keg disappointment

Ok so I have only put 2 beers in the keg so far but they have both had the same nasty taste that none of my other homebrews in bottles have ever had. I am very disappointed bc I was pumped Abt the keg. I don't know what is going on but something ain't right. My other beers are good. But kegs terrible. It can't be a coincidence. Even after jazzfest in New Orleans today, this mf still taste weird.

Is this a keg you just bought? If you sterilized but didn't clean the internals, esp the posts, you need to do that. This means disassembly and pbw treatment.

What type of nasty taste is it? Can you describe it? Are you cleaning and sanitizing properly? Describe your process..

Banana when it ain't at a hefe. The brewstore guy told me not to take it apart bc it we be more trouble. I fill it w starsan solution and shake it up n then fill it w the co2 and let her flow for a while.

The brewstore guy is wrong. All you need a 7/8" end wrench. Take the posts off, clean everything, probably replace the o-rings. If funk still persists, replace the poppets (http://morebeer.com/products/poppet-becker-brand.html) in the posts. If funk still persists... re-examine your cleaning/sanitizing procedures, because the rest is just stainless steel.

If, after all of that, the keg is still funky, talk to the brewstore guy about a replacement...

Thanks, man. I think I say **** a keg. Everyone said it is less trouble. But idly has been more for me.

I think*

Psh, I refuse to bottle-condition anything anymore. So much easier and more predictable to just keg it, and if I need it in bottles, bottle from the keg.

Bonus is no yeast in the bottom to goof people up with.

Of one bottle is funky you lose one bottle. If the keg is funky you loose it all.

You might be right but I need to learn how to clean this thing.

Yea I am sure once you get it all cleaned properly then you will start to enjoy kegging. Like others have said, take the posts off and clean really well. Can also check/replace the o-rings if they look pretty bad..

Punx, do I have to take it apart after every beer or just run the lines w cleaner n sanitizer.

I think yall are right. I didn't want to believe I had that much work. But there has to be **** stuck in that tube and other places

This is what I do. I'm sure some will disagree with it but this is what I do and have had zero issues. I rinse out the keg, then fill it with a gallon or so of hot water and pbw. Shake it around a bit. Then I let it sit for a few minutes, while its sitting I remove the liquid post and lid and set them in some hot water and pbw. After the few minutes I drain the keg and rinse with hot and cold water again. Also rinsing the lid and post, and then I fill it with some cold water and star-san and shake it around a bit. Before I put the post back on I spray it down inside and out with my star-san mix I keep in a spray bottle. I have had zero issues.

nolabrew85 said:

Punx, do I have to take it apart after every beer or just run the lines w cleaner n sanitizer.

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Oh... I usually break them down completely every two or three beers, but that's just me.

When you get into the swing of things, it gets easier. For me, breaking down and filling up the kegs goes something like this:

1) Keg floats (empty)
2) Open keg up, spray remaining gunk with garden hose & sprayer
3) put lid on, shake
4) dump
5) if gunk remains, reach down into the keg with a scrubber sponge, break up gunk and repeat (2)-(5)
6) If needed, scrub down the in-sides
7) Final rinse & dump
8) remove posts, poppets, dip tubes, lid, and o-rings. Inspect, scrub if necesary, place in sanitizer bucket
9) siphon sanitizer from bucket to keg (bonus: your siphon is now sanitized to put brew in keg)
10) install posts, poppets, dip tubes, lid, o-rings
11) use CO2 and picnic tap to push sanitizer to bucket (bonus: keg is filled with CO2, n ooxidation worries)
12) siphon new beer to keg, close keg, put on CO2 to carb

All in all, probably takes me 30 minutes at most.

Punx Clever said:

Oh... I usually break them down completely every two or three beers, but that's just me.

When you get into the swing of things, it gets easier. For me, breaking down and filling up the kegs goes something like this:

1) Keg floats (empty)
2) Open keg up, spray remaining gunk with garden hose & sprayer
3) put lid on, shake
4) dump
5) if gunk remains, reach down into the keg with a scrubber sponge, break up gunk and repeat (2)-(5)
6) If needed, scrub down the in-sides
7) Final rinse & dump
8) remove posts, poppets, dip tubes, lid, and o-rings. Inspect, scrub if necesary, place in sanitizer bucket
9) siphon sanitizer from bucket to keg (bonus: your siphon is now sanitized to put brew in keg)
10) install posts, poppets, dip tubes, lid, o-rings
11) use CO2 and picnic tap to push sanitizer to bucket (bonus: keg is filled with CO2, n ooxidation worries)
12) siphon new beer to keg, close keg, put on CO2 to carb

All in all, probably takes me 30 minutes at most.

