Hello all! First post here, but long time reader.
I have brewed 9 batches of beer so far. Mostly different styles. From Vanilla Porter- to a Summer Ale. All of these beers have had a similar finishing taste, and that taste can be best described as Metallicy.
A lot of people on the forums seem to most often associate this problem with bacterial infections. The problem is, no signs of bacterial infections. Smell is great with the brews, no sediment layer on the top of the fermenting beer, no rings around the inside of the neck of the bottles. Of course, we cannot write off infection, but I have paid extra diligence to minimize the risk!
I thought perhaps it was due to the use of LME. Perhaps a taste of the LME or even cans it's comes in. But this theory was squashed with my first AG brew that also had a similar finishing taste.
Here's where it gets interesting. I brought all my equipment (the equipment I always use) to a friends house. To repeat a brew that he really enjoyed, "Andrew's Ale." I brought the same equipment, the same ingredients, and we brewed the same recipe. The beers came out completely different! At my house the beer was most similar to an IPA; nice bitterness up front, florals in the middle, and metallic finish... Grr...
At my friends house; much lighter in color, sweeter in taste, the earthy/piney flavors from the Northern Brewer hops were great, and no metallic after taste!
(So good we brewed it again 3days later)
So is this it?! Did I just answer my own question? There was only one variable: The water!
I know that the water in my area is very high in alkalinity, and even higher in calcium. The path my brain goes down, is that they are excessively high leading to a metallic after taste in my beer.
I know you all will help me to think outside the box here, and come up with other possible explanations and solutions!
Has anyone else expirenced this problem? What was the cause?
For anyone that has read John Palmers book on water; does he talk about metallic flavors in beer?
Thank you,
Andrew
I have brewed 9 batches of beer so far. Mostly different styles. From Vanilla Porter- to a Summer Ale. All of these beers have had a similar finishing taste, and that taste can be best described as Metallicy.
A lot of people on the forums seem to most often associate this problem with bacterial infections. The problem is, no signs of bacterial infections. Smell is great with the brews, no sediment layer on the top of the fermenting beer, no rings around the inside of the neck of the bottles. Of course, we cannot write off infection, but I have paid extra diligence to minimize the risk!
I thought perhaps it was due to the use of LME. Perhaps a taste of the LME or even cans it's comes in. But this theory was squashed with my first AG brew that also had a similar finishing taste.
Here's where it gets interesting. I brought all my equipment (the equipment I always use) to a friends house. To repeat a brew that he really enjoyed, "Andrew's Ale." I brought the same equipment, the same ingredients, and we brewed the same recipe. The beers came out completely different! At my house the beer was most similar to an IPA; nice bitterness up front, florals in the middle, and metallic finish... Grr...
At my friends house; much lighter in color, sweeter in taste, the earthy/piney flavors from the Northern Brewer hops were great, and no metallic after taste!
(So good we brewed it again 3days later)
So is this it?! Did I just answer my own question? There was only one variable: The water!
I know that the water in my area is very high in alkalinity, and even higher in calcium. The path my brain goes down, is that they are excessively high leading to a metallic after taste in my beer.
I know you all will help me to think outside the box here, and come up with other possible explanations and solutions!
Has anyone else expirenced this problem? What was the cause?
For anyone that has read John Palmers book on water; does he talk about metallic flavors in beer?
Thank you,
Andrew