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chavatj · 05-27-2011, 02:00 AM

Hi, i brew 2 batches of two different types of beer both tasted great after secondary racking, then I keg them and put 12 psi for 7 days, as soon as I start to get some carbonation the beer start to smell weird and has an strong bad after taste, I clean an sanitize using star sand.

All my kegging equipment it’s brand new, also I already cleaned the beer lines before I kegged the beer.

I purged the oxygen before I force carbonation so I don’t know what’s going on; the only thing I can think about it’s the CO2.

BigEd · 05-27-2011, 02:30 AM

Bad CO2 is highly unlikely. You need to provide a better description of the taste beyond "weird" and "bad" to receive an intelligent answer.

BrewMedic · 05-27-2011, 02:33 AM

Chavatj,

I'm still pretty new to the whole kegging thing myself, but...I recently kegged a Brown and over did the carbonation a bit. Initially it was great but a few days later it had a sharp / bitter flavor. It turned out that it was simply over carbonated, which causes the carbonic acid to be prevalent. That does not explain the bad aroma though.
Starsan is not a real good cleaner. It’s a sanitizer and does not work well removing organic matter. I had a batch get infected because I was doing the same thing you seemed to have done. I’ve since switched to using PBW (Powder brewery wash), followed by a good rinse, then using Starsan to sanitize and have not (knock on wood) had anymore infection. Also a good caustic through the beer lines every 3 or 4 batches is probably a good thing. Just be sure to rinse WELL before you sanitize.
For what it’s worth. There are some great people here that are very generous with their knowledge and would probably have a better explanation.

chavatj · 05-27-2011, 02:35 AM

Kind of like acid smell and taste, like metallic so strong, i tasted every day like 50ml to test carbonation and it smell and tasted fine but as soon as i saw a few bubbles it tasted and smelled bad

**Gunfighter04** · 05-27-2011, 11:25 AM

When I inherited my CO2 system after my father passed away, it had been sitting for about 5 years. The CO2 tank was still charged so I used it for my first few tanks until it ran out. No off flavors.

2 questions, what style of beer is it, and what temp/pressure are you carbing it to?

Memorex88 · 05-27-2011, 11:43 AM

Not sure what your problem could be but as mentioned by BrewMedic, Starsan is not a cleaner. You need to clean the kegs and lines/taps with a cleaner (example Oxiclean) and then sanitize with Starsan.

On your next batch, you might want to try bottling a few beers to eliminate that it's the CO2/kegs ect...

Here's a helpful site for off flavors....
http://www.homebrewzone.com/off-flavors.htm

wonderbread23 · 05-27-2011, 12:19 PM

Sounds like dirty kegs or beer lines to me.

chavatj · 05-27-2011, 01:54 PM

They are an IPA and a Brown ale, i m carbing at 12 psi at 40 temp, the system its new and i use pbw to clean the lines, the weird thing its that the first days the beer tasted fine just flat, but as soon i got some carbonation it got that taste and smell

beerkrump · 05-27-2011, 02:16 PM

If you can, hook up a keg with only water in it and see if you get the same results.

Tall_Yotie · 05-27-2011, 02:19 PM

Question for you, chavatj:

How many batches have you done? I see you have a low post count, but don't want to assume you are new to brewing. If this is your first 2 batches, then I would agree with Memorex88; bottle a few next time to see if it truly is the kegging.

This is coming from someone who doesn't keg, but does deal with new cooking and scientific equipment; if it is brand new, there could be a change there are manufacturing oils in the keg and/or fittings. I would soak everything in warm water (not sure if soap is allowed, I would think it would be fine if you rinsed it off really well) to aid in removing the oils.

I hope you get this figured out, I know how frustrating ti can be to work on a batch and have it taste wrong.