homebrewandbeer.com

Hey Guys.
Have been posting bits and pieces on here for a while. Started brewing about 6 months ago and have become completely addicted. I have been slowly experimenting with different things and have had great help from all the guys here, but have hit a stumbling block. I was having problems getting my wort down to pitching temp when I first started out and amongst other thing was using ice in the wort to cool it. Luckily with no bad effects but after advice from different people have now started chilling water the day before I brew. This has been working great. This brings me to my problem. About a month ago I open a bottle of my 8th brew. A CAPA that I had re-cultured the yeast from a few CPA stubbies. (thanks to help from Kevnlis, the doc and TL to name a few) The beer turned out looking great but tasted like shit. It was the only brew I had made that didn't taste any good. Looking back on in my brew book it was the last brew I made before I started chilling water the night before and my pitching temp was 30c. It is this high temp that I have put the bad taste down to.
This I could deal with but have just open brew 12. A Canadian Blonde which I have made before, with really good results. The only thing I changed was the fact that I have now taken to brewing lagers in a brew fridge.
The Beer has turned out with a really nasty after taste which is really hard to describe. It is musty or even stale. The only thing I can think of it that it’s has got infected. Does this musty taste sound like and infection?
I have opened my next brew which was a draught with added honey and it has a slight hint of the same flavor.
After everything going so well, all these bad tasting beers has really pissed me off, I think I have pretty good cleaning system and don't understand what I have done wrong.
Any ideas guys?

Stale taste has been associated with oxidized beer. It is also described as tasting like cardboard and smelling like old paper. Does this sound like what you are getting? Have you been careful not to splash the beer when bottling?

Musty/stale is probably a Brettamyces (sp) infection. Sort of like a wet horse blanket or old cellar?

Papery is usually heat affected, very old, or absurdly oxygen exposed.

EDIT: Out of interest, what temp did you ferment at? I have used recultured CPA yeast which I am 100% confident was not infected, but at any temp over 16-18C I have had some pretty horrible results!

would you describe it as a sulphur/compost/rotten egg smell? common with lagers, dissipates with ageing. known to occur with ales, but not as frequent.