Figured out my metallic and nasty taste

So I know some of you have read and commented in a few of the threads I posted trying to pinpoint a metallic and bitter off taste in my beers. So I decided that it was time to try filtered water and temperature control for fermentation. Out of the fermenter, the newest batch was a bit better than in the past, tasted like flat beer. But where I finally found my issue was in my kegs, and my cleaning process. I was taking pbw or oxyclean free and soaking for a few days, sometimes longer. Then I would dump them out and spray with a hose until I needed, then just hit it with some starsan and fill em up. Well, I actually smelled the keg last night before I filled it, to see if they might have been the issue. They STUNK like metal and acrid smell, it was very bad. So I scrubbed the insides with some BKF, then a scrub with pbw, then a coulple of hot water rinses. Now they don't even begin to have a smell of anything at all, completely different. And that smell they used to have reminds me of the crappy taste in some of my beer. So hopefully some of you trying to pinpoint the same issue can try this and see if it helps.

Great to hear you isolated and resolved your metallic taste issue.

Was it the residual oxyclean stuck in there? Kegs are SS and inert (I think).

I am pretty sure it was the oxyclean residue that had that horrible acrid metal smell to it. It smells exactly like the crappy taste in my last few batches of kegged beer. I had to mash paper towels down the dip tubes like a swab to get it all out, and am still having a bit of an issue with one dip tube that still smells a bit. I got my other three kegs smell-free 100% after a few hours of work. I will be pulling my first pint from a clean clean keg in a week and a half or so.

On an unrelated note, I installed two of the epoxy mixer things from the "cure for your short hose troubles" thread, and I am amazed at the fact that I can pour a glass of beer that only has an inch of head on it. 5' lines, 38 degree temp, 12 psi.

Glad you discovered your problem. I thought that triple-rinsing oxyclean might be overkill. It appears it's not.

Most certainly not overkill, I will always rinse the heck out of my kegs from now on and take the poppits apart every time. Only a few extra minutes of work

I'm not convinced that the oxiclean itself was you problem, but rather the long time it was in contact with the kegs. Even stainless isn't immune to oxidation, especially of you leave it in long contact with an oxidizer. I always clean kegs well after use (cleaner of choice), rinse well and let them dry if not needed right away and then sanitize immediately before use (sanitizer of choice).

A lot of the cleaners and sanitizers we use are fairly harsh chemicals, and will definitely affect metals (even stainless), especially with long contact times. I wouldn't suggest using any of them for significantly longer than is necessary to achieve sanitation, and to rinse well if the equipment isn't going to be used immediately.

Cheers!

Adam

I believe there is a warning on Oxyclean containers that tells you not to leave in contact with stainless steel for extended periods of time. I use it to clean my kegs and never let it sit for more than a few minutes.

bob

That's exactly what I meant, the oxyclean caused the problem. That's why I had to scrub like mad to get all the oxidation and whatever other residues off.

milesvdustin said:

On an unrelated note, I installed two of the epoxy mixer things from the "cure for your short hose troubles" thread, and I am amazed at the fact that I can pour a glass of beer that only has an inch of head on it. 5' lines, 38 degree temp, 12 psi.

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Not to hijack the thread but what is this epoxy mixer you speak of? I've got the same setup on my kegerator and I could use something like that.

If you want to soak your kegs, fill em with plain hot water and let sit overnight. Then hit the next day with a short soak of cleaner if neccessary. Actually I only use hot water, dry after a couple hours soak and sanitize before filling.

yorkbrew said:

Not to hijack the thread but what is this epoxy mixer you speak of? I've got the same setup on my kegerator and I could use something like that.

Click to expand...

Check this thread out...

Cheers!