Bare with me here Please this will be a bit long but really need some more input, I'm gonna have to dump four new kegs I think and you guys have been a great source of help and info!!
So I'm having major issues with my beer lately. getting a really bad metallic bite to them the longer they sit. I was really suspecting carbonic acid and that maybe I was over carbing but I've been doing set and forget at 12 psi and still having issues that increase, not decrease, the longer the kegs sit in the fridge. Burping does not seem to help.
I have several examples as to why I think/thought it may be over carbonation.
1) I kegged an IPA last week. Set it at 12psi, three days later it was carbed perfectly and tasted great (which is very fast!??) a week after that it's loosing flavor and developing significant metallic bite.
2) I had an English brown kegged at 8psi it sat for two weeks and tasted great. I turned it up to 12 psi and within three to four days it has now lost its flavor and developed significant metallic bite
After these facts last night I was convinced I was over carbing but I'm only at 12 psi like everyone recommends! I am at 7000' elevation though, could this affect things in this area at all?
Now this is what brings me to suspecting my water. Last night I was tasting all my beers they all had that metallic bite. Some had it BAD- undrinkable. I get to work this morning and I bring a 5 gallon plastic better bottle of water to work every week or so because the drinking water at work sucks and mine tasted better when straight from the tap. This time I was slow drinking the water and it's been setting for maybe eight days. Not thinking about it I pull a glass of water to drink and boom. There's that metallic taste. It was subtle but definitely there.
I have brewed beers that tasted great. The thing is though those kegs got drank relatively soon, almost right away. These kegs tasted fine right away too, as does the water I bring to work. When it's fresh from the tap it tastes great, after a week I get metallic tastes forming.
SO .... I have a 10 gallon batch in my fermenter for now brewed with my straight tap water. I'm going to keg it and put it on low psi. That should tell me whether or not carbonation is a factor..... I think.
So then moving on to water. I do have an r/o filter I could use, or I could use bottled water from the store for a test batch. I think I might just go get bottled water for this batch to confirm or rule out water as a culprit. From there I may look to building water from scratch.
If you guys have ANY suggestions whatsoever I'm all ears. My brew kettles are stainless steel, I have been storing starsan in my kegs (which I'm not going to do anymore I've decided, just in case), and I don't go over 170 on mash out. I try my best not to oxidize the beer but I do cold crash which could be pulling air in the airlock bung when I remove it but I rack the beer directly to the keg as gently as possible and immediately purge the O2 from the headspace.
Gonna have to dump four freaking kegs I guess and put everything on hold until I get this figured out!
Thoughts? Maybe it's a combination of over carb and water?
So I'm having major issues with my beer lately. getting a really bad metallic bite to them the longer they sit. I was really suspecting carbonic acid and that maybe I was over carbing but I've been doing set and forget at 12 psi and still having issues that increase, not decrease, the longer the kegs sit in the fridge. Burping does not seem to help.
I have several examples as to why I think/thought it may be over carbonation.
1) I kegged an IPA last week. Set it at 12psi, three days later it was carbed perfectly and tasted great (which is very fast!??) a week after that it's loosing flavor and developing significant metallic bite.
2) I had an English brown kegged at 8psi it sat for two weeks and tