I know this has been discussed numerous times, I am asking for peoples experience with kegging and co2 and flavors.
I primary ferment in a bucket for 3 to 5 days. I transfer to a carboy for 2 weeks, sometimes a few days extra. Once in the keg I set it for 10psi at about 38 Fahrenheit. My cleaning/sanitization is fine, I use ecolox (maybe similar to pbw or oxyclean) for cleaning and aseptox (no rinse ) for sanitizing. I replaced my beer line from a local homebrew store, and changed all orings plus poppet.
I notice once I keg, the first pour is awesome but flat and warm. After 2 days I start to notice an off flavor. I would sometimes leave it a few more days and the flavor fluctuates. Example first pour is great, almost perfect, then as I have more it comes back. But if I leave the keg alone again for a day, the next day its tastes decent / good for the first pour.
I admit I cannot leave the keg alone for 2 or 3 weeks while it matures and would like to know if that could be the reason. I am guessing by pulling a glass here and there during the carbonation process, I end up interrupting it with the pressure fluctuation. I just poured myself a half pint and it was almost as good as when I kegged it. I poured another half pint and I had that off flavor again. Also I noticed how the first half pint always has way more head and tastes better. So with this less tasty second half pint, I swirled it quite a bit and got a decent head, and slowly the taste got better.
I question my Co2, but also I question my impatience and the effect its having on the beer. I Would like to know other peoples input cause if I have to wait, I cannot understand how some people drink from their kegs after a few days of force carbonation. I find the flavors are off / gross, but it seems even after three weeks I can still experience mild off flavor, but definately better. Sadly I never had a keg survive longer then 3 1/2 weeks.
I primary ferment in a bucket for 3 to 5 days. I transfer to a carboy for 2 weeks, sometimes a few days extra. Once in the keg I set it for 10psi at about 38 Fahrenheit. My cleaning/sanitization is fine, I use ecolox (maybe similar to pbw or oxyclean) for cleaning and aseptox (no rinse ) for sanitizing. I replaced my beer line from a local homebrew store, and changed all orings plus poppet.
I notice once I keg, the first pour is awesome but flat and warm. After 2 days I start to notice an off flavor. I would sometimes leave it a few more days and the flavor fluctuates. Example first pour is great, almost perfect, then as I have more it comes back. But if I leave the keg alone again for a day, the next day its tastes decent / good for the first pour.
I admit I cannot leave the keg alone for 2 or 3 weeks while it matures and would like to know if that could be the reason. I am guessing by pulling a glass here and there during the carbonation process, I end up interrupting it with the pressure fluctuation. I just poured myself a half pint and it was almost as good as when I kegged it. I poured another half pint and I had that off flavor again. Also I noticed how the first half pint always has way more head and tastes better. So with this less tasty second half pint, I swirled it quite a bit and got a decent head, and slowly the taste got better.
I question my Co2, but also I question my impatience and the effect its having on the beer. I Would like to know other peoples input cause if I have to wait, I cannot understand how some people drink from their kegs after a few days of force carbonation. I find the flavors are off / gross, but it seems even after three weeks I can still experience mild off flavor, but definately better. Sadly I never had a keg survive longer then 3 1/2 weeks.