Hi all, I joined BA just so I could talk about this specific problem I'm having with fellow beer lovers. Brown ales are one of my favorite styles, and Bell's does one of the best. Unfortunately the bottle I poured today has a strong metallic taste to it. I've had this exact issue with their Consecrator Doppelbock earlier this year as well as their Christmas Ale last December. I contacted them about the Consecrator and they had me send them the remaining beer so they could test it. They never told me the cause of the problem, they just said there were some things they could tell me and something they couldn't. They sent me some free swag and told me not to drink the beer too cold and to pour it into a glass etc. Which I already do anyway. I get their Two Hearted Ale every week and today I also had two bottles of their Octoberfest with problems whatsoever. I guess my question is what could be causing this? Problems with the grain? Metal getting into the beer somewhere in the brewing process? All three beers that have had this issue are seasonal or specialty releases. What a let down, I was really looking forward to this beer. Cheers everyone.
Not sure the cause, but I had a shorts best brown a few months ago and tasted metal. Also dogfish heads bitches brew, that was basically undrinkable for me. It seems like dark beers can get metallic, maybe it's a PH balance thing? Too much alkalinity perhaps? This is just a wild guess on my part, not a brewer. Welcome to BA by the way.
Thanks for the welcome. I'm from Michigan myself, currently living in Baltimore. As for the beer, I drink a lot of dark beers and have never had this issue, just the three I named. I have a suspicion that it's an equipment issue, maybe... I've contacted Bell's about this. I'm curious to see the response I get.
Welcome to the BA site, DAK. There are several things that could cause a metallic flavor. This link (http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/is-my-beer-ruined/common-off-flavors) says the taste can come from leached iron or aluminum, or from poor storage of the malt. Another thing that you need to consider is that your taste buds can be off, and I suppose that it can be said that your taste buds can be off repetitively for various reasons (reaction to illness, reaction to taking meds, a soap layer in your glass, you go on a pizza-eating binge, etc.) without you realizing the timing. And when in doubt, you can always blame the water. Bell's has a quality control department that has trained scientists (in other words the brewers don't do it) who watch things closely. However, if they were being a bit coy when they replied to you, it's possible that your complaint pointed out an issue that was overlooked by the QC folks. But the comment about not drinking the beer so cold and pouring it into a glass seems to me that they want you to get more aroma from the beer as a corrective measure for the problem. I'll be interested to see if anyone else replies to this thread who has noticed the same issue. I had a bottle of the brown ale a couple months ago, but I didn't look at the Best-By date to see if it was this year's batch. It tasted fine to me.
Two times that I can recall, I got a metallic taste in a beer. Three years ago, I had a stout on tap at a restaurant, and the more I drank the stronger the metallic taste got. I stupidly drank the whole thing, then spent the next 24 hours trying to get rid of the strong metallic taste - trying other beers, pop, mixed drinks, water, etc. Just took time. I'm thinking this was a tap line problem. Then last December, I had my first Founders CBS and picked up a metallic taste. I'm convinced that this was me, since I'd been noting a metallic taste in my mouth for weeks. Never did figure out why, and it cleared up. Maybe a cracked filling or something. I had another CBS in June, and it was so good I changed my review, and it is now my favorite beer. So - consider that it may be you. Have you noted any metallic taste other than when drinking Bell's beers?
This is actually a pretty common experience for me in relatively-lower abv dark beers, and probably the principal reason I tend to avoid porters. It may be one of those things that some people are just particularly sensitive to - I remember drinking a porter a while back that smelled flat-out like a copper pipe and the person I was with swore he couldn't smell any such thing. I think the advice to not pour it too cold is correct - which doesn't necessarily help when it's something like a brown that maybe you want to drink cold. The unpleasant (to me) metallic character seems to fade out as the beer warms up and, anyway, again for me, it's always more noticeable in the aroma than in the taste. That said, I had a Bell's Best Brown on draught at Big Fatty's BBQ in WRJ last night that was nothing but delicious. No metallic character detected in that one.
That's the thing though, I always pour into a glass and I tend to sip so that my beers warm up over a longer period. I had a Backwoods Bastard that took me and hour and a half to drink last night. None whatsoever, the only time I've ever had this issue is with Bell's Christmas Ale 2017, Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock 2018, and Bell's Best Brown Ale 2018. The thing is I'm convinced it's not me. No other beer I've ever drank has had this taste, and I get brown ales and doppelbocks regularly. As well other beers from Bell's. No beer from lagers to BBA stouts has ever had an off taste. Just these seasonal/specialty brews from Bell's the past few months. Maybe it something to do with the fact that I'm in Baltimore? A shipping problem perhaps... the Consecrator and Best Brown were bought from the same store, which is my go to place to get my beer every weekend, including the Bell's Two Hearted that's become my go to beer. The Christmas Ale was bought from a different store as they were the only place that had it near me. Thanks for the replies and welcomes everyone.
Is that exactly what they told you? I mean, they could acknowledge that a brewing issue arose and chose to not provide specific details if they thought it was of a proprietary nature. The probable cause of the beer having a metallic taste is excess metal ions. Why that would occur I could only guess. Cheers!
Strange, personally I've never had anything close to this problem with a Bell's beer. Plenty of times it's happened to me, but it was never any of theirs.
Yep, the exact quote is, "there are some things I can speak on and something I can't." I' leaning towards metal leeching into the beer as well. I wish I could say the same. I was REALLY looking forward to these beers LOL.
I've had both best brown and two hearted in the past coupla weeks. They were both well within the drink by window and they both tasted pretty much how I remember them. What's going on in your diet?
Are you saying you had a metallic taste in your mouth for weeks but were still reviewing beers, noticed a metallic taste in CBS, and then noted that as a negative in your initial review of the beer?
I either disregarded the metallic taste when I reviewed CBS or I mentioned it but acknowledged it was me - don't recall, though it likely impacted detecting other flavors. Also at play was that aging on CBS seems to improve it, as observed by others, so being underwhelmed with fresh CBS was likely partly due to that. Does everyone skip reviewing beers when they have a cold? I suppose some do, but I suspect most forge on as usual. I did try it again, improved my review and score, and it is currently my top rated beer.
