Anyone experienced contaminated beer from bad CO2?

I got a CO2 cylinder exchange from my son in law who sells specialty gas for welding etc. I was sorry I did. I carbonated two kegs of belgian ale that had a foamy sticky head like you'd see on a creek runnng through the woods. The taste was no better. Now the beer was fine coming out of the secondary and I sanitized the cornies before filling them. The only variable was the CO2. Fast forward and I made four more kegs, but this time I only put the gas to one and thought better of it. Purged the cylinder and exchanged it at a beer gas outlet. Then carbonated the other three. The first keg tasted strange. The other three with the fresh CO2 was fine.

The gas looked like the culprit. Makes me wonder about these new gadgets that let you use paint gun tanks to drive a small keg. Apparently not all CO2 sources are equal.

There's a significant carbon bite if you overcarb. It has to deal with the liquid CO2 being suspended in the beer.

There are paintball cartridges that have oil in them, but the larger ones that drive the kegs shouldn't have that same problem.

and using a paintball tank will be the same once you empty it once, not to mention it will empty quickly

Welding CO2 should not have anything in it except CO2. Sounds like a bad tankful. I've been swapping tanks at welding places since Day 1 and haven't had a problem yet.

I've used CO2 from all kinds of sources, welding supply, beer distributor, soda distributor, and pistol cartidges. Heck, I even used one of the soda tanks to do some welding (not recommended, apparently, it doesn't have or does have a dip tube). All this to say, never had any problems whatsoever with off taste due to CO2. - Dwain

The confounding variable in question could be the son-in-law, and not the CO2...just saying...

I have been wondering if this is the issue with my hrffet at the moment. I have a brand new 5# Aluminum tank, that i had filled at a paintball field that does CO2 fills.

Sadly, I have felt a little off after drinking the Hefe that is carbed with it. One night after a beer, i immediatley felt a little dizzy and my eyes became almost instantly bloodshot. Another night, after 2 pints, I felt sick to my stomach. It tastes and smells fine though, and I have done this recipe more than 5 times before.

have your every had beer back up in your CO2 lines or regulator? IF so then that would be a likely culprit. Change out your CO2 lines or even replace them if the answer is yes.

jaja said:

have your every had beer back up in your CO2 lines or regulator? IF so then that would be a likely culprit. Change out your CO2 lines or even replace them if the answer is yes.

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WORD! and clean your tank fittings