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I bet it takes you closer to 15 minutes. I do the same. Easy peasy.

I disassemble and clean after every brew. It really is pretty simple to do and doesn't take very long. The only thing you really need to remember is to put the In/Out on the right posts.

billl said:

I disassemble and clean after every brew. It really is pretty simple to do and doesn't take very long. The only thing you really need to remember is to put the In/Out on the right posts.

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Yes, it takes less than 10 minutes to break down the keg, clean it well (eyeball the long diptube by holding it up to the light, and I promise you'll always break down the keg once you see the crud in there!), rinse it and star-san it.

I have a deep socket and ratchet I keep right in my kitchen and I just do it quickly.

Just make sure you do ONE keg at a time, and keep the "in" parts together and the "out" parts together- as they are not interchangeable! I put the "in" posts and poppets and diptube on the left of the sink, and soak that in sanitizer while I clean the "out" stuff. It goes very quick and easy.

You probably also need all new o-rings. There is one around the lid, one on each post, one on each diptube and there is rubber in the poppets as well. That could be a real problem if they are in bad shape, so replace all those every time you get a new (used) keg. Keg lube helps keep them supple and to last longer. Keg lube also helps seal the keg better, for no leaks!

I had an issue the first time I Kegged. The beer went cider. I bought a dip tube brush, cleaned really well and that eliminated the problem.

youtube is also a great source for demonstrations. There are a bunch of videos on the subject of kegs - cleaning, filling, and force carbonating.

Great advice above..... I also take mine apart between every brew - it does not take much to do.

Yooper's advice in regard to keeping parts from one keg organized and separated from other kegs is worth seconding...... save you troubles down the line of poor seals, leaks, etc. of mismatched parts.

I would definitely start with a more aggressive cleaning of the kegs the first time you get them (if they are used). Replace rubber parts if they were not new when you got them. Totally disassemble, Fill the keg all the way up with hot water and PBW for a nice long soak (overnight). Same with the other parts. Make sure you have a brush for the long diptube. Rinse well . . . sanitize with starsan and you are ready to go. After this initial cleaning . . . .it should be much simpler and easier if you take good care of your kegs, rinse right away when you are done with a keg, etc.

* another trick - keg is filled with PBW and hot water, after a few hours, turn it upside down in a 5 gallon bucket or deep plastic tub - about 2 gallons will come out into the bucket, but the rest will stay in the keg. This is a good way to make sure the top of keg, the posts, the rim, etc. all get the same quality soak in pbw - sometimes it is hard to really get that top part the same quality clean because the water does not quite cover everything when the keg is just standing up

I rinse mine with my faucet bottle washer. I also use my carboy brush to get any crud loosened. My lhbs told me initially to soak overnight with baking soda and hot water. Also do 1 at a time. Some parts don't interchange with other kegs then trouble arises. But I too completely disassemble before refilling.

I clean and sanitize the interior after every batch and take it apart after every three. But when I clean, and I use Oxyclean always, I run the solution through my lines and let it sit for awhile. Then when sanitizing the keg I'll also do the same to the lines. Hook up your connections as you would tapping a keg!

If you didn't replace all the o-rings when you got it, do it (don't even bother inspecting them). They'll hold onto nasty soda smells/tastes and other funk that's impossible to get out. A full set of 5 gaskets is a couple bucks.

This is a great video on how to clean a keg: http://youtu.be/tCwa-qHnA20

Thanks for all the great advice!! Sounds like I am going to dump the current beer, and clean it with a diptube brush and all, and replace the gaskets/o-rings.

The only time I've ever broken down my keg was the initial cleaning. Aparently my keg was used for grape soda or something because it had a smell to it that took forever to get rid of.

I just soak, then presurize and run cleaner through the lines. Rinse and run water through the lines.

It's worked for me for the last year and a half.

I clean my kegs after every batch (ball lock and sanke). That entails breaking it down and washing/starsan every part of the keg, which also gives me a chance to inspect the o-rings. It only takes like 10-15 mins to do everything, so spend the extra 10 to make sure everything is clean.

P.s. if a your LHBS told you not to clean your keg when you first bought it I would question the rest of advice/products.

And I am glad that I read this, just got my keg in the mail with the rest of my first set up. These are things that you have to dig to find on youtube.

