Sulphur/burnt match taste?

[orlando]

Thanks for all the suggestions, next brew I'm going to eliminate the campden, and I will also use a different FV than the previous brews.

The annoying thing is that it doesn't happen all of the time, if it did it may be easier to work out the cause, but as it is not guaranteed it will happen it's harder to work out what is going wrong. My technique is the same each time, so that is one constant. It may have been overusing the campden as I'm sure the packet said one tab per 5 gallons, which is different to what Jim has said above.

3 different yeasts have produced this effect

You don't have to do that, but you do have to be careful of the dose, it's the dose that is the possible problem. In the right amount it is a good thing but Potassium Metabisulphite, which can give the burnt match you describe, is a potential villain if overused. The fact you have had this with different yeasts undermines that as the culprit, though yeast can be a source as well as microbial contamination. Try half a tablet or less and see if this eliminates the problem.

[orlando]

If this discussion has had you wondering if there is a good guide to faults in beer available and where you might get it, you're in luck. Take a look at this guide.

[Wonkydonkey]

If this discussion has had you wondering if there is a good guide to faults in beer available and where you might get it, you're in luck. Take a look at this guide.

Well thank you for the link to the beer fault guide. I shall have great pleasure reading it,

[orlando]

If this discussion has had you wondering if there is a good guide to faults in beer available and where you might get it, you're in luck. Take a look at this guide.

Well thank you for the link to the beer fault guide. I shall have great pleasure reading it,

You should get out more.

[marcarm]

Thanks everyone, I'm leaning towards the Campden being the culprit so next time I'll reduce the dose and hopefully will eliminate the issue.

Now all I have to do is go to the brewery to get some ingredients

[Wonkydonkey]

It would be good to know if it does the trick for you. I use a whole Camden tab in 25lt brew, and have never tasted it, but there are so many variables in water anyway,

And like someone else said, taste at each step, then you may well find when it starts to taste wrong. It work for me when I got an infection in the FV. It was really a slight sort of twang. The beer got drunk till it was too sour, I did bottle a few to see how they went. They became real gushers, made a right mess up the wall.