Metallic taste

[JHC]

I have been brewing for 5 years and in the last year have begun to have some batches that have a metallic taste to them. It has happened in several different styles of beer. Since it started I have changed sanitation from Clorox to One-step. I have gotten new carboys and still I continue to get it in some of the batches. I brew with extract and grains. I use bottled spring water to brew with and use distilled water to add to the wort in the carboy. The flavor is not like it is infected and some of my friends can't really taste it but I have noticed it more frequently recently. Any ideas on what may be causing it. I get my ingredients from a large online source as we have no local brew shop. Any help would be appreciated.
JHC

[danno]

what kind of pot are you using to boil?

[barleyburps]

You may want to find a different source of water to brew with; possibly spring water could have enough iron content to give a metallic taste. If your boiling pot is an enameled pot, check to make sure there are no chips.

[JHC]

Thanks. I use stainless steel pots. I will try a differnet type of H2O but I have used the same for a long time and did not have a prooblem. When the flavor is more pronounced it almost has a medicinal flavor to it. Thanks for the replies and any other help would be appreciated.
JHC

[blakelock]

i'm certainly no expert (only ~6 batches under my belt...and hanging over my belt i guess), but i seem to remember that excessive squeezing of the grain bag during or after specialty grain steeping can cause this metallic/mediciny flavor. i had to throw away a couple of batches because of this. now, i don't squeeze the bag at all and all has been fine.

post any results for figure out.

[hooky]

How old is the grain you're using and how is it stored.

From Palmer
"Metallic flavors are usually caused by unprotected metals dissolving into the wort but can also be caused by the hydrolysis of lipids in poorly stored malts."

[goose5]

Are you sure your pot is stainless? I had the very same problem. Turned out my pot was aluminum.

[iahebert]

It may not be your equipment/ingredients/technique at all.

I've noticed the same thing for a lot of beers (not particularly homebrew). To me it's a taste i've noticed that none of my friends have noticed. It's a flavor I get in a lot of stouts, but I went to Hales ales (seattle) last weekend, and all of the beers I tried there (including a cask IPA and an ESB on nitro) tasted a bit metallic.

Not sure if it's due to a recent change in diet, or something else, but it has been noticed.

[btsager]

Are you sure your pot is stainless? I had the very same problem. Turned out my pot was aluminum.

Aluminum pots won't leech metal or cause a metallic taste if properly cared for and prepped before first using. You need to boil some water in the pot so it can form a dark layer on the surface(I don't remember what its called), and then you don't want to clean it too harshly as to remove the protective layer that forms.

[B_rad1969]

Are you cleaning your pot or scrubbing it right before you brew? (removing the oxidation) Could be the water too.

[DerrickDude]

I had this same problem a few years ago. I thought it was maybe my carboy's at first so I replaced them. On my next batch, I had the same problem. I talked to a friend of mine who is the Brewmaster at one of the local micro-breweries here and he recommended changing my brew pot. Now I was a bit upset at this because I had been brewing in that brewpot for about 8 years and never once had a problem. It was my old faithful! Well, it turns out, my brewpot was the culprit. The fasteners in the handles had residue behind them and they weren't the same grade of stainless steel as the pot itself. The residue was dissimilar metal corrosion. After changing out old faithful, I had no problems. I now change my brewpot every couple of years so it doesn't happen again. :cool:

[brewersfriend]

It could be oxidation too. I noticed a metallic taste develop in an orange hefe I made, and I only came through after about 2 months. It was awesome before that.

Check out this article on secondary fermentation for more info:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2008/11/15/pick-the-correct-size-secondary-fermenter/