Metallic Taste

[andynicks]

I have recently brewed a beer that tastes great except for a strong metallic off taste. I have brewed 10+ batches using the same equipment: hot liquor tank, mash tun, kettle and immersion chiller. There has never been a metallic off taste before. However, I did a number of things differently this time which is making it difficult to track down the problem.

1. Kegging This was my first time kegging. I used a brand new corney keg.
2. Carbonation Stone I attached a new carbonation stone inside the keg using 2' tubing and 2 metal worm clamps.
3. Thermowell I used a new metal thermowell to monitor temperature throughout fermentation. It was in the beer for 2 weeks straight. I didn't notice a metallic off taste when I racked it but it's possible that it tasted metallic and was hidden by the other flavors.
4. Water Before I was using city water. Now I am using well water. The water itself tastes fine.
5. Simcoe I used 1.5 oz of simcoe 2012 pellets which have been stored unopened in the original vacuum sealed bag in the freezer since purchase. When I opened the bag the pellets were green and smelled great. I was surprised how fresh they looked and smelled.
6. Homebrew Store The local homebrew store has pretty low turnover and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the ingredients were several years old by now. I used 0.5 oz galaxy pellets and 0.5 oz citra pellets from them. The pellets were brown in color and didn't look great but smelled alright. I also used 0.5 lbs carapils (4%) and 1 lb caramel 20 (8%) from the same store which could have been somewhat older.
7. Storage The equipment had been in storage for 1.5 years but it looks fine and was cleaned thoroughly before use.
8. Burner Instead of brewing on the kitchen stove I used a new banjo cooker. I doubt this would have anything to do with it but I want to be thorough.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I'm no expert on off flavors, but it is possible it is a matter of how fast it carbonated with the stone. In another post (don't recall the title) someone went into great detail about the balance of carbonic acid during quick carbonation and slower (set it and forget it) carbonation. I could believe the acidity increased temporarily and gave it an acidity which mimics a metallic taste.
How long has it been in the keg?

 

[andynicks]

I'm no expert on off flavors, but it is possible it is a matter of how fast it carbonated with the stone. In another post (don't recall the title) someone went into great detail about the balance of carbonic acid during quick carbonation and slower (set it and forget it) carbonation. I could believe the acidity increased temporarily and gave it an acidity which mimics a metallic taste.
How long has it been in the keg?

It has been in the keg since 10/7. I slowly increased the PSI from about 2 PSI to 12 PSI (serving pressure) over the course of a few days. It tasted metallic when I first started pouring and it still tastes metallic now.

 

[treacheroustexan]

What was your procedure for cleaning the brand new keg?

 

[andynicks]

What was your procedure for cleaning the brand new keg?

I rinsed it out in the sink with hot water. Then I added Star San and pressurized the keg and dispensed the Star San through a picnic tap.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I gave it a hot rinse first. Then I added Star San and pressurized the keg and dispensed the Star San through a picnic tap.

I'm kind of fighting the same issue but mines not metallic, but it is an "off" flavor. Even though it was a brand new keg there could have still been stuff on the inside that didn't get cleaned with just hot water. Maybe next batch take it apart and clean everything in a PBW solution.

 

[day_trippr]

Of the list of potential causes given, I suspect the brand new keg wasn't actually cleaned before sanitation and there was manufacturing residue left behind.
Otherwise, perhaps it's carbonation bite? How was the keg carbed?

Cheers!

 

[sputnam]

may not apply here but i had a kegged beer taste metallic sooooooooooooo bad (it was at least my 20th kegged batch with no prior issues). After much research, I concluded/deduced/accepted that it had to do with my mash ph. The beer was a red ale and someone said that darker beers and ph don't always do well together. Like I said, no issues prior (or since) but after that I started adding 2% acid malt and 1 tsp (per 5 gallons) calcium chloride. I'm not saying that fixed it or that it will fix your issue but it may be worth looking into.

