Plastic Off Flavor Help

[Craig311]

I'm getting a fairly consistent plastic off flavor that I can't seem to nail down. It doesn't quite fit in the "medicinal" or "band-aid" descriptors you typically hear. You can smell and, I think, taste it. Although I'm not sure if the smell is just making me think I taste it too. Weird thing is that it does't happen on all brews using the same equipment and process. And it's not so bad that I don't like the beer. Its just there. Only way I can describe it is as if I was drinking the beer through some kind of plastic tube.

I brew all grain with my well water so I don't think chlorine is the issue. The water tastes great by itself. I have good fermentation temp control. Latest example is a northern english brown that I fermented at 67 with 1028. It seems to be mellowing out a bit after a few weeks but definitely still there. I brewed the BCS robust porter before the english brown and don't have this issue at all with that beer.

I had the same off flavor using city water before I moved to my current house with a well. So... I'm inclined to rule water out as well as temp control. I'm wondering if it is style/mash bill specific? Or something with my equipment?

Anyway... If anyone has had a similar issue I would really appreciate your thoughts. I'm entering the beer in a homebrew comp to hopefully get some good feedback.

Thanks in advance!
Craig

 

[Craig311]

I realized I might have undersold the prominence of the off flavor. Although it doesn't stop me from drinking it, I wouldn't share these beers. It's bad enough that I wouldn't want anyone thinking they were representative of my homebrew.

 

[Kwitty]

I had a similar but very mild flavor in my beer. I was using bottled water that was a 50/50 mix of distilled and spring water. After ripping my hair out for 8 batches I realized a fellow Brewer was using filtered tap water and never had this flavor in his beer. After some research and a beer brewed with tap water my suspicions were confirmed. The bottled water had a deficiency of minerals that the yeast need. When the yeast didn't get what it needed they stressed and created the off flavor. My point is maybe look for what's not there instead of what is. Your water may be lacking something. I live in N.W. PA. And get my water from lake Erie. Good luck!

 

[Craig311]

I had a similar but very mild flavor in my beer. I was using bottled water that was a 50/50 mix of distilled and spring water. After ripping my hair out for 8 batches I realized a fellow Brewer was using filtered tap water and never had this flavor in his beer. After some research and a beer brewed with tap water my suspicions were confirmed. The bottled water had a deficiency of minerals that the yeast need. When the yeast didn't get what it needed they stressed and created the off flavor. My point is maybe look for what's not there instead of what is. Your water may be lacking something. I live in N.W. PA. And get my water from lake Erie. Good luck!

This makes a lot of sense. I was considering keeping all else consistent, building up some RO water, and making the same beer to isolate the water as a potential problem. I will do exactly that and report back if the same issue surfaces. Appreciate the insight!

 

[Kwitty]

Awesome! Wish I could give you more info on the water but I really don't know enough about it. All I know is it worked! Good luck! Hope you find your answer!

 

[Craig311]

Awesome! Wish I could give you more info on the water but I really don't know enough about it. All I know is it worked! Good luck! Hope you find your answer!

Thanks again. I'm not sure what else I can tackle other than the water. So... I'm going to do just that and see what happens. If I still get the off flavor I will be back in this thread bitching about it. If it solves it, I will report that as well.