Off flavor after fermentation

Brewed an all grain Brown Ale on the 12th of December for Christmas. Keged about 3 gallons for Christmas, was still kinda new so I let it sit. I bottled a couple of 20oz's for the New Year from the keg and it was tasting allot better.

The rest of the 7 gallons was still in the plastic conical; this is my first time using the conical so I'm not sure on everything with it. I did dump the shrub and the rest of the yeast, I thought. Went to Keg the rest of it on the 4th of January and found there was still some yeast in the bottom. I have one of the plastic conical's with the Bulkhead fitting on the bottom, yeast was trapped on that rim. After keging it the flavor is not nearly as good as the new year’s flavor. There is a bitter orange peel flavor that is not desirable.

Any thoughts to where it came from, my thought is the yeast left in the fermenter. Am I right in hoping that I should just store it in the basement in the keg with a couple pound of pressure in hope’s the flavor with subdue?

Thanks for any help in advance!

Did you push the first 3 gallons out with CO2? Im just wondering if it could be oxidation or contamination from something sucked in while dropping the first 3 gallons out.

I believe you are correct. Leaving the yeast in the fermenter can sometimes cause an unwanted flavor. I usually try to rack my brew 2-3 time to try and minimize that from occuring.

I did not push it out with CO2, it has a racking port so I just let it flow. I could have sucked in some air but the CO2 from the yeast would still theoretically be on top of the beer. I did dump the yeast twice but there was still some stuck in there when I finished racking it into the kegs.

Autolysis seems very unlikely. I primary most of my beers for 3-4 weeks, I have had beers on the yeast for as much as 6 months with no ill effects. Contamination would be more likely (Even oxidization shouldnt happen that quickly in a cool environment).
Can you post a recipe and yeast type?

jkbrewski said:

I believe you are correct. Leaving the yeast in the fermenter can sometimes cause an unwanted flavor. I usually try to rack my brew 2-3 time to try and minimize that from occuring.

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Your opinion on this is certainly in the minority. Most brewers, myself included, minimize the number of times the beer is racked.

Sorry it took me so long to get the recipe up. I had to re enter it, lost it at some point in time I guess on my computer.

View attachment file___C__Documents and Settings_131119_My Documents_BeerSmith2.pdf

jkbrewski said:

I believe you are correct. Leaving the yeast in the fermenter can sometimes cause an unwanted flavor. I usually try to rack my brew 2-3 time to try and minimize that from occurring.

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i would think that very few beers could stand up to being moved 2-3 times unless it was done under a blanket of CO2 at all times. do you detect oxidation in your beer?

eastoak said:

i would think that very few beers could stand up to being moved 2-3 times unless it was done under a blanket of CO2 at all times. do you detect oxidation in your beer?

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I suppose it could have oxidation but I relay only transferred it twice. from the boil kettle to the fermenter and from the fermenter to the keg. I purged the keg of oxygen before I put the lid on.
I don't know what flavor is generated from oxidization, what I tasted was more of a bitter orange peal flavor.

Help, anyone else have any thoughts?

Try sampling the beer while you look over this. Take a taste read a section and so forth until you find something that seems close. It could be multiple things, or a wild yeast, or infection.