Metallic Taste

[nojala]

I have brewed a few batches of beer that leave a looming taste of nickel on the back of your tounge that you just can’t seem to wash away by drinking more.

I purchased an economy stainless steel brew kettle from NB. A friend of mine used it for canning. After my friend used the pot, I started to get metallic tastes in my beer. The canning process has left discolorations on the bottom of the pot that will not wash away with bar-tenders friend, or soaking it in vinegar. My suspicion is that its the pot.

So i inquired about this issue in “How to Brew” By John Jay Palmer. Para-phrasing pg. 258 his trouble shooting section states: The cause of metallic flavors has to do with poorly stored malt, nicks and cracks in cermatic pots, but “Stainless steel pots will not contribute any metallic flavors.”

Alright, so mabey it isn’t the pot. I store my malt in the basement. The basement temperature is between 50-60 F typically. I ordered 2 kits from NB, one from my local home brew store. I brewed all of the kits with in a few weeks of each other, I managed to make 2 batches of beer with that aweful metallic taste. Then the 3rd batch I brewed, a German Alt, has absolutley no metallic flavor.

I recently brewed a stout after taking a long hyatis from brewing. The beer is green so it tastes a little funky, I think it may have a metallic taste, but it is tough to tell. I am very fastidious about keeping my equipment clean and sterile, so I doubt it is from a bacterial infection. I use star san as my santizer, and PBW as my cleanser. The only non-sterlized item i put in my beer is well water.

If you have any thoughtful advise on this matter it’s welcomed and appreciated. I think my next batch of beer will be boiled in a friends pot to see if that makes a definitive difference. Thanks

[hrpuffinstuff]

could be water, hops, oxidation, any number of things. whats the ph of your well water? does it have high levels of iron? what does the water taste like on its own? i would brew a batch that youve already brewed with store bought water and see if it goes away for a first step to figure this out…doubt its your kettle.

[alanzo]

It’s very possible that you are not as dumb as I am, but I had this issue for a long time. Then I realized it was just dried sweat and stuff from the skin around my lips as I drank the beer. So I try to make sure my whole mouth area is clean – just washing your face with some water.

Also, a metallic flavor can come from the bottle caps. After you open a bottle, try scrubbing the bottle’s mouth with a rag or your shirt or whatever. I’ve noticed this in german imports, especially.

Or if you’re kegging your beer, be sure you don’t store the kegs over 68F or so. Not sure if it will happen with corney kegs, but I stored a commercial “log” keg for a summer party at room temp (85+) for a week and it tasted like pennies after that treatment.