off taste and smell

[danb]

i have a polypin hooked up to the beer engine which was my 1st ag a ttl clone. its been in the polypins for 28 days and has a off taste and smell that's hard to describe. i had problems trying the first pin due to using a copper coil flash chiller but got rid of that and the beer is coming out clear and the right colour now. im not sure how or why its like this,
i have been filling the boiler with water through the copper ic and a bit of hosepipe connected to the kitchen cold water tap. is this a problem? the hosepipe was new but i didn't clean it in anything special just ran lots of water through it. i have heard of people brewing out in the shed or garage and using a hosepipe for the water supply so though i would be ok. im hoping this isn't the problem as ive done another 2 brews like this that i haven't tasted yet.
thanks

 

[RobWalker]

is the problem with the serving equipment, or the beer itself in the keg do you think?

 

[danb]

at first it was a problem with the serving equipment but i got to the bottom of that and got it better but now have this problem. its the same wether i pour straight out the polypin tap or through the beer engine. im still unsure if its because the polypins wasn't washed prior to filling just sterilised which could have a plastic taste. i never thought about it when filling.
the other 2 brews ones been in the fv for 2 weeks and the other for 8 or 9 days so if i take a sample from the taps of those and taste them to see if they taste funny and also be able to check gravity aswell.

 

[graysalchemy]

Did the beer taste all right prior to kegging? How would you describe the taste is it metallic, musty, solventy, yeasty, eggy? A description may help.

 

[danb]

tbh i didn't taste it prior to kegging as use a turkey baster to start the syphon. its not musty, yeasty or eggy. its more of a solventy type smell and taste.

 

[dennisking]

I use polypins with a hand pump, every time I finish a pin I clean it with washing soda, other cleaners like oxy clean will do the same job, then give a good rinse with water. The hand pump is also cleaned with beer line cleaner after every pin. The pin is then sterilised before filling.

 

[danb]

i cleaned the beer engine out with line cleaner. but the the pins where new when i used them and didn't think there could be a plastic taint to them as they were cheap ones from b & m not a hbs. all i did was sterilise and fill them with beer.
i am not using these pins anymore as it don't even menting food grade materials anywhere. i have got some new pins that are 10l this time and a better shape that are food grade and to be sure i emailed the manufacture and got the test report sent to me confiriming to be sure. i am hoping its because the water containers are ***** and have a plastic taint to them.

 

[danb]

can leached plastics cause the beer to have no head also. wether its poured with or without a sparkler theres very little head and it disappears straight away.

 

[danb]

well just been upstairs with the trial jar and hydrometer. i think im definitely getting closer to the problem. the top dog stout tastes a lot better than the ttl with no funny taste. the old peculiar that's been up there for 8 days tastes amazing and hasn't been dry hopped yet either.
so its down to the **** polypins i used for the ttl or another possible cause could have been a bit of splashing when carrying downstairs to sit a bit colder for a few days then racking. although every brew i have done have been fermented upstairs then carried downstairs to rack.
these 2 brews, i will give the new pins a soak overnight in warm oxy clean before rinsing and then sterilising. i'll also rack them upstairs without moving them.

 

[danb]

been and got 3 metres of food grade hose to replace the garden hose on the ic so can still use that and eliminate any further problems the garden hose could of caused.

 

[danb]

things aren't going to good, filled the new polypins to soak in oxy clean solution and used warm water but not hot and they have split on the seam and leaking and one of them has 4 pin holes where its leaking from. looks like im going to have to pay full price for them at a brewing shop. any links to cheap but good useable pins would be great. thanks