Beer Tastes Plasticy

rednoggin

Hi guys,

I recently made my first batch of homebrew using the coopers lager kit. I used beer enhancer instead of sugar and used a brew belt to keep the optimum temperature. Everything turned out pretty good, the beer was clear, good carbonation, nice head, but there's a plasticy taste off the beer.

Has anyone else experienced this? I used a plastic bucket for fermentation and sterilized for 20 minutes, rinsed with warm water.. Does this happen with all beers made with a plastic fermentation bins, or could this taste be due to a new bucket and will disappear..

Im a bit put off making a new batch if this happens again. Anybody have any tips to prevent this.. Thanks in advance

BeerNut

It's not going to be the bucket. It might be your sanitiser. Or it could be an off flavour thrown out by the yeast if it got too warm (over about 24C -- I know Coopers kit instructions are very misleading on temperatures).

And, I dunno if it would be the source of your problem, but I'd recommend switching to spraymalt rather than sugars like the kit enhancer. You'll get a better beerier flavour all round with that.

If you're lucky, it could be just that the beer is still green. How long ago did you bottle it?

rednoggin

Thanks Beernut. I bottled only a week ago, do you reckon I should leave it another week. I know you should leave it 2 weeks to condition but just tested a bottle to see what it tasted like.

I also noticed that during fermentation the temperature rose to 26 at one stage. Could this have ruined the beer?

I think might just start a new batch and keeper a closer eye on the temperature this time round.

BeerNut

You might be lucky and the flavour will fade with time.

It does sound like it was too warm. I think Brewbelts cause more harm than good unless you live in an igloo.

Also, pale beers are more likely to show any bad flavours. Making darker beers will help cover your mistakes :cool:

bbam

Stupid question but was the bucket definitely food grade? And what was stored in it before brewing?

rednoggin

bbam wrote: »

Stupid question but was the bucket definitely food grade? And what was stored in it before brewing?

The bucket came from a new beer kit so nothing was stored in previously, at least i hope not :-)

I filled up the bucket with water and left it for a few days. Tasted the water and it was fine so I reckon it had to be the high fermentation temperature that gave it this bad taste..

lordstilton

I've gotten the same flavour using s-05 yeast that's been lying about too long.. Since switching to liquid yeast I've not had a problem.. I ran out of liquid yeast over Christmas and used s-05 that I've had a while to make a stout and the plasticy after taste is back.. Hoping to age it out

willabur

I have had similar problems with this yeast.
Used it with a massive Xmas brew I put together. The beer was undrinkable at xmas, smell and taste both had a plastic quality. Still have about 20 bottles of this brew and it is improving slowly,

Sky King

I had great results with an all grain all kit i brewed in march, but i had three bottles in the back of my van for a few days there lately and i drank one the other day - taste off it was rank. I thought it was a one-off so i cracked another one last night - same dealio.

Plasticy is the only way I can describe it... it's like a mingin melted plastic aftertaste that definitely wasn't there to begin with.

I wonder if the rest of them are this mingin, or is it as a result of being in the van and sloshing round for a few days and potentially getting warm?

oblivious

rednoggin wrote: »

Hi guys,

I recently made my first batch of homebrew using the coopers lager kit. I used beer enhancer instead of sugar and used a brew belt to keep the optimum temperature. Everything turned out pretty good, the beer was clear, good carbonation, nice head, but there's a plasticy taste off the beer.

Has anyone else experienced this? I used a plastic bucket for fermentation and sterilized for 20 minutes, rinsed with warm water.. Does this happen with all beers made with a plastic fermentation bins, or could this taste be due to a new bucket and will disappear..

Im a bit put off making a new batch if this happens again. Anybody have any tips to prevent this.. Thanks in advance

Either its an infection or if a chlorine based clean was used (and was to concentrated) the chlorine has reacted with phenols produced by the yeast as they ferment.

H.O.T.A.S.

Had the same problem with my first kit brew. Left it 3-4 weeks after bottling and flavour improved imensely. One week doesn't really leave much time for it to condition and the flavours mellow out. Give it time and see how it is.