Thanks so much for all the replies! I don't think it's yeast, I drink bottle conditioned commercial beers all the time and I don't get this character. I can't speak to the other brewers process, but I use RO water with CaSO4 and CaCl additions based on brewers friend online calculator. I have recently heard that these salts do not dissolve well in plain water so maybe I am not getting the full potential.
JBaySurfer, I will try to get a beer out to you if you want to PM me ur addresss. I've never shipped a beer before, how much does it cost? Should I just bubble wrap the **** out of it? Thanks for the clarification on the off flavors.
Braufessor Mash PH is another suggestion I like because I only have some crappy papers I got from LHBS and I don't think they work very well, but I really don't want to spend the money on a meter. My last 2 batches were a hefe and a blonde that I added a few ounces of acid malt to try to bring the PH down but that's about as far as I go. I suppose it could be tannins too, I have some extract I use for starters, maybe I'll try and brew an extract batch and see if it's still there.
BTW Demus, I'm in Tallahassee right now but I'm moving to Orlando for school in a few weeks. Probly winter springs/lake Mary area.
Agrazela, my beers are kegged and I fill a couple growlers to bring to the meetings, but I also bottle about a gallon to give away/store or whatever. I will try storing them in the fridge for a few weeks and report back. But I have had some in the fridge for a while and still got the taste. I tried cold crashing a DIPA once, but it turned out horrible and I was pretty upset. I'm not sure what went wrong but it got infected or terribly oxidized or something and I attributed it to throwing a ton of ice packs in my "coolbrew bag." Possibly lowering the temperature too quickly? That is a specific instance however and my beers usually come out great.
Giraffe, I use a disposable oxygen tank from lowes with a .2 micron stone for about 1 minute turned up about halfway to max. I've tried cranking it up to full blast for a min on a couple and it didn't seem to make a difference.
I'm in the process of moving right now and won't be able to brew for a few months but I will continue studying and see if I can't resolve this issue when I get back to it. I'll be finishing my B.S. in Chemistry at UCF, so maybe I'll learn something that can help me fix this flavor. :rockin: