I'm coming back from a brewing hiatus with ~2/5 batches being drinkable/decent one was a Founders KBS clone recipe from BYO and the other was a relatively simple raspberry wheat beer.
In my return to brewing, I built a keezer. Brewed an amber ale. Tasted PERFECT after fermentation was over.
Soaked the keg for a few hours upright, then the same upside down in PBW. Rinsed. the keg had already been cleaned prior to purchase. I also removed the lid/posts and dropped them in the solution. I DID NOT remove the o-rings and poppets, however.
Mixed 5 gallon batch of star san and filled the keg. Shook vigorously. Let sit upright and upside down for ~20 mins each. Sanitized posts, dip tube, etc as well.
Used C02 to push the starsan our of the keg into a bucket for sanitizing other items. Burped the keg a few times.
I then racked to the keg, pressurized and burped about 5 times, then set to 12 psi to condition. I snuck a taste from the tap after a few days, and the beer had a metallic/harsh taste. Thought it was carbonic bite and released all pressure. Recarbonated and same thing.
Now it tastes like solvent/jet fuel and I'm pretty sure it got infected and is a dumper.
I have already purchased another keg and a 4-way manifold, but am extremely discouraged by this experience. I have a witbier brewing right now that should be ready in ~1.5 weeks, but now I am afraid it will suffer the same fate.
Ultimately, I would be really ashamed if the beer got infected because of something that I neglected to clean/sanitize sufficiently. Key suspects are the liquid dip tube which I did not use a brush on, o-rings which I soaked but did not remove, or my actual racking siphon itself which received a quick clean and sanitize but may have benefitted from more attention.
Any advice/input? Really down after this one.
In my return to brewing, I built a keezer. Brewed an amber ale. Tasted PERFECT after fermentation was over.
Soaked the keg for a few hours upright, then the same upside down in PBW. Rinsed. the keg had already been cleaned prior to purchase. I also removed the lid/posts and dropped them in the solution. I DID NOT remove the o-rings and poppets, however.
Mixed 5 gallon batch of star san and filled the keg. Shook vigorously. Let sit upright and upside down for ~20 mins each. Sanitized posts, dip tube, etc as well.
Used C02 to push the starsan our of the keg into a bucket for sanitizing other items. Burped the keg a few times.
I then racked to the keg, pressurized and burped about 5 times, then set to 12 psi to condition. I snuck a taste from the tap after a few days, and the beer had a metallic/harsh taste. Thought it was carbonic bite and released all pressure. Recarbonated and same thing.
Now it tastes like solvent/jet fuel and I'm pretty sure it got infected and is a dumper.
I have already purchased another keg and a 4-way manifold, but am extremely discouraged by this experience. I have a witbier brewing right now that should be ready in ~1.5 weeks, but now I am afraid it will suffer the same fate.
Ultimately, I would be really ashamed if the beer got infected because of something that I neglected to clean/sanitize sufficiently. Key suspects are the liquid dip tube which I did not use a brush on, o-rings which I soaked but did not remove, or my actual racking siphon itself which received a quick clean and sanitize but may have benefitted from more attention.
Any advice/input? Really down after this one.