# Metallic taste - from hops?



## Professional beer tester (16/6/13)

Hi all,

So I'm new to this whole home brew thing and have been brewing beer at 'The Beer Factory' in Sydney to get the hang of things before I branch out on my own.

We brewed a Pilsner but dumped a load of extra hops in at the end 4 weeks ago, and yesterday it came out tasting like a rusty copper coin. Really nasty metal taste. You could smell the hops nicely on the nose, but the taste was more metallic than a Tooheys New / Carlton Draught.

We'd done the same recipe before and it came out really sweet, same fermentation time, same addition of hops at the end.

*The owner told me the metallic taste was from the 'late addition of hops'*

Can anyone help me here?

Call me a novice, but I don't think a late addition of 85g Citra and 15g Halletau would make a beer taste metallic.

Cheers,
PBT.


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## manticle (16/6/13)

Metallic is not likely to be hops. Either equipment or fatty acid breakdown/oxidation.

Late hops? Never heard that. Either the guy knows something I don't (more than possible) or he's talking out his bung hole.


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## Rowy (16/6/13)

Infection.


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## Rowy (16/6/13)

I'll go one step further and call it aceter. Is it actually metallic or a bit more varnish or nail polish?


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## TidalPete (16/6/13)

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


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## Rowy (17/6/13)

Well by looking at that maybe old mate has been using old or poorly stored grain.


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## tricache (17/6/13)

TidalPete said:


> For your consideration ---- http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html


Dead on the money...metal contamination


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## Professional beer tester (18/6/13)

Hi guys, thanks heaps for the advice.

As I'm unaware of what happens after the (liquid) malt, hops and yeast go into the plastic-bag fermenter, I'm not too sure what happened. Possibly was piped into a new keg before it was tapped (they force-carb into taps rather than bottle condition).

Is it something that will die down with age / get worse / worth dumping the whole lot and investing in some kind of single-vessel all-grain unit?

Noticed that ferment temps are up around 18ºC which would technically make this a 'steam pilsner' – it's normally quite nice, bit like the Anchor Steam beer (bit of a malty, 'pea soup' taste no matter how many hops we dump at the end) and it's done under fluoro lights (although not sure if they're filtered) but it's hard to get a beer from them that's cracking unless you brew the darker, malt-forward styles.

Just really want to make nice beer with the minimum effort / cleaning, how would you suggest I progress from Brew-On-Premise (being a complete novice with only 8-9 batches under his belt?)


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## mikk (18/6/13)

The link given above regarding off flavours is from a book called 'How to Brew', by John Palmer. It's available free online, & is essential reading for any new brewer. I can't recommend it highly enough, & is well worth paying money for to get it in hard copy.

That should be how you progress from the brew-on-premises beer.


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## manticle (18/6/13)

Professional beer tester said:


> Just really want to make nice beer with the minimum effort / cleaning, how would you suggest I progress from Brew-On-Premise (being a complete novice with only 8-9 batches under his belt?)



Fresh wort kit with good yeast and temperature control.


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## Professional beer tester (18/6/13)

Beauty – manticle, can you add hops to a fresh wort kit / get a fresh malt wort kit without the hops or are you limited to what you've got?

Sorry this probably sounds really basic to you, but I'm completely new at this.

Craft beer is getting too expensive, need to start crafting myself!!


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## manticle (19/6/13)

You can add hops to an fwk. There are different methods depending on what you are aiming for.


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## Batz (19/6/13)

Although not the hops the OP has mentioned, I do get a metallic taste from US Magnum. I find this taste quite strong and as such I no longer use them, the German Magnum is a different story and a hop I really like.

It could be just me but I have used US Magnum from different suppliers with the same results.

Batz


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## Screwtop (19/6/13)

Batz said:


> Although not the hops the OP has mentioned, I do get a metallic taste from US Magnum. I find this taste quite strong and as such I no longer use them, the German Magnum is a different story and a hop I really like.
> 
> It could be just me but I have used US Magnum from different suppliers with the same results.
> 
> Batz



Same here have had this prob with US Magnum for years, can't use them. 

A personal hypersensitivity.

Screwy


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## bum (19/6/13)

That's interesting, Batz and Screwy. I find I'm fairly sensitive to metallica notes in commercial beers but have never noticed it from US Magnum in my own beers (and I have used it fairly extensively. I exclusively use at 60 min or earlier though - are you guys using it late?


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## QldKev (19/6/13)

Not only magnum, but does anyone else get it from huge late additions of US cascade?


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## Professional beer tester (30/6/13)

Hi QldKev – first time we dumped about 80 grams of Cascade at the end, beer turned out magic, so can't agree with you there mate.

Have switched to all-grain BIAB and started doing it at home – at least that way if I **** it up I know who to blame. First batch tasted awesome going into the fermenter, actually tasted like beer!

Thanks to AHB whole process was a lot easier than I would have thought.


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## beerbog (30/6/13)

Metallica are awesome, but getting their taste? Sixth sense? :blink:


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## bum (30/6/13)

Ahaha, shut up.


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## Batz (30/6/13)

bum said:


> That's interesting, Batz and Screwy. I find I'm fairly sensitive to metallica notes in commercial beers but have never noticed it from US Magnum in my own beers (and I have used it fairly extensively. I exclusively use at 60 min or earlier though - are you guys using it late?


It was always a 60 minute addition, it was a few years back now and US Magnum may well be different now.
I would rather go the German for bittering these days.

Batz


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## bum (30/6/13)

Thanks, Batz.


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