Metallic taste, first time using Star San

[derek704]

Hey all, I brewed AHS Bavarian Hefe extract and it tasted great before bottling. I diluted 1/2 oz Star San into 2.5 gal water to clean my bottling bucket and equipment. I soaked my bottle caps in the solution pre-bottling, and afterwards they smelled like iron. I did not rinse, as directions said I would be fine. I did notice a Star San "oil slick" on the top of my beer in the bottling bucket. Made 53 bottles.

The first 3 bottles I've had so far have been from the last beer out of the bucket, and all of the bottles have had a metallic/metal aftertaste. It reminded me of the taste of a nasty sorghum Gluten Free beer I had from some brewery in Colorado that I bought at my local beer store. I returned the remaining bottles, and waited for their beer guys to taste to see if it was bad. They spit it out on the spot, and gave me a full 6 pack of my choice. Anyways, does anyone know what it could be?

I used Ozarka Spring water, and a Stainless Steel 5 gal kettle. I had been using Iodophor, and rinsing everything off. Also, this beer was in primary for 25 days and bottles for 11. Primary temp 68*. Wyeast 3068. Made 52 bottles.

 

[mrduna01]

Maybe some others can come in on possible causes but i autre you it's not the star san at least when used in proper concentrations. It's the most widely used sanitizer for good reason.

So many beers... so little time.

 

[opiate82]

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals dissolving into the wort but can also be caused by the hydrolysis of lipids in poorly stored malts. Iron and aluminum can cause metallic flavors leaching into the wort during the boil. The small amount could be considered to be nutritional if it weren't for the bad taste. Nicks and cracks ceramic coated steel pots are a common cause as are high iron levels in well water. Stainless steel pots will not contribute any metallic flavors. Aluminum pots usually won't cause metallic flavors unless the brewing water is alkaline with a pH level greater than 9. Shiny new aluminum pots will sometimes turn black when boiling water due to chlorine and carbonates in the water.

The protective (grayish) oxides of aluminum can be enhanced by heating the clean pot in a dry oven at 250°F for about 6 hours.

Outside of that, most I can say is that it isn't the StarSan causing your off flavor, look elsewhere. Sometimes oxidation can have a metallic mouth-feel but usually it is accompanied by either a sherry or wet-cardboard like flavor.

 

[crispbrew]

How long were they cooling in the fridge before you drank them?

Though my experience may be unrelated to your problem, I once had a commercial hefe that after a few hours in the fridge had a noticeable metallic taste to it. I tried it the next day and it still had a slight metallic taste to it. I didn't get back to drinking another one for about a week but when I did I had no metallic taste whatsoever. The longer it sat in the fridge the better it got.

You might just have to let it sit in the bottles longer to see if the taste goes away, hopefully.

 

[Puddlethumper]

StarSan won't affect the taste of your beer. It is a mild acid and is neutralized by the pH of the beer. As others have said, look at your equipment. Did you steep grains and if you did how well (and how long) were they stored? Also, consider your water source. Have you used that same source before? Have you had it tested and is there any possibility the water profile has changed since your last good batch?

 

[Teromous]

I soaked my bottle caps in the solution pre-bottling, and afterwards they smelled like iron.

Did you consider that it could be your bottle caps?

 

[derek704]

It's possible it could be the caps. However, I smelled the cap from the bottle last night and it didn't smell.


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[Pappa-g]

I'm having the same issue with a batch I brewed. I was leaning toward it being from either the Iodophor not being rinsed out of the bottles and caps or from having a very slow fermentation (it took over 3 days for it to start because of the cold).

 

[unionrdr]

I had this happen with two Berlin Weisse kits from Midwest. I forgot to take out the cake cooling rack after removing the bag & sparging on one. I thought that might be it. The othet I removed it,still got the mettalic off flavor. Old,improperly stored grains can do this too. Must've been old kits,cause & store grains in the plastic bags they come in in my hoper cheapo bucket with lid seal. SS BK & cake cooling rack are the only metal that touches anything in the beers I make. And it was just the wheat beers that got it. So I'm leaning toward the grains being old when I got them.

 

[derek704]

So, I dumped most of my batch last night. All the bottles have the same taste and smell. I can tell this would have been a winner without that taste. I have just about figured out that it was the water. I'm going to use distilled from now on.


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[Puddlethumper]

So, I dumped most of my batch last night. All the bottles have the same taste and smell. I can tell this would have been a winner without that taste. I have just about figured out that it was the water. I'm going to use distilled from now on.


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You might want to use spring water or purified drinking water instead of distilled. The distilled water doesn't have the nutrients the yeast needs to do its job. Purified or spring water do have them and will work just fine.

 

[joelanderson47]

I have had this issue for a while. i keg and beer is perfect in keg and when poured form bottles bottled from keg.

however rim of bottle has metallic taste ruins experience for drinker!

i simply spray bottle cap with sanitizer then cap.

have never had an issue but have been having this issue now for past year, been HomeBrewing for 6 or so years now!

i feel it must be caps but how does one prove?

thanks!!

cheer!

 

[Pappa-g]

So, I dumped most of my batch last night. All the bottles have the same taste and smell. I can tell this would have been a winner without that taste. I have just about figured out that it was the water. I'm going to use distilled from now on.


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How did you narrow it down to the water? Having the same issue with the past several batches. Have poured out three of the last four. Since then I have changed something with each batch. I've used Poland Spring, Kroger Spring and Well water from the tap. I bottled a Cream Ale all grain batch this morning that didn't have the metallic taste but if its there it will show up after a couple of weeks in the bottle.

Thanks

 

[Puddlethumper]

You probably have already seen this, but just in case you haven't, here's what Palmer says:

Metallic
Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals dissolving into the wort but can also be caused by the hydrolysis of lipids in poorly stored malts. Iron and aluminum can cause metallic flavors leaching into the wort during the boil. The small amount could be considered to be nutritional if it weren't for the bad taste. Nicks and cracks ceramic coated steel pots are a common cause as are high iron levels in well water. Stainless steel pots will not contribute any metallic flavors. Aluminum pots usually won't cause metallic flavors unless the brewing water is alkaline with a pH level greater than 9. Shiny new aluminum pots will sometimes turn black when boiling water due to chlorine and carbonates in the water.

The protective (grayish) oxides of aluminum can be enhanced by heating the clean pot in a dry oven at 250°F for about 6 hours.

 

[Nightstrife]

I had this metallic problem with some store bought beer out of the bottle it tasted really metallic but if you poured it into a glass the taste went away, I chalked it is to bad caps as the beer was OK.

 

[pablosbrewing]

I have had this issue for a while. i keg and beer is perfect in keg and when poured form bottles bottled from keg.

however rim of bottle has metallic taste ruins experience for drinker!

i simply spray bottle cap with sanitizer then cap.

have never had an issue but have been having this issue now for past year, been HomeBrewing for 6 or so years now!

i feel it must be caps but how does one prove?

thanks!!

cheer!

Bottle caps are steel. Maybe starsan (acidic) trapped between the cap and the glass? Try boiling the caps next batch as a test?

 

[joelanderson47]

Thank you!!

Will do

Cheers


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[ajf]

I've had a few batches that had a strong metallic taste. One was caused by brewing in a chipped enamel pot, and I had to dump that batch. I don't know what caused the others, but after letting the beer stand for a few weeks, the metallic taste had completely disappeared.

-a.