Also, I bought one of those carboy cleaning wands..Works awesome in the keg too. a few seconds with the cleaning solution and they're ready for sanitizer and a good batch of homebrew to enjoy. Simie

firerat said:

The only time I've ever broken down my keg was the initial cleaning. Aparently my keg was used for grape soda or something because it had a smell to it that took forever to get rid of.

I just soak, then presurize and run cleaner through the lines. Rinse and run water through the lines.

It's worked for me for the last year and a half.

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I as well. I usually fill with PBW as soon as the keg kicks and let soak over night. It keeps gunk from possibly drying on any of the keg parts.

Nolabrew, stick to it, you'll never look back. Once you get that pepsi syrup cleaned out of the gears of the thing, you'll be in good shape. I vote for a tear down once a year, rinse w/ pbw, run through both posts every time, run star san through posts every time.

Hope this helps.

[ame]http://youtu.be/RFmFbAWLmrY[/ame]

I wouldn't dismiss possible fermentation issues if banana is your off flavor. I started getting a lot of banana from Nottingham a while back even at temps in the low 60's that I've had success with in the past. I've since stopped using Notty

Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet that can cause off favors in kegged beer vs bottled is oxidation. If you didn't flush the headspace in your keg with co2 when you filled it, it might have oxidized. I was a little too excited the first time I kegged a beer and forgot to flush the headspace and for the first few weeks my beer tasted ok but as time went on it just got worse and worse but it was my first keg so I forced myself to drink it.
What you want to do is hook the keg up to co2 and wait for it to stop filling then pull the release valve or let the pressure out through the gas in post if you're using pin locks. Repeat this 4 or 5 times.

Hi all! First post here but I've read a lot of great stuff prior to posting.

Some really good info on keg cleaning but there's some other variables not mentioned:
1. Don't forget to clean beer lines. And some new lines may give a funny flavor, although it is rare.

2. If you're a keg shaker, you can get beer in the gas line which can get moldy.

3. Don't over-carbonate! Too much carbonation can make your beer harsh.

Punx Clever said:

The brewstore guy is wrong. All you need a 7/8" end wrench. Take the posts off, clean everything, probably replace the o-rings. If funk still persists, replace the poppets (http://morebeer.com/products/poppet-becker-brand.html) in the posts. If funk still persists... re-examine your cleaning/sanitizing procedures, because the rest is just stainless steel.

If, after all of that, the keg is still funky, talk to the brewstore guy about a replacement...

Click to expand...

Or an 11/16....

A bunch of good suggestions here.. they should fix you problem.

I am building a keg washer but for years I have:

1. Rinse Keg or all the junk you see.
2. remove posts, tubes, drip them in the keg.
3. Two tablespoons of OxyClean and fill with COOL water.
4. After a day flip over the drawtube and liet it soak
5. Let it sit for a day or so or long it takes you to get back to it.
6. Rinse and reassemble
7. Mix up some hot water and StarSan 2.5 gallons is enough
8. Fill the keg
9. put the top on and shake it around
10. (this will expand the air inside and you can push on the OUT and let the mixture flow out)
11. turn it on it's side with the IN "down" and vent the IN to rinse it out.
12. Shake it a few times more
13. Pour the hot StarSan in to keg number two and repeat.
14. You can also StarSan you lines this way

BUT I brewed three batches this weakend ad that means six (6) kegs::: I really got-a finish that Keg washer....

I always break my kegs down and clean them after every use. I'm not saying everyone should, but it just gives me piece of mind and really doesn't take that much longer. I build a keg cleaning brush that I attach to my drill, fill the keg with a 2 gallons of water and PBW, shake it up, take off the posts and dop tupes and put them in a tray I have, then I pout out enough PBW solution to cover them and let that soak. Then I go ahead and use the power brush on the keg. Rinse, fill with starsan and drop the small parts into a bowl with starsan for a few minutes, then reassemble the keg. Then I shake the keg for a little bit and let it sit upside down. At that point I autosiphon the starsan back into it's container and that sanitizes my autosiphon for the next step of beer transfer. I think it takes me about 20 or 25 minutes from start to finish.

The big key is to make sure you clean those kegs out well. It actually took me a while to get that old soda smell out of hte used kegs I bought. Even the ones that said they had been cleaned. A good PBW soak and let them sit open for a while, along with new o-rings did the trick though.

Good point, clonefan^^^, orings from back when these kegs were used in soda fountains can be on their last legs by the time brewers get them.

I've also gotten the nastiest junk possible on my cobra tap rubber insert if a beer sits tapped for many weeks, even at 34deg or so. Warmer temps make it worse. And the mold eats into that rubber.