Kegged Beer Gone Bad

[muse435]

Last year do to several reasons I took some time of brewing and using my keezer. Because you I was lazy I did not clean my lines properly before storage. When I kegged my first batch back I replaced the line since stuff had started to grow in the old ones. I broke everything down soaked in oxi clean, sanitized, then reassembled.

Now on to my problem. The beer I brewed was a honey ale that ended up way too sweet to the point I was not a fan and didn't drink any after the initial taste 2-3 weeks ago until last night. The taste is now completely different, kind of sour with no sweetness. It could be that fermentation restarted ( I don't think so because it had a 2month primary followed by sitting in the keezer only connected to the co2 for another 2 months before tasting). Is it possible that what ever started to grow in the lines/quick disconnect infected my beer? Should you replace the quick connect, faucet o-rings, and lines after an infection?

 

[JBIII]

Did you take a final gravity reading after fermentation was complete? If so, grab some of the beer flatten it out completely and then take another reading to see if there is a difference.

And how about your keg? Did you give that a thorough cleaning before using it again, dipstick and all? Also try depressurizing your keg and sampling directly from the keg. If the beer in your keg is bad, it's more likely a problem with the keg itself or something happened prior to kegging...

 

[mrbrew]

When you kegged the beer did you purge the air out of the keg with co2 after you put the beer in?

 

[Yooper]

Is it possible that what ever started to grow in the lines/quick disconnect infected my beer? Should you replace the quick connect, faucet o-rings, and lines after an infection?

Yes, although running BLC through the lines, rinsing, and then sanitizing the lines and faucets by running star-san through it should be sufficient.

 

[muse435]

I disassembled everything and gave it a good cleaning and sanitizing. Im about to go to work so ill pull a sample to allow it time to flatten and rise up to room temp then i will re check the SG tonight.

Yes I purged.

Yooper, I will then try your idea. In your opinion is hooking up a new line sufficient or should i actually open up the keg.

 

[Yooper]

I disassembled everything and gave it a good cleaning and sanitizing. Im about to go to work so ill pull a sample to allow it time to flatten and rise up to room temp then i will re check the SG tonight.

Yes I purged.

Yooper, I will then try your idea. In your opinion is hooking up a new line sufficient or should i actually open up the keg.

The keg should be fine, assuming it was broken down and clean and sanitized and new o-rings put on as needed. If the faucets are contaminated, that can make the beer taste bad out of the tap, but the beer inside the keg should taste fine.