Help! Plasticy smell and taste.

[roxburd]

So I kept getting a nasty plasticy after-taste to my brews and I figured it was probably the bin - it was old and a bit scratched. I bought new bins and cleaned and sterilised them and did an expensive kit. And guess what - the brew has a nasty plasticy after-taste to it. It reminds me of the smell of the inside of a bin so I'm assuming that's where it comes from but I really don't know.

Any ideas?

I tend to clean my bins after a brew (soap and water), let them dry and then store them with the lids on to keep them clean. Then when I do a brew I clean them again (soap and water) and sterilise them carefully as per the steriliser instructions. I'm pretty meticulous about cleanliness.

I'm at (or perhaps past) the point of giving up but if there's something I'm definitely doing wrong that I can fix maybe I'll try that one last kit I have waiting to be done...

Cheers

 

[BeerCat]

Thats the one off taste i have never suffered from. Some people have used scratched old FV's for years without problems. Do you control your fermentation temperature, what kits an yeast are you using? What steriliser do you use?

 

[Clint]

What soap. ...??

 

[Nicks90]

One way to rule things out is spend a fiver and buy some bottled water for your next brew. That way you can discount water chemistry causing the taste due to manky tap water impurities.

As for soap, I've used all sorts to clean my bins. Kitchen multipurpose cleaner, washing up liquid, oxi clean.
....as long as it's well rinsed... Never noticed any strange tastes.

 

[roxburd]

Ha ha - yeah. I was right hacked off coz as well as the new bin I was using a new Inkbird temp controller, calibrated and set to the temp stated in the kit instructions. The steriliser was Ritchies but I only recently switched from VWP. It's various different kits.

 

[roxburd]

I always use bottled water coz the water round here is the hardest in the country and often smells of chlorine. I get the cheapest bottled water though...

 

[Clint]

Daft question....are the bins you use food grade?

 

[BeerCat]

Ferment a small batch in a demijohn. Buy some hops and malt extract and make a 5l batch in your kitchen. That will rule it out. There are plenty of people on here that can help you with recipes.
Dont give up though, my first 15 or so all grains were undrinkable ( i put smoked malt in them all).

 

[roxburd]

Daft question....are the bins you use food grade?

Ah yeah, proper fermenting bins.

 

[BeerCat]

if you search "plastic off taste in beer" there are loads of people complaining of the same thing. Unwanted phenols. I have had beers taste of band aid and are undrinkable. What kits did you brew and did you use the kit yeast? They are often only 5g.

 

[BeerCat]

"Sanitation
Make sure your sanitation is top notch. Wild yeasts and unwanted bacteria may be to blame for smoky and plastic-like flavors, especially if the effect gets worse with time or if the phenolic character is accompanied by acetic or lactic sourness. Look at hard-to-clean pieces of equipment and consider replacing plastic pieces if the issue comes up repeatedly."

I kegged a beer about 10 days ago and had one tonight and it tastes smoky so i suspect its down to sanitation. It tasted ok at first but its definitely getting worse. Good job i have almost drunk the keg. I really should know better after 200 brews.

 

[foxy]

If it is the bin giving it a good wash with bicarb will get rid of any plastic flavours coming off a plastic bin. I did the same thing with a new collapsible water container, just sterilised it and got the plastic taste.

 

[Gerryjo]

Out of curiosity have you sampled prior to bottling/kegging as it maybe unwanted bacteria lurking somewhere in your packaging line ie spigot/siphon/tubing or wand and could be fermenting of your priming sugar.

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[-Bezza-]

From something I saved from somewhere (https://www.morebeer.com/content/homebrew-off-flavors):

Chlorophenol

Tastes/Smells Like:
Plastic, Vinyl, Iodine
Possible Causes:
Using chlorinated tap water to brew or rinse equipment is the most common cause for plastic-like or medicinal flavors. Medicinal flavors can also be the result of using cleanser or sanitizer that is chlorine or iodine based. Some wild yeast will contribute to a similar medicinal taste.
How to Avoid:
Don’t use chlorinated water to brew or to rinse equipment that will come into contact with the beer. If chlorinated water must be used, use a water filter that removes chlorine or boil the water for 15 minutes and then cool to room temperature to force out any chlorine that may be present. Always use the recommended amount and concentrations of sanitizers. Most sanitizers will not cause any off flavors when used properly. When using bleach, use one-half ounce per gallon of water, let equipment soak for 10 minutes and always rinse with sanitized (pre-boiled) water.

 

[MarkBowie]

How long you leaving it to condition? Some people taste the kit ‘twang’ more then others and I’m one of the unfortunate ones that has to leave the beer quite a while after before it goes. I describe that as a plasticy taste.

 

[roxburd]

It was a Festival Golden Stag kit.
I used Tesco Ashbeck water, Ritchies steriliser and used the Inkbird to keep the FV at 22.5 degrees C.
OG 1037, bottled after 11 days at SG 1008. Bottles also kept at 22.5 dC for two weeks.
I would have had a taste of the beer at bottling but didn't note any issues in my brew record... as far as I recall it tasted great at that point... and I suppose a non-biological cause (e.g. barrel 'flavour') would have shown up by that time... so it's pointing at the cause being post-bottling perhaps... but all bottles are the same so it's not an individual bottle that's had some bacteria left in it... maybe the syphon tube or tap but I do always sterilise them well...
Well, if I do try again maybe I'll use a new syphon tube and tap...

 

[BeerCat]

Just because it tastes good at bottling does not mean it will 2 weeks later as i have just found out.

 

[Frogbrew]

As many have said try using bottled water @17p for 2 ltrs from asda/tesco/morissons etc. This solved similar off tastes from my brews.

 

[Gerryjo]

It would be worth while changing one step or item at a time with smaller batches so as too find the source of the problem.


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[AdeDunn]

How long you leaving it to condition? Some people taste the kit ‘twang’ more then others and I’m one of the unfortunate ones that has to leave the beer quite a while after before it goes. I describe that as a plasticy taste.

Yeah, I'm another. I switched to all grain pretty quickly as waiting a year for kit twang to drop to a level I could tolerate is no fun. Spending £20 and up (even with cheap kits, I tended to dry hop etc) on something that just doesn't taste like beer... nope. lol Then there are the times when the twang finally drops to a decent level, and you discover you don't like the beer anyway so have wasted nearly a year waiting for it...

Some folks just don't like kit beer.