Band-Aid Off Taste At The End of A Keg ?

[Mutilated1]

I had a couple of Lagers in Kegs in my fridge, and there was maybe a gallon or less in each keg. Both beers were great so far for the first 4 or more gallons.

Well last weekend, I wanted to keg another beer to drink on the fourth of July, and since I didn't have an empty keg to put it in, I took one of the nearly finished kegs and racked it into the other nearly finished keg. Put it back on the gas and now this weekend when I pour a beer I'm getting the medicine/band-aid off taste in my beer.

Neither one of the beers had an off taste before combining the kegs.

What gives ?

 

[Arkador]

No clue on what is making the taste, but I have to wonder, why do you know what a medicated BandAid tastes like?

 

[Mutilated1]

It tastes the way that Band-Aids smell - lets put it that way. You know what the Doctors office smells like ? that taste.

Neither keg had an off taste before combining them though.

 

[SumnerH]

Do you use tap-water without treating it for chlorine and/or a chlorine-based sanitizer?

From How to Brew:

Medicinal
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

 

[Mutilated1]

Well I do use tap water and I don't usually treat it or try and dechlorinate it or anything.

I suppose that could be the problem, I did run some bleach water through my hose before I racked one keg to the other -- possibly it didn't get rinsed well enough.

Thanks, but it really doesn't matter much anymore - the keg will be gone by tomorrow night if not this evening anyway.

I will make sure I rinse better if I ever try combining kegs again.

 

[SumnerH]

Well I do use tap water and I don't usually treat it or try and dechlorinate it or anything.

I suppose that could be the problem, I did run some bleach water through my hose before I racked one keg to the other -- possibly it didn't get rinsed well enough.

Starsan and iodophor are cheap and you don't need to rinse them, and they don't cause off-flavors like chlorine can.

 

[Bobby_M]

I had the same problem and I think it's infection based. Same beer in two different kegs. One of them sat at 68F for a month while I drank the other one, the second one tasted medicinal/metalic and I had to dump it.