Carbonation conundrum

Hey everyone. First off, thanks in advanced for any help. I myself have just started brewing, although I've had friends involved in it for awhile. I have one that exclusively kegs, and one that exclusively bottles.

I've noticed with the bottle conditioned beers, the texture of the beer seemed to have a champagne like quality, and somewhat of a sharp or tart bite to them. I don't think too much sugar was used for priming, as this was a problem we had on our first homebrew and quickly learned our lesson.

The keg beer didn't seem to have this issue and was of the same quality as any craft beer I've ever had was.

Just wondering if anyone had any inputs or advice they could give from their experience with naturally conditioning their beer as opposed to forced (as i do not have the luxury of a kegging system).

Thanks

were they from the same brewer? i.e, he bottled some of a batch, kegged the rest? i have bottle conditioned every single one of my beers, and while some carb differently than others, there hasn't been any sort of "champagne like quality" or a tartness trend.

Some people feel that naturally carbonated beer has smaller bubbles and a creamier mouthfeel than force carbed beer, but any difference is minor, and there's certainly no flavor difference. It could have been that the bottled beer didn't get a chance to get the sediment compacted well enough or wasn't poured properly and a little yeast made it into the glass. It could also just be something the brewer that bottles is doing differently with his beer. A champagne quality and sharp/tart bite actually sounds like a mild infection.

It is two different brewers, one brewer bottling, the other kegging. I can't imagine it can be infection, I've had probably 4 of his brews and have noticed the same thing each time and he is VERY anal about sanitation.

I'm guessing it may be the smaller bubbles that gave it the champagne quality. But hearing from others that bottle that do not notice this effect makes me feel better...I was hoping I didn't have to buy kegging equipment to be able to achieve the quality beer I am hoping for.

Thanks guys