Black flecks in my glass?

[maconmatt]

I've been kegging my beers now for probably 6 batches and have noticed something in my last two that I haven't come across before. There seems to be small, black flecks of something floating in my glass. I've looked very close at them, but i can't make out what they would be? Could it be hop pellet particles? I'm pretty sure after a few pours from the keg...they disappear.

Also, I flush my lines with cleaner after every empty keg...and these kegs have only seen 2-3 beers in them.

I've attached a few photos to show what I mean. Any ideas?

 

[Brewfat]

Maybe pieces from your poppet or an o-ring.

 

[rycov]

anything wierd in the beer ingredient wise? i know i used a vanilla bean in a cider once, started pulling from the keg and had black specks in it. figured out it was vanilla seeds. it stopped after a pint or two

 

[Balue]

Maybe pieces from your poppet or an o-ring.

One of my thoughts as well, also build up or debris in the dip tubes or top of the inside of the keg that is not easily seen or cleaned. No matter how much we run the dip tube brush through or scrub the inside top we still can not see to verify all is clear.

 

[TopherM]

Looks like burnt extract from your boil. Are these extract batches?

 

[rycov]

i would still drink it, if that helps.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Clean your faucets between batches, they look like dried beer flecks off sides of the shaft. Or get perlicks

 

[DrHops]

I agree with beaksnbeer. I used to have this problem before I switched to my Perlicks. If you can't afford to switch, try taking apart your faucet and giving it a good cleaning.

 

[maconmatt]

I have Perlicks and I run cleaner through them after every spent keg. Also, the flecks just dissolve when I touch them. And the beer tasted completely fine. I'm thinking it was just debrit from the bottom. Had a party and they disappeared after the first couple of pints.

Also, no crazy ingredients and I do AG.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Scruffy1207]

i would still drink it, if that helps.

This. Also, maybe it's dried soda that was in the keg before you bought it and it finally came out, when I failed my keg with hot water and flipped it upside down to make sure that I put everything on right, black flakes came out in small and large pieces that broke upon touch. Beer is fine imo, drink! Also when you kick the keg filly disassemble and clean thoroughly with oxyclean.

Edit: filled my keg* stupid swype

 

[maconmatt]

This. Also, maybe it's dried soda that was in the keg before you bought it and it finally came out, when I failed my keg with hot water and flipped it upside down to make sure that I put everything on right, black flakes came out in small and large pieces that broke upon touch. Beer is fine imo, drink! Also when you kick the keg filly disassemble and clean thoroughly with oxyclean.

Edit: filled my keg* stupid swype

Thanks! That's kinda what i was thinking.

 

[unionrdr]

Since you do AG,I'm going to agree with scruffy. Sounds like that's it to me.

 

[QuaffableQuips]

I saw the same thing right after I switched to AG. It was flecks of the black paint that burned off my brand new turkey fryer and landed in the boiling wort courtesy of a light breeze.

Yours spots sound keg-related, but wanted to throw that possibility out there just in case you acquired a new burner recently.

 

[JoePro]

Is your water coming from a tap? Looks like a piece of charcoal from a faucet filter.

 

[Sweetchuck]

Maybe this is an opportunity for a new marketing campaign.

Blackschlager.

 

[dogbrew]

I was getting black flecks, flakes, particles, in my glass, they look exactly like the photos you posted. I didn't find a definitely answer online but I did discover the reason I was getting them (so I post this for anyone else who is looking for an answer).

I feel like an idiot now, but I had no idea the picnic tap could be completely disassembled. I was opening it up, rinsing, soaking in PWB, soaking in Star-San, and it all "looked" clean. But I finally discovered that the "cap" on the top of the picnic tap will unscrew, and you'll have the base (the path that the beer flows through) in one hand, and the stopper and lever in the other.

Immediately I could see that the stopper was caked in the black flakes that were showing up in my beer. It looks like just dried up old beer gunk. It flakes off exactly like the particles that were ending up in my glass.

Further exploration discovered that with a little upward pressure on the base of the stopper, you can slide the top lever forward, which detaches it from the plunger/stopper and completely disassembles the whole top of the tap. Then you are left with the plunger/stopper itself (an elastic rubbery material where almost all of my gunk was), a spring, the top lever, and the round cap.

Completely disassembled and easy to reassemble. If I had known this, I would have disassembled every time I kegged. As cheap as picnic taps are, it would not be unreasonable to just buy a new one, but my home brew store is an hour away and not exactly convenient. So this is a good solution for me until I can get to the store on other business.

I hope this helps someone else.

 

[dallasdb]

Do you use a counter flow chiller or plate chiller?

Could be dried up hop particulate stuck inside your chiller.

My buddies borrowed my plate chiller and didn't flush it well. Next batch had black flecks that were from the chiller.

 

[ooom416354]

Hi all I have a kegerator which during new years poured some black specks in the beer just like the original post from 2011. I have a micromatic cleaning system which I ran it through before tapping the new keg and I still get this. It has been going on for a bit now with a few kegs. Beer tastes fine. At this point I'm not sure what to do.

Is there any cleaning product I can purchase which would fix this issue? Also is there a product to clean the sankey itself?

Also I was looking to replace the entire beer line and gas line with the ball lock connectors to the sankey as well as the faucet with one which can limit excess foam. Does anyone recommend any products to maybe help make the connections easier?

Thanks everyone!