Malty taste appearing in keg

I have a frustrating problem that I am hoping someone might be able to shed some light on. Almost every beer I have made ends up tasting sweet/malty when it comes out of my taps on my keezer. The thing is, most are in the 1.008-1.010 FG area, so I know it's not the FG. And when I take a sample when I am transferring to the keg, the beer doesn't have that taste when it is flat. It only seems to appear once the beer is carbonated. Most of the beers it disappears with time ( a few weeks), so I know maybe it is just green, but it is weird to me that this flavor is not there when transferring, but shows up when it is kegged? My only theory is that the first bunch of pulls on the keg are yeasty and maybe that is throwing it off?

Any help would be great, this one is frustrating.

How well did you clean the kegs? The cleaner they use initially has a very sweet smell to it... just a guess.

I let the kegs soak in C-Brite and warm water to loosen any debris. Hose out the insides, run the C-Brite through the posts. Hose out again. Spray with Star-San, let sit for a few minutes. Then turn kegs upside down, let loose Star-San come out, then fill keg.

Kegs have been through this process a couple times each.

Flavor will change a lot when carbonated. Flavors and aroma are released with the bubbles of carbonation. What kind of beers are you making? recipes? kits if you're using them?

Yeah, carbonation does change the overall taste of a beer. So does temperature. Depending on the type of beer made, you may want it to sit out for a bit and actually warm up. I have noticed that my IPAs are significantly hoppier when they are closer to 45-55F. Any cooler and the hops really don't shine.

Also, you sure you added the correct amount of bittering hops? Is this a kit that you're making?

It's been all over the place. For example, right now I have a Wit and a Dry Stout that are both in the keezer. Both of those were kits from Austin Homebrew I also have an ESB that did it too, that was a kit from Northern Brewer.

Temperature-wise, I am fermenting most in the high 60's, low 70's, and they are in the keezer carbonating and serving at 45.

I have not aerated any of these. I have not experienced this with the one lager I have done, a schwarzbier.

Are these AG kits or Extract?

Extract w/ grains, all of them.

What was your process for using the grains?

Hop bitterness will diminish over time but, it seems you have this issue fairly quickly after carbonating. If it is only the first few glasses of the keg, it may be yeast settling to the bottom of the keg. Do you use a secondary fermenter?

After comparing the flavor of and American Amber Ale batch post-fermenter to post-carbonation for the first time (I usually brew, keg, store, and drink at my brew partner's house that has a better setup), I was worried before it carbonated that it was going to be cloying. It was pretty sweet and balanced toward the caramel/malt side. Post-carbonation, it actually has a balanced bitterness and a fairly pronounced hop flavor (which is how I designed the recipe). It is very interesting to me the change in flavor that the beer undergoes with carbonation and mine went the opposite way.

IrregularPulse said:

What was your process for using the grains?

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I heat the water to 155F, steep grains for 20-25 minutes in a grain bag, then remove the grain bag, bring wort to a boil and add extract at that point. Pretty standard I think.

Just a quick thought, would a more concentrated boil have anything to do with it? I only boil about two gallons of water to make the wort, and end up diluting in the primary with water.

I usually use a secondary, but I think (after listening to many of Jamil's podcasts, that I will be putting and end to that) that the last beer I made was the last one I use a secondary on.

Your process seems fine.....

gtn80 said:

Just a quick thought, would a more concentrated boil have anything to do with it? I only boil about two gallons of water to make the wort, and end up diluting in the primary with water.

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I think so....go to a late extract method. While it won't give you the same results as a full volume boil, you'll perceive less sweetness than with concentrated boils. At least that was my experience when I was doing all extract/specialty grain beers.

Just make sure to account for the difference in hops utilization with the late extract method.

I will give the late extract method a shot. I have done that a couple times, on beers that I was looking for a lighter color on, but I can't remember if those ones had the malty taste, so it is definitely worth a shot.

Any suggestions on what amount to delay until the late extract addition? Did you go with a set percentage or just on a case by case basis?

gtn80 said:

I will give the late extract method a shot. I have done that a couple times, on beers that I was looking for a lighter color on, but I can't remember if those ones had the malty taste, so it is definitely worth a shot.

Any suggestions on what amount to delay until the late extract addition? Did you go with a set percentage or just on a case by case basis?

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You're essentially trying to do a normal gravity boil. So if you're boiling 2 gallons, I'd probably just boil 35-40% of the extract for the full duration and boil the rest for only 10-15 minutes to sanitize.

If you have another pot that can hold a couple of gallons of wort, I'd prefer just boiling the "late" extract alone in that pot for 15 minutes. That way you don't have to kill your boil on your hopped wort to add the extract while also trying to keep track of boil time for hop additions/utilization.

Thanks for the tip. I think next month I may try to get my hands on pot to handle full boils, just seems to be easier, and eventually when I move to all grain it will be good to have.