could it be a bad taste CO2?

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

Sounds like dirty kegs or beer lines to me.

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

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

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.

I will try that, i will put water at 30 psi for a few days and see if i get the same results.

The only used parts on my kegerator are the kegs, and i have like one year experience and the IPA its the 5th i made the same recepie, thanks all you guys for your help, i m going crazy i m a newbie using kegs

BrewMedic said:

Chavatj,
..........
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.

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Yes, there are some great people here, but you provide perfectly good advice yourself.

I will only add/emphasize, clean your kegs well with PBW or an oxygenating cleaner of the like, clean your lines every couple of brews with BLC, and rinse very well. You can't over rinse. Then use the StarSan and you should be able to eliminate your delivery system as a source of your flavor/smell.

i tested with watter and force carbonation and i dont smell nothing so right now i m clue less about the problem because the beer was fine a few days ago and now its extra bitter.

Make sure your CO2 lines are food grade. I bought CO2 line initally from a welding shop and off flavors were present in the beer.

Hope that helps!

the system comes from keg connection, so i guess they are food grade

chavatj said:

the system comes from keg connection, so i guess they are food grade

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Call keg connection and ask them if they replace ALL of the o-rings on their kegs before selling. If not you may have o-rings that absorbed flavor of whatever soda was in there years ago!

I would replace all o-rings anyway because the set only costs ~$3 for each keg.

they sent me spare ones, so i can do that i have them right here, thanks for the tip

chavatj said:

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

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sounds like carbonic acid from the CO2. it'll subside.

that's why you just set it, and forget it for 2 weeks. any time you rapid force carb (high psi), you create even more carbonic acid that has to 'mellow out'.

chavatj said:

they sent me spare ones, so i can do that i have them right here, thanks for the tip

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Definitely replace the o-rings, you have them and it is easy. Good luck.

12 psi its not to high to carbonate right?

It took like 4 days to see the first bubble

At first it's OK but I would go lower after a week. I keep mine at 8 psi and forget it for 2 weeks.

Memorex88 said:

At first it's OK but I would go lower after a week. I keep mine at 8 psi and forget it for 2 weeks.

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Do you serve at 8 psi?

dallasdb said:

Do you serve at 8 psi?

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Yes. It stays at 8 psi all the time. Besides, if the beer isn't carbed enough, it's too green to enjoy so there's no hurry for me. The older the better

i went and fill the tank on Praxair and it turn out to be the gas, now my kegs has no smell or bad taste

how did you/they know it was the gas?

Memorex88 said:

Yes. It stays at 8 psi all the time. Besides, if the beer isn't carbed enough, it's too green to enjoy so there's no hurry for me. The older the better

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Holy cow, you serve at 8 PSI?! I get a full glass of head at that pressure.

Zixxer10R said:

Holy cow, you serve at 8 PSI?! I get a full glass of head at that pressure.

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Maybe your gauge is off? Most people in my club leave it between 6 and 9.
This is what 8 PSI looks from my system...

I knew it was the gas because the new kegs as no off flavors or strong gas smell

Congrats of finding your problem. Enjoy your Beer!

thanks Memorex88

I'm currently experiencing this EXACT problem. My hardware is new, clean, sanitized and my brew tastes good before carb and then after several days of force carb at 20psi 40F, its sour, metallic, and bitter. The Co2 tank is the only thing that's old that I picked up from a local fire shop. I swear it tastes like the inside of the dirty old c02 tank!


Also I'm wondering if this batch is toast now? Or will de-carbing really help?

This is my first post folks. Hello all.


Mike

mbruton420 said:

I'm currently experiencing this EXACT problem. My hardware is new, clean, sanitized and my brew tastes good before carb and then after several days of force carb at 20psi 40F, its sour, metallic, and bitter. The Co2 tank is the only thing that's old that I picked up from a local fire shop. I swear it tastes like the inside of the dirty old c02 tank!


Also I'm wondering if this batch is toast now? Or will de-carbing really help?

This is my first post folks. Hello all.


Mike

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Not to worry. Your batch is probably just fine.

What you just described sounds very much like carbonic acid bite. Let the keg sit a couple of weeks before tasting it again and you'll find that it's mostly or completely gone. I've had it happen before when burst carbing and it resolved completely given time.

One way to help avoid this is to carb your kegs by chilling the beer to 38-40*F, setting the pressure at 10-12 psi and letting it carb slowly over a two week period.

BigFloyd said:

Not to worry. Your batch is probably just fine.

What you just described sounds very much like carbonic acid bite. Let the keg sit a couple of weeks before tasting it again and you'll find that it's mostly or completely gone. I've had it happen before when burst carbing and it resolved completely given time.

One way to help avoid this is to carb your kegs by chilling the beer to 38-40*F, setting the pressure at 10-12 psi and letting it carb slowly over a two week period.

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Thanks for the response. I think it's getting a little better.

I'm going to use a new co2 tank& fresh c02 next time, also I'll go slow on the carb as you've recommended. I plan to post on here once I've done another batch. It may be a while before I get to that point.

Thanks

Got a new C02 tank. New batch going. Tastes good this time.