My House Pale Ale...Gone Bad?

If I've not mentioned it on this blog before, I'm a homebrewer. I've brewed for the better part of 12 years, with a short hiatus between 2014-16 when I lived in Virginia and never made the time. Most of my early brewing years were spent making my own recipes, rather than starting with the basics and starting with idiot-proof, tried and true recipes. Most were also probably not that good, though that was before I learned of the concept of 'green beer', or the simple truth that it takes a while for your bottle conditioned homebrew to condition.

I've since become a better brewer, utilizing excellent homebrewing books like North American Clone Brews by Scott R. Russell. But recently, I decided to try developing my own recipes again, and I believe I've gotten to the point where I can do so without any ill effects. I understand how to keep ingredients within a style's range. I use Brewtarget to calculate everything, and really love the open-source program, and can't justify paying for something like BeerSmith (love Brad Smith's articles, however).

Here's a pale ale recipe I created recently that I figure could be my house pale ale:

House Pale Ale - American Pale Ale (10A)
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Batch Size 2 gal
Boil Size   1.5 gal
Boil Time   60.000 s            
Efficiency  70%                
OG          1.047 sg           
FG          1.012 sg           
ABV         4.7%               
Bitterness  35.2 IBU (Tinseth) 
Color       5.2 srm (Morey)    

Fermentables
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Name                         Type         Amount    Mashed  Late  Yield  Color    
Muntons DME - Extra Light    Dry Extract  1.600 lb  No      No    95%    3.0 srm  
Briess - 2 Row Brewers Malt  Grain        9.600 oz  Yes     No    80%    1.8 srm  
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L   Grain        4.800 oz  No      No    75%    20.0 srm 
Briess - Wheat Malt, White   Grain        2.400 oz  Yes     No    85%    2.5 srm  
Total grain: 2.650 lb

Hops
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Name      Alpha  Amount    Use      Time        Form    IBU  
Cascade   6.0%   0.600 oz  Boil     1.000 hr    Pellet  35.2 
Amarillo  9.5%   0.200 oz  Aroma    15.000 min  Pellet  0.0  
Amarillo  9.5%   0.200 oz  Dry Hop  5.000 day   Pellet  0.0  

Yeasts
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Name         Type                            Form   Amount     Stage   
Muntons - prehopped kit yeast Ale   Dry   7 grams - primary


I fermented in a Mr. Beer plastic barrel fermenter using left over yeast from a Muntons prehopped kit. I cooled naturally, as I still don't have a wort chiller. I've done so many times before without any bacterial infections. I usually either cool in the plastic fermenter (I cool it to below 160 F first, then pour it in the fermenter with cold water awaiting) or in the kettle with the lid on. I always pitch the yeast in these situations about 12 hours later.

Skip ahead 2 weeks later and the beer strangely smells like a hefeweizen or wheat beer with that phenolic, band-aidy aroma. I tasted my hydrometer sample and got a big smack of iron or blood flavor, like when you're out of shape and playing backyard football in the winter time; that burn that hits your throat. I've read it really could be a metallic flavor that could have come off of the kettle itself or my metal spoon, but of course, maybe I'm tasting a bacterial infection. Third guess would be that I'm just tasting the worst sample I could as it's literally the first bit of beer to come out of the barrel and through the sanitized spigot, which likely has loads of yeast. Here's to hoping 2 weeks brings me a pleasant surprise. I welcome your comments, thoughts and experiences below.