Rusty Metallic Taste

[Windy Hill]

G'day again all , hope the brewings's keeping you hydrated & happy .

Have a query re: Taste and Smell . Currently consuming a :

Muntons 1.8kg Yorkshire Bitter kit + kit yeast , 1 x Brewcraft English Bitter converter kit ( containing 150g cracked crystal , Goldings finishing Hops 15g & 250g BD Light Malt ) , 1 packet of Dextrose 600g .

Bottled this one after 9 days in primary ferment @ 1.012 ( Have now learnt to take an OG as well , duh ) , but at the time was satisfied with the final SG reading .

1st taste test after 4 weeks bottled , sitting in the dark & cool ...& disappointment written all over my face after the 1st 2 or 3 mouthfuls & it hasn't improved since besides a reasonable head now holding on to the bottom of the glass .

Anyway , to the real point , the taste . Bloody hard to pin point the strange taste & nose , but it seems rusty or metallic .

Another thing i've noticed is tiny comet like floaties in the glass after the last pour from the bottle .

Am very particular when it comes to cleaning & sanitizing ( currently generic Napisan & Iodophor ) so am happy to strike that possibility out .

My other concern is that maybe i did rush to bottling although as said i thought 1.012 was ok .

Now to my most major concern , i boiled the grain ........... and having done a fair bit of research & learning since then have realised that boil doesn't always mean BOIL ( 100*C ) . Should have steeped . It was more of a simmer than a vigorous boil for about 20 mins then strained in .

Apart from those ideas i can't work it out , it'd be nice to . Otherwise will have to record it in the notes as a f#*k up and move on .

Any thoughts appreciated ,

Cheers for now .

 

[felten]

Did you get the used by/best before off the can? rusty or metallic could be from badly stored or stale liquid malt extract, they tend to stale faster than dry extracts, best to get them fresh.

Floaties from the last pour of the bottle is probably just yeast sediment. Boiling grain could cause some astringent flavours, probably not metallic like (150g isn't much though over the whole batch).

 

[Screwtop]

Metallic you say................ how would you compare it to the aroma/taste of black tea??? If you boiled the grain instead of steeping @ 70C you could be tasting Tannin extracted from the grain husk.

Screwy

 

[Windy Hill]

Metallic you say................ how would you compare it to the aroma/taste of black tea??? If you boiled the grain instead of steeping @ 70C you could be tasting Tannin extracted from the grain husk.

Screwy


Got It Screwy ! That's the taste , that's the taste i haven't been able to identify . Dead right , it's that pitiful nothing but something taste you get when you finish off a near cold cup of tea .

Thankyou very much . Another lesson learnt .

 

[Windy Hill]

Did you get the used by/best before off the can? rusty or metallic could be from badly stored or stale liquid malt extract, they tend to stale faster than dry extracts, best to get them fresh.

Floaties from the last pour of the bottle is probably just yeast sediment. Boiling grain could cause some astringent flavours, probably not metallic like (150g isn't much though over the whole batch).

Thanks for the ideas Felten , honestly i don't check use by's when buying off shelf , lazy . The Muntons Kit & Extras were purchased mail order , and yes , i didn't check use by's . Another little but important thing to keep an eye on , thanks mate .

 

[RobboMC]

If you're going to steep grain invest in a metal backed thermometer, at $12-15 it's well worth it.

Then you can get your steeping to as close to 70 deg C as you can manage.
Failing that if you mix 25% tap water into your boiling water ( my 3/1 rule i.e. 3 parts boiling to 1 part tap water )
you get 78 deg C which is a pretty good strike temp. The cold grain then cools it some more to very clsoe to the
right temp. Boiling grain us a no-no, lucky you only did it with 150g, a whole kg and it would be going down the drain.

This is a nice kit, persevere with this recipe and you will be rewarded, and maybe even replace the dexrose with Brew Enhancer 2.

 

[Windy Hill]

If you're going to steep grain invest in a metal backed thermometer, at $12-15 it's well worth it.

Then you can get your steeping to as close to 70 deg C as you can manage.
Failing that if you mix 25% tap water into your boiling water ( my 3/1 rule i.e. 3 parts boiling to 1 part tap water )
you get 78 deg C which is a pretty good strike temp. The cold grain then cools it some more to very clsoe to the
right temp. Boiling grain us a no-no, lucky you only did it with 150g, a whole kg and it would be going down the drain.

This is a nice kit, persevere with this recipe and you will be rewarded, and maybe even replace the dexrose with Brew Enhancer 2.

Yep points taken , thanks Robbo . Shall be investing in a good stainless thermometer . Re : the nice kit , i'm tending to agree with you, nw that the batch has a little more age on it , patience is an obvious key . Probably a week ago i was rating it a 6/10 at most , today in comparison to then , the beer is holding a good creamy head all the way down the glass & has more guts n mouth about it . Feeling a bit more like doing another of these at some stage in future . Cheers .