keg infection - when to dump?

[dbrewski]

Is it possible to get an infection in a keg even though the beer is fermented and has alcohol in it?

I have this keg of pale ale, using a whitbread yeast. I made several different types of beer with the whitbread and they all turned out crappy tasting, even duplicating recipes I've made with other yeasts and keeping the brewing/fermenting parameters the same. I have since decided I just don't like whitbread, but none of them came out like this.

This last keg tasted not great when I kegged it, but I chalked it up to the "I don't like Whitbread, why did I use it?" thing. I dry hopped it and put it in the keezer and hoped for the best. Two weeks later, the taste is worse. I actually get a scent or taste of solvent or oil. The beer is way cloudier than it should be at this point (it has been six weeks since the brew date). It sure seems like more of an infection than high ferment temps or whatever How To Brew says it was.

Thoughts?

 

[the75]

When's the last time you've cleaned your lines? A friend of mine had mold growing in the lines & all beer tasted bad...

 

[worksnorth]

I'll tell you what.. when I first started brewing I was using poor quality ingredients and got poor quality results. I'm not saying you are by any means.
But if the beer was crap I dumped it. If in the future I make a beer that tastes like solvent or oil I'm gonna dump it. I'll try to figure out what the heck happened but it's gone.
Good luck man!

 

[dbrewski]

When's the last time you've cleaned your lines? A friend of mine had mold growing in the lines & all beer tasted bad...

Quick explanation, I have a kegerator fridge in my house with taps thru the door, and a freezer in the garage with temp control. I use the freezer to store and carb kegs, but there is no tap there.

I took a picnic tap on a 10' line to the garage to sample the four kegs currently stored there. I had just run oxy thru it then let it sit for a couple of hours because it did have visible crap in it. I just got the tap back from a party where I brought a keg, it has been a week since the party. I then rinsed it out, it seemed clear. Could this cause off-flavors even when beer is not really sitting in it for any length of time?

What should I do other than soak in oxy/star san?

 

[the75]

Quick explanation, I have a kegerator fridge in my house with taps thru the door, and a freezer in the garage with temp control. I use the freezer to store and carb kegs, but there is no tap there.

I took a picnic tap on a 10' line to the garage to sample the four kegs currently stored there. I had just run oxy thru it then let it sit for a couple of hours because it did have visible crap in it. I just got the tap back from a party where I brought a keg, it has been a week since the party. I then rinsed it out, it seemed clear. Could this cause off-flavors even when beer is not really sitting in it for any length of time?

What should I do other than soak in oxy/star san?

It sounds like your lines might not be the issue, but if you want to be safe, here is an older thread on cleaning mold from lines: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/mold-my-keg-lines-258573/
Someone even mentions having moisture/mold issues with their keezer if their taps are stored in there too.
There's another product called cleanflo that you can try.
Hope that helps. Good luck.