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my Strawberry batch has a slight metallic/chemical taste to it :(

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M

McJeff

NewBee
Registered Member
May 17, 2013
1,095
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Farmington, Maine
So first off recipe...

7/29
5 gallon batch
12 lbs honey
15lbs strawberries in a fruit bag(picked fresh degreened and frozen same day, crushed and thawed before using)
airlocked in a bucked with pectic enzyme over night ~8 hours. next morning rehydrated 71b along with first 1/3 of dap/fermk and aerated.
Next two days aerated along with other 1/3 of dap/fermk
Left it to ferment in a chest freezer with a temp between 62-64f

8/26 removed fruit bag to let stuff settle
8/31 evening dropped temp to ~38f
9/1 racked into carboy for aging

no SG or FG

So when i racked it and had a small taste i noticed a very faint metallic taste. it didnt leave an after taste, coating in the mouth and besides the off flavor it tasted fine. Cant think of a better way to describe it. So what is it and will it age out?
 
I found my strawberry batches always taste a little bit like Ozonal ointment smells, I guess the smell is described as phenolic. I had a professional winery's strawberry wine and it had that same taste so I figured it was just the way strawberry is. I haven't actually made it into a mead so I don't know if it does that with honey.
 
I made a modified batch of Yo Momma's Strawberry last winter, got no metal/off flavors. I usually take my fruit out after it starts to go gray, or a couple of weeks at most.
 
I had some people raving about how great their wine was so I swapped a bottle with them. Took theirs home, opened it up and me and the wifey took a swig and couldnt spit it out fast enough. They used an aluminum funnel to fill the bottles, it was like chewing on foil, they thought that was normal and I dont think they changed how they do their wine but I wont waste another bottle on them again. So did at any point some metal come into contact with your berries like when you crushed them? Strawberry meads might get a little funky fermentation smell in the first few days but shouldnt get a metalic taste. Hope it goes away. WVMJ
 
Acidic fruit should be kept away from all metal barring stainless.
Excess DAP can give metallic tastes.
Phenolics and esters can do all sorts, but usually age out.
Sorry I can't help more, there's just too many possibilities without tasting it, and my descriptive powers lag my tasting ability by a LONG way.
 
kudapucat said:
Acidic fruit should be kept away from all metal barring stainless.
Excess DAP can give metallic tastes.
Phenolics and esters can do all sorts, but usually age out.
Sorry I can't help more, there's just too many possibilities without tasting it, and my descriptive powers lag my tasting ability by a LONG way.
Click to expand...

Yeah def hard to know what it taste like without tasting, I wondered about if used too much dap. Guess I just need to wait and see.
 
Two possibilities that stand out amongst the rest to me:

1. Too much DAP. Just how much DAP did you use? I never noticed the taste of DAP, until I made a mead without it. Now, I can taste it, and I wish I couldn't! Who wants to buy my DAP?

2. Too much fruit contact time. Strawberries are very quick to give up their juice and color. I would not keep them in the must for more than two weeks under any circumstance, usually more like 7-10 days in primary, 2 weeks in secondary if secondary is a corny keg where there will be very little oxygen exposure.

Will it get better with time? Definitely! Don't throw it out, just leave it be for a year or so then take a sample.
 
1/2 tsp per gallon is what over always done for dap. Is there a maximum amount you should use? This was a 5g batch. Def won't be letting the fruit sit the whole primary time again.
 
I measure all nutrient additions by weight, so unfortunately I have no idea how much DAP that is. 2.5tsp doesn't seem like a ton. Let it age, see how it improves...
 
Is a metallic taste possible from fruit oxidation? Perhaps having left the strawberries in primary for so long can create this? (and possibly having the fruit bag float and have contact with air? Or air coming in contact with fruit through aeration process?)
I am basically suggesting that the problem can be "too much fruit contact time" as icedmetal suggested. However, I am also suggesting a possible particular reason. If fruit contact time is the problem I wonder if other members have had problems with other fruits. Oranges are not a problem, as seen in the JAOM recipe, but then again oranges don't oxidize either.
P.s by fruit oxidation I am referring to enzymatic or oxidative browning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_(food_process)
 
Right, i get what you are saying. In my mind i dont see how it would go bad from air contact if its fermenting and all the CO2 is pushing the O2 out? Once i get some bucket room im goin to redo the batch and take the fruit out earlier to see how it tastes.
 
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