Help! Plasticy smell and taste.

[Fil]

try a campden tab treatment to your brewing liquor to counter any chlorine etc in the water, and try switching to cheap generic unscented laundry oxi to clean, and use a cheap no rinse sanitiser (5star starsan @ circa £15+ a bottle is cheap as thats a supply to last a good few years..)

 

[BeerIsLife]

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

I’ve had the same after starting to use a new PVC pipe to fill my kit from the tape. In turns out that if the water is too hot, plastic compounds leach from the pipe,. Had to dump a brew after trying everything to rescue it to no avail. Since then I fill with cold - Luke warm water.

 

[cab01942]

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

Get the water analysis report from your water supplier, it costs nothing and is available on line. Ask them how they chlorinate the supply if it isn't stated. A PhD at my supplier said they use chlorine gas. All that is needed is to draw your water a day before needed and cover it with a tea towel so it can 'breathe'. The chlorine will leave the solution without the expense of heating it all: for a grain brewer it could be 7 gallons. Brazzer has given sound advice elsewhere.

I too have used many cleaners over the 45 years I have been brewing. Washing-up liquid (without fragrances such as lemon) and water too hot to put your hands in (Marigold gloves needed) works as good as anything - not too much! Sanitise with 5ml standard bleach (not concentrated) in 4 litres of water, keep contact with solution for 5 minutes, rinse with water and then rinse with 1 campden tablet (crushed) in 1 litre of boiling water. I have stuck with this particular system for more than 20 years (don't know exactly) without issues; and its a lot more economic than any other.

 

[BeerCat]

He is using bottled water.

 

[Thumper]

Quick question (and sorry if this is hijacking the thread, but it's related): has anyone experienced an off taste using Milton steriliser? It's no rinse, but from the smell of it I'd guess it was chlorine based. The first batch I did using it has an off taste which is hard to pin down, I'm wondering if chlorine is at fault.

As with roxburg, it tasted good at bottling, so this off flavour has developed in the bottle.

 

[-Bezza-]

He is using bottled water.

I'm glad someone else said it!

I'd be interested to hear the cleaning and sanitising process in a bit more detail here, along with confirmation that everything is food grade plastic. For example, what soap is being used, what sanitiser, what is the exact method for cleaning. Perhaps there's something minor going on that could be easily fixed.

Personally, I'd leave the lids off the buckets too. I think plastic likes to breathe.

 

[mgrds]

I would say
1) store plastic vessels with lid off always
2) rinse with sulphite - to remove any chlorine effects from sanitisers or tapwater.
3) If brewing overstrenth and diluting with tapwater try boiling the tapwater or allowing it to stand to remove chlorine
That should do the trick ! If not its probably a sanitation issue - if you are still, not happy you can always try fermenting in glass /stainless steel etc . Tough many brewers use plastic without plasticky flavours so not sure this will be neccessary!

 

[BOOM71]

What happened to fresh beer?

No good to me waiting a year.
Life is too short.