Chalky Taste with Keg Hopping?

I kegged my first batch on Sunday with 2 ounces each of Citra and Amarillo. I put these in a sanitized hop bag with some sanitized marbles to hold the bag down. The keg was sanitized with Starsan and I transferred a little over 4 gallons from my carbon via an auto siphon. I purged the keg with CO2 beforehand and then purged the headspace 3 times before finally filling it with CO2 and leaving it there. I set the pressure at 10psi under the set and wait method.

For reference, this is a beer with an OG of 1.046 and a FG of 1.010. It received 2oz of Columbus (14.4 AA) at 60min. (Super bitter, I know, but that's what I wanted.) Pulling from the carboy before transferring, the beer was quite bitter, though more so in the finish than in the taste, which had quite a bit of hop flavor as well.

Back to the kegging. I discovered that the CO2 tank ran out sometime between Sunday evening and Monday evening. No big deal--I swapped out the tank and set it back to 10psi. I figure this just delays my carbonation by half a day to a day.

Now, I pull a sample from the tap to see what it's like. The beer is super cloudy, which I expect given that it's from the bottom and probably has yeast that have dropped out. The nose smells stronger than ever, so the dry hops are working. However, I get to the taste and it's still bitter, but also quite a bit chalky.

Now, I'm wondering (1) where did this come from and (2) will it go away?

For reference, I don't know if it was all yeast, as I put a sample in the fridge for a few hours and it was still just as cloudy without anything dropping out.

What are the possible sources of this? If it's common that this occur after ~24 hours of dry hopping and carbonating, that's all I need to know! Otherwise, could it come from:

- Extra Starsan left in the keg (I wouldn't think so, as there wasn't too much foam and I filled the carboy with a bit of foam still in it for primary)

- Yeast (wouldn't think so as they didn't drop out)

- Sanitized marbles (I wouldn't think so as there was nothing in the water after the boil that would suggest this, though some were white rather than clear glass)

- Hops dissolving (not really sure on this, but they're in a grain/hop bag)

- Initial carbonation (I maybe remember reading something about small carbonation bubbles early on and a bad taste associated with this?)

- Some residue of something else in the keg (I cleaned it thoroughly with hot water and Starsan)

- Something else I'm not thinking of?

Thanks for any advice.

I find that my kegs taste a lot better after about a week and a half on the gas in the keg fridge. I'm not sure what the explanation is, but it might be that the beer has settled out and any excess yeast near the diptube has been drawn already, or maybe it has something to do with force carbing, I don't know.

Maybe you're getting hop residue through the hop bag and that's what you're tasting?

Thanks for the response. If it is indeed normal and is likely that I'm just pulling yeast and hop residue, that's a good sign. I've been waiting for two years to brew my first batch, so an extra week for the first pint is fine by me.

Way too soon to be judging the beer. How long since you actually brewed it? Come back in a few weeks before judgment day.

I brewed the beer on Sunday January 2. It was at 1.046 OG and was at 1.022 after one day then down to 1.010 after three days (pitched two vials of WLP001; didn't have time to make a starter).

I wanted to leave it in primary for a bit longer, but due to a huge mishap within the chest freezer, I ended up transferring it to the keg on Sunday for a total of only a week in primary, though it had been at terminal gravity for three days.

If you went from kettle to keg in only a week you might think about letting that keg condition at room temperature for a few weeks to mellow out, let the yeast clean up a little. What style, is it an IPA?

Yes, it's an IPA. I got conflicting evidence from a few different experienced brewers as to whether I should transfer. I was planning on waiting another week before transferring, but ended up not because of a separate situation. (I essentially had a blowoff tube not be enough for another batch, resulting in a huge mess in the chest freezer...in my minor freakout during cleanup, I left the probe outside the freezer and the temp dropped to 35...given that it was already this could, I didn't know how well the yeast would rouse and cleanup, so I transferred to the keg)

If it matters at all, the beer tasted quite good, at least in my opinion, when I transferred it and certainly didn't have any diacetyl or off flavors. At the same time, I'm not sure if there were any diacetyl precursors there that will end up that way after likely getting a bit (though hopefully not much) of oxygen during the transfer process.

FWIW, I let all my beers sit in the primary for 3 weeks before doing anything with them.

I agree with jkreuze, let the keg condition at room temp for a couple weeks.

I'm not sure if you will get a grassy taste from the hops being in the keg that long at room temp, maybe someone else has some better information. I usually DH for a week at room temp.

Far to early to be judging it, even for an IPA. Good grief, it's 9 days old, the taste will change a few more times.

Thorpe429 said:

Yes, it's an IPA. I got conflicting evidence from a few different experienced brewers as to whether I should transfer.

Click to expand...

You may want to alter your take on experienced.

Needs about two weeks in the keg, maybe three, and it should be closer to its full potential. No need to transfer, you're doing everything just fine.

Bringing this thread back to the top. I've brewed quite a few beers since this time and I still get a bit of a chalky taste in lighter kegged beers.

I have an IPA carbing right now, for instance. When I put it in the keg, it has no discernible chalk-like taste after being in primary for two weeks followed by a week of dry-hopping at normal temperature in the keg. It's been three days and the carbonation has increased, though I still get that slightly-off flavor. Any suggestions anyone?

I have noticed that if i don't pour a taster (3-4oz) then stop and pour the next 12-16oz into my pint glass that i get a metallic/lemon-lime flavor in my beer, and its from leaching ions in the faucet & shank. Try this and see if the flavor changes.

Cheers!

What is your brewing water like? That would be the first place I'd look for Chalky taste!

My brewing water is filtered water that goes through two filters--one for sediment and the other for chlorine/chloride removal. I don't think that's it, as the beer always tastes fine until it starts carbonating. It is gone now again, so my thought is just that I'm getting yeast or something else that's dropping out. I've only noticed this in the past when carbing as I pulled samples to see how it was doing. I don't get it after a pint or two, so that's very well may be the issue.

I just had a batch of IPA pour from the keg with a chalky taste as well.

Could this correct itself by leaving it in the keg/kegerator or is there something else that can be done about the chalky taste? Beer tastes fine other that the chalky aftertaste (and has plenty of alcohol)