since ruled it out(read below).
So, sitting around with my brother in law, with off-tasting brew in hand, we just started brainstorming.
"what about this?" he says
"nope, can't be that because of XXXXX" I would say.
Finally, I did recall that I bought a new garden hose a couple of months back.
Kicked that around for a few minutes, next thing you know, we are out in the yard pouring glasses of water from the hose at 10pm.
Aha! Exact same plastic taste. The hose has a nasty rubber cure taste that is very very noticeable.
I have been kicking myself all weekend over this one. I hope that this helps others.
Always taste your water straight from the source before brewing.