Welding CO2

When I last went in to get more CO2 they made me exchange my tank for one that they already had filled - now my beer tastes funny

could there be something wrong with the tank or the CO2 that came from Airgas???

unlikely. They use the same processes for both (it's more economical for them).

what about the tank? it has rust on the outside by the neck, cold the inside be corroded?

blowmax10 said:

When I last went in to get more CO2 they made me exchange my tank for one that they already had filled - now my beer tastes funny

could there be something wrong with the tank or the CO2 that came from Airgas???

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Hmm... I'm not sure what funny tastes like. Could you describe?

HomebrewJeff said:

Hmm... I'm not sure what funny tastes like. Could you describe?

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the worst one is a metallic after taste

all my bottled batches come out great but my kegs have been so bad recently that I don't even want to use them anymore

I don't know enough about the subject except to say that mistakes happen and it is possible that someone filled the tank with the wrong gas. Not sure how you test for CO2 vs a different gas, hopefully someone has an answer on that. Bringing back to have it checked would be a good idea if you are concerned - it should not "taste funny".

blowmax10 said:

what about the tank? it has rust on the outside by the neck, cold the inside be corroded?

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I doubt it, rust is a form of oxidation, even when empty the tank still retains enough CO2 to prevent air from entering.

I'm really getting frustrated

My beer has really been turning out bad - completely undrinkable

Bottle your next batch, or at least a dozen or so bottles of it, just to make sure it is the kegs/gas. If there are still issues, it could be your water, a contaminated piece of equipment, etc.

Or here is another idea. Get one of those one shot things and try that. It would be less expensive than almost any other option.

LooyvilleLarry said:

Or here is another idea. Get one of those one shot things and try that. It would be less expensive than almost any other option.

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I have one of those and while they are good when using to take a keg out somewhere, they are only economical to use for dispensing and not carbonating.

Some people have reported getting bad CO2. Most likely the tank itself is contaminated and that is transferring to the beer. I'd take it back and tell them the problem. If there is oil in the tank, this is rather dangerous for welders. At the very least, I'd swap for another tank. The welding shop I use always swaps tanks. I took in two old steel tanks and they gave me nice shiny aluminum ones. They save the steel tanks for the guys who insist on having them.

boo boo said:

I have one of those and while they are good when using to take a keg out somewhere, they are only economical to use for dispensing and not carbonating.

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Yeah, I meant as a test of the CO2/Tank, but I wouldn't want to do that on more than one batch!

Force carbonate some plain water in a very clean, well sanitized keg. If it tastes terrible after carbonating, you've narrowed down the source of your problem.

Whiskey said:

Bottle your next batch, or at least a dozen or so bottles of it, just to make sure it is the kegs/gas. If there are still issues, it could be your water, a contaminated piece of equipment, etc.

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it could be the water - I live in Missouri and the water here is really alkaline, I have recently switched to brewing with all distilled to see what happens

Yuri_Rage said:

Force carbonate some plain water in a very clean, well sanitized keg. If it tastes terrible after carbonating, you've narrowed down the source of your problem.

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That's a REALLY good idea

blowmax10 said:

it could be the water - I live in Missouri and the water here is really alkaline, I have recently switched to brewing with all distilled to see what happens

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I've heard that using only distilled water is pretty rough in terms of yeast nutrients. Everything I've heard says to stear clear of Distilled and just get Spring or some other mineral water.

ClutchDude said:

I've heard that using only distilled water is pretty rough in terms of yeast nutrients. Everything I've heard says to stear clear of Distilled and just get Spring or some other mineral water.

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Yes, some places of MO have some water that must have been filter via Satans Colon. My grandmother used to live in Pineville MO (SW corner), and the sulpher level would drive you nuts. This was a long time ago, but I remembered that the EPA shut the entire water system down for a couple of weeks.

If you use distilled, you really have to add some brewing salts (gypsum, kosher salt) to bring the profile up. Otherwise, you will have a very flat beer with little mouthfeel. Springwater or a mix of spring water and RO/Distilled is a good choice. I do this on special brews, and I have good water here.

Be sure that you didn't get welding gas, which is a mix. I always tell them I want only CO2, it's for beer. There is enough people getting it here for their beer that they know what to do.

I think that mix gas is CO2 and Argon. 75/25

just tossing out a random idea because I've done it once or twice... any chance the beers are just overcarbed? Overcarbing beers in kegs will give a pretty nasty (IMO) "carbonic bite" taste that is similar (again... IMO) to the metalic taste you're describing.

Try simply pouring a beer... stirring it with a fork to get some of the carbonation out of it and then try it again.

Like I was saying, everyone once in a while I'll force carb at 30 lbs overnight because I wanted it ready for the next day and then some sort of firedrill took place and I wasn't bale ot get the beer off that pressure for a couple of days... and it'll end up overcarbed with a nasty bite to it.

I just take it off the gas, release some pressure, shake it up a little bit to release some carbonation in the beer... release again... and bring the carbonation level down to where it is supposed to be.

At the very least it is an easy test.