If you have iron or manganese in your brewing water, then Brewtan-B is immensely helpful at the homebrewing level. I have a fair amount of iron and manganese in my well water, and using Brewtan-B has made a huge improvement in all of my beers.
I was assuming everyone used RO or spring water. I can see it being useful for other type of water.
Does your water turn green when you use it? I’ve seen it happen before, and I’m not sure if that the reaction happening or if it’s just green because it’s from a plant.
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My water turns bluish-purple, which makes sense seeing that BTB is gallotannin. Iron gall ink is a similar hue. The scum that forms as I heat to boil takes on a purplish shade as well.
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I don’t recommend spring water unless you know what’s in it. I brew with my well water. I’ve had it analyzed and it’s an excellent base.
I had a metallic taste for maybe 6 batches that I couldn’t track down. It was very frustrating. I t turns out there were some “less than stainless” steel rings on my floating dip tubes. If it is a truly metallic flavor, you have to look for the weak link somewhere in your metals…… it’s not anything copper. Closely inspect small parts for corrosion. After that, I suspect you are confusing the flavor with something else.
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This clicked on a certain thing I’ve been thinking about. My pilsners are a little weak on hop aroma. I thought it might be the hops I’m getting. It could be the Brewtan B that I use now. The next Pilsner will forgo the end of boil addition of BrewtanbB, and I will see oif the aroma I want returns.
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I agree with the previous said causes of metallic taste. One source as well is if you use a chromed brass tap to serve the beer. I have found that the chrome wears off and you will get a metallic taste to the beer via the brass exposure. Many a craft beer tap rooms have this problem. Cheers everyone!
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I may be extra sensitive as well. I have learned that during judging, wait to see if the other judge notes it when we are discussing and only at the end ask about it. I could swear I ran across something about one of the traditional european hops potentially contributing. However, I don’t see anyone here relating that.
I don’t see anyone else here suggesting this, but I believe hops can be included in the roster of things to investigate. Based on your description of worsening over time, I think the suggestions of autolysis are best fit. I can not find the source for this result from Copilot AI search but I did run across serious literature reference to traditional hop (english or German) potential for metalic." can hops cause metalic flavor
Yes, hops can sometimes cause a metallic flavor in beer, although it’s not very common. This can happen due to several factors, such as the presence of certain minerals in the water used during brewing, the type of hops, or even the brewing process itself. If you’re experiencing a metallic taste, it might be worth looking into these factors to identify the cause."
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How fast are you cold crashing? if you crash too fast it could contribute to autolysis.
In this Morebeer article Beer Off Flavor Kits | MoreBeer about off flavors, the last section includes the statement “Bacteria and wild yeast can generate almost every off flavor listed above.” The change toward off flavors, and staying that way, makes me think there might be a persistent infection. If so, it’s probably dug in really well by this time. Removing of the offending microbes, or equipment replacement, might be necessary.
Have you tried bottling a batch? If the problem is with your kegs or dispensing system, the bottled beer should taste fine.
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I haven’t had any issues with my water turning any colors. I don’t use RO water and for the most part, until lately, I’ve had pretty good luck with the results.
I run the water through a RV hose, through a water filter, let is sit over night to help get rid of the clorine, and use a campden tablet. I also just purchased charcoal filter replacements for the water filter.
I have done water analysis from Wards and I entered the results into Brewsmith. I need more experience on adding salts to get the water profile I need. Also, I think the mash ph might be most important. I think I need H2O help…
What I usually do is after filling the keg I take it to the keezer and purge the keg and then place it in the keezer at approximately 36 F with just a fill of CO2.
After a few days I will connect the CO2 to the keg and begin the carbonation process. I don’t test it for a couple of weeks. I have forced carbed beer and it worked fine, but it is easy to over carbonate. I don’t know if this is best, but I slowly let the CO2 get into the solution. Is the cold crashing too fast?
I just purchased a hefeweizen kit. I’m going to clean and santitize everything and bottle this batch. I usually use my own receipes, but trying to figure this out right now is my biggest concern.
I’ve gotten a “metallic” taste from a batch of Nugget hops many years ago. I put metallic in quotes, because it seemed to be associated with the bittering specifically (at least to me). It seemed to cling to the tongue and fade along with the bitterness. I haven’t gotten it with any other hops that I can recall, but every time I used that batch of hops I picked it up.
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When would an infection show up? Seems to me that it would ruin the beer in the fermenter under wamer temperatures. When cooled to 36F would it or could it show up then?
I clean my beer lines, but maybe not enough, especially in the warmer weather. I probably need to clean the lines more often than I do.
Explain please
Yes, it’s possible even at cooler temps.
I hope this next batch sheds some light on the problem. Please keep us posted on how it turns out.
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