 

[Rev2010]

someone said that darker beers and ph don't always do well together.

Most commonly, meaning with most urban municipal water supply's, it's the other way around. For many, dark beers are easier to work with without pH concern since most municipal water supply's are much more towards alkaline and the darker roasted grains are naturally more acidic and buffer the pH lower. For my darker beers I barely ever need to adjust the pH. With lighter beers however I need to use lactic acid to lower the pH to acceptable levels.


Rev.

 

[SanPancho]

+1 on the corny keg. You should've hit that with pbw or oxyclean at least once or twice, and run it through the dip tube, posts, and beer line as well. Then sanitize.

 

[andynicks]

may not apply here but i had a kegged beer taste metallic sooooooooooooo bad (it was at least my 20th kegged batch with no prior issues). After much research, I concluded/deduced/accepted that it had to do with my mash ph. The beer was a red ale and someone said that darker beers and ph don't always do well together. Like I said, no issues prior (or since) but after that I started adding 2% acid malt and 1 tsp (per 5 gallons) calcium chloride. I'm not saying that fixed it or that it will fix your issue but it may be worth looking into.

I forgot to mention that I was using city water before and now I am using well water.

 

[ophillium]

I have recently brewed a beer that tastes great except for a strong metallic off taste. I have brewed 10+ batches using the same equipment: hot liquor tank, mash tun, kettle and immersion chiller. There has never been a metallic off taste before. However, I did a number of things differently this time which is making it difficult to track down the problem.

1. Kegging This was my first time kegging. I used a brand new corney keg.
2. Carbonation Stone I attached a new carbonation stone inside the keg using 2' tubing and 2 metal worm clamps.
3. Thermowell I used a new metal thermowell to monitor temperature throughout fermentation. It was in the beer for 2 weeks straight. I didn't notice a metallic off taste when I racked it but it's possible that it tasted metallic and was hidden by the other flavors.
4. Water Before I was using city water. Now I am using well water. The water itself tastes fine.
5. Simcoe I used 1.5 oz of simcoe 2012 pellets which have been stored unopened in the original vacuum sealed bag in the freezer since purchase. When I opened the bag the pellets were green and smelled great. I was surprised how fresh they looked and smelled.
6. Homebrew Store The local homebrew store has pretty low turnover and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the ingredients were several years old by now. I used 0.5 oz galaxy pellets and 0.5 oz citra pellets from them. The pellets were brown in color and didn't look great but smelled alright. I also used 0.5 lbs carapils (4%) and 1 lb caramel 20 (8%) from the same store which could have been somewhat older.
7. Storage The equipment had been in storage for 1.5 years but it looks fine and was cleaned thoroughly before use.
8. Burner Instead of brewing on the kitchen stove I used a new banjo cooker. I doubt this would have anything to do with it but I want to be thorough.

How about your yeast -- what are you using, and are you making a starter?
Sounds like dehydrated yeast to me. Call me biased, but all beer made from dehydrated yeast tastes metallic to me.

 

[microbusbrewery]

+1 on cleaning the new keg before you use them.

The worm drive clamps are suspect to me. I've found that even the ones labeled "stainless steel" aren't always 100% stainless.

 

[zoomzilla]

The only beer I've ever had with a metallic taste was also the only beer I ever dry hopped. For some reason I thought I needed to sanitize the hop bag with star San. It tasted fine before dry hopping and was a mouthful of metal after dry hopping. Its only anecdotal evidence but I'm super careful about my starsan treatments now. I even rinse it off my equipment after sanitizing.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

I forgot to mention that I was using city water before and now I am using well water.

The well water could be high in iron. Does the source water taste metallic at all, or tend to stain sinks/toilets a red hue?

 

[tootal]

In commercial brewing, on some beers that have poor head retention, they will add hop extract which helps. However, it can also give a metallic taste. So hops can cause this. If the hops you used were brown and used near the end of the boil or flame out, that could be the problem. Just a theory from the fact about hop extract.