Plastic Taste

[liamw]

Hi all,

Maybe someone out there can help me out with this. I brewed a batch of galaxy hop IPA (AG) and it came out with a fairly strong plastic taste. I used well water (un-chlorinated). The taste was present in my hydrometer sample before kegging, so is unlikely due to my beer lines. After kegging and clearing, the taste subsided and went away after about 3 days. The beer tasted great!

The problem is, after about 2 weeks, the plastic taste is back. Does anyone know what might be going on here?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[ol-hazza]

I've been getting a plasticy taste on some of my brews too, I think mine is from over pitching yeast

 

[liamw]

I only pitched 1 package of US-05 (rehydrated) for 5.5gal batch, so I don't think my issue is overpitching.

 

[liamw]

I've got another batch to go in the keg today. I used the exact same grain bill, same water, same yeast only different hops (citra). I used a different fermenter, so if its an infection it will be unlikely to occur again (I'm usually pretty good with sanitation). I'll report back if the taste is in my today's batch.

 

[uncleben113]

I have had this problem for a while and recently pinned it down to sparging too hot. The grain itself should never reach temps above 170. I was sparging my 190 strike water directly onto the grain bed when I should have had a few inches of wort as buffer. You could also be sparging for too long

 

[Rev2010]

I have had this problem for a while and recently pinned it down to sparging too hot. The grain itself should never reach temps above 170. I was sparging my 190 strike water directly onto the grain bed when I should have had a few inches of wort as buffer.

I sparge this way all the time with no problems and I don't even acidify my sparge water. I shoot for a 168 degree sparge and do a double batch sparge. Often that means my water has to be heated to the upper 180's to 190. Just did two batches this weekend with 190 degree (168 after mixed with the grains) sparge water. Been working fine for me for years.


Rev.

 

[Kiknjville]

It could be because you under pitched. All my beer had strange off flavors until I started making yeast starters with liquid yeast. 1 package of dry yeast in 5.5 gallons is definitely under pitched in my opinion.

 

[gregkeller]

I've had this in a few of my most recent batches, and I think i pinned it down to a wild yeast. I'm not sure if have narrowed it down, but i'm pretty confident it was in my oxygenation wand, but could have been my plate chiller. Both got a 1 hour bake in a 400 degree oven, so hopefully i won't have the same issue again, and i'll include the bake/sterilization procedure every few batches to make sure nothing too bad starts growing.

Seems like it's either wild yeast or chlorine/amine in your water. Those seem to be the only things that can produce the phenol that comes across as plastic/bandaid.

 

[Zuljin]

Just to cover all the bases for everyone...

Could it be the mash tun, manifold, boil in a bag bag or fermenter? A plastic mash paddle or spoon left in the hot wort too long? People use plastics in those applications. The wrong plastic, one that's not food or heat safe, could impart a plastic flavor.

 

[kanzimonson]

It also could just be your specific interpretation of that hop. I describe some hops as having a petrol/diesel/chemical smell but this could be plastic to you. The garlic/onion hop flavors are closely related as well.