off flavor occurring at 3+ weeks in keg

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zodiak3000

zodiak3000

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at 3 weeks ive noticed an astringent taste in my recent IIPA. doesnt taste like hop astringency. the beer was beautiful (no off flavor) until at about 3-4 weeks in keg. i wouldnt describe it as sour or acidic, more like astringent and kinda "foul"? i switched out the old beer line cause i thought that was the culprit. this was not the problem. the beer tasted awesome even at 4 days in keg. the thing i notice is that the flavor fades as the beer warms up. am i serving my beer too cold? could this be a co2 issue?
 
I wish I could help you but I can't. But it would be helpful to know maybe how much time the beer fermented before getting in the keg and how long it was in the keg, and what temperature is the beer at which you ask is too cold. And what's your CO2 pressure set to?
 
The only off flavors that would take a while to develop are due to oxidation or infection. Can you elaborate on your description of the flavor?
 
in primary for 23 days at 64F (temp controlled chest freezer), no secondary. temp in fridge with keg is about 36F. PSI is set to 12-13. tough to describe the off flavor- astringent and kinda old foul taste like leaning towards sour milk? but not acidic sour or vinegar like infection. like i said the taste fades somewhat if the beer warms in temp after about 5-10 min from pouring. i was wondering what the risk for oxidation is when siphoning from carboy to keg with a muslin bag over the end of a siphon to catch hop debris and yeast?
 
Pour 1oz into a glass and taste it. Is that a really exaggerated version of the off flavor? Pour another ounce. Is it better? If that's the case, it's the beer that sits in the lines.
 
Bobby_M said:
Pour 1oz into a glass and taste it. Is that a really exaggerated version of the off flavor? Pour another ounce. Is it better? If that's the case, it's the beer that sits in the lines.
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thats initially what i thought so i changed the line. problem didnt change. im starting to think i maybe need break down my corny and let all the fittings soak in pbw for a few days. i havent done that for a few batches. just been running pbw through the keg fittings and lines via co2.
 
zodiak3000 said:
thats initially what i thought so i changed the line. problem didnt change. im starting to think i maybe need break down my corny and let all the fittings soak in pbw for a few days. i havent done that for a few batches. just been running pbw through the keg fittings and lines via co2.
Click to expand...

Just went through this with someone on another thread that had never fully broken down his kegs.

He finally took very thing apart and found all kind of gunk under his seals and poppets and under the lip etc, if you have not done this then you need to as well as the beer lines, taps, etc, you might be surprised T what you find:)
 
As mentioned, I would check the faucets. I finally ordered some Perlick faucets after cleaning my standard chrome faucets. I used to run pbw and sanitizer through my lines after every keg and I was very surprised at how dirty they were. Just a thought...
good luck
 
zodiak3000 said:
just been running pbw through the keg fittings and lines via co2.
Click to expand...

Are you then running star san or something else??

PBW is just a cleaner... it's not a sanitizer. It'll clean gunk, sediment, etc out of lines but it won't sanitize them (won't kill bacteria).

If you're not flushing your equipment (kegs, lines, etc) and then running sanitizer through it I would guess there is a decent chance there are infections there... and it is taking a couple weeks for that infection to work its way into the beer, propagate and affect flavor.

I use LLC (Liquid Line Cleaner) for my lines and Star San on everything else. Both are made by Five Star.
 
Cape Brewing said:
Are you then running star san or something else??

PBW is just a cleaner... it's not a sanitizer. It'll clean gunk, sediment, etc out of lines but it won't sanitize them (won't kill bacteria).

If you're not flushing your equipment (kegs, lines, etc) and then running sanitizer through it I would guess there is a decent chance there are infections there... and it is taking a couple weeks for that infection to work its way into the beer, propagate and affect flavor.

I use LLC (Liquid Line Cleaner) for my lines and Star San on everything else. Both are made by Five Star.
Click to expand...

guess i should of specified that. yes, i do run pbw first, then starsan. i usually break down everything and let it soak in pbw for 24 hours, rinse, then spray down all fittings with starsan and reassemble. on kegging day i fill the keg with starsan and run the line with starsan before kegging beer. for the last 3 batches or so though i havent been breaking down and soaking fittings. just running pbw, running water to rinse, then running starsan. im guessing this isnt doing the full job. still, i dont know if this is the real reason for the off flavor im encountering.
 
zodiak3000 said:
guess i should of specified that. yes, i do run pbw first, then starsan. i usually break down everything and let it soak in pbw for 24 hours, rinse, then spray down all fittings with starsan and reassemble. on kegging day i fill the keg with starsan and run the line with starsan before kegging beer. for the last 3 batches or so though i havent been breaking down and soaking fittings. just running pbw, running water to rinse, then running starsan. im guessing this isnt doing the full job. still, i dont know if this is the real reason for the off flavor im encountering.
Click to expand...

The usual culprit to the a late arrival of off flavors is either an infection or contamination of some sort that is introduced to the finished beer after packaging, regardless of what the off flavor is. Well produced and packaged beer that is perfectly fine does not just go bad on its own, it is either bad to start or something gets to it and causes it to go bad.

If you haven;t broken down your equipment for the last 3 batches then something is in the system that is causing the beer to go bad.
 
duboman said:
The usual culprit to the a late arrival of off flavors is either an infection or contamination of some sort that is introduced to the finished beer after packaging, regardless of what the off flavor is. Well produced and packaged beer that is perfectly fine does not just go bad on its own, it is either bad to start or something gets to it and causes it to go bad.

If you haven;t broken down your equipment for the last 3 batches then something is in the system that is causing the beer to go bad.
Click to expand...

yup, i agree. its sad because this was such a great beer for the first few weeks. i really cant spot any typical "infection" off flavors in this one either.
 

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