Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
Strange one for you boys. Had a bit of trouble with a bung on my secondary fermenter a few weeks ago. Basically my mate accidentally pushed it really far down the neck of a Better Bottle and I had to get it out by screwing two screws into it and tugging it out. A few tiny bits of rubber fell on top of the beer. A few weeks later (yesterday) I bottled it and it actually tastes like rubber. It's in the aroma too. My missus can't taste it and thinks I'm imagining it but I can taste rubber!
The beer is my honey and elderflower brew. Could it be the honey? the elderflower? Have never had it before and made this around 4 -5 times now...
Any ideas?
The beer is my honey and elderflower brew. Could it be the honey? the elderflower? Have never had it before and made this around 4 -5 times now...
Any ideas?
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
Rubber aroma/taste is usually related to autolysis, but if you only left it for a few weeks it shouldn't be a problem.
Was it a 1st generation yeast or did you re-pitch on slurry?
Was it a 1st generation yeast or did you re-pitch on slurry?
- trucker5774
- Falling off the Barstool
- Posts: 3193
- Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 12:20 pm
- Location: North Devon
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
I had this in a couple of brews a few year ago. The only thing I could put it down to was high fermentation temperature.
John
Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!
Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........
FV 1............
FV 2............
FV 3............
Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife
Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!
Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........
FV 1............
FV 2............
FV 3............
Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife
-
- Hollow Legs
- Posts: 496
- Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:46 pm
- Location: Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
I had a rubbery taste on a porter kit, after a couple of months it was gone and the brew tasted loverly. It might just need to condition out.
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
Cheers folks. Reckon it could be autolysis. Did drive it 12 miles in a secondary fermenter from my mates - post fermentation...
Lesson learnt!

Lesson learnt!
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
OK. This has happened again. I racked my delicious Victorian Ruby Mild (6%) to a 23L PET carboy and 2L to a plastic bottle. I bunged the rubber stopper on my carboy and 2 weeks later the beer tastes like f*cking rubber. The stuff in the bottle is perfect! This rubber stopper I'm using came along with the carboy. It's this type and it smells very 'rubbery'. I even boiled it before using it this time!

Here is the carboy I'm using:

I doubt it's a sanitation issue. I swirled 70c water around the carboy then blitzed it with Starsan. It's not the syphon tube as this is what I used to fill the 2L bottle on the same day.
F*ck sake. Had to tip the last one. Fed up with tipping beer. FAR too much this year already.

Here is the carboy I'm using:

I doubt it's a sanitation issue. I swirled 70c water around the carboy then blitzed it with Starsan. It's not the syphon tube as this is what I used to fill the 2L bottle on the same day.
F*ck sake. Had to tip the last one. Fed up with tipping beer. FAR too much this year already.
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
OK. So, I tipped my honey and elderflower ale out because this flavour was too strong and disgusting. All but one that is. Just poured it and... it's amazing! Doh! Could cry. Gutted 
Good news is that I didn't ditch my Victorian Ruby Mild. The flavour has vanished from there too and it's superb. Ah well. At least I get to have one of my honey and elderflower ales to enjoy. MUST BREW MORE!

Good news is that I didn't ditch my Victorian Ruby Mild. The flavour has vanished from there too and it's superb. Ah well. At least I get to have one of my honey and elderflower ales to enjoy. MUST BREW MORE!
Re: Beer tastes like a rubber bung!
If it's not the bung it could be an infection, keep that in mind when trying to eliminate the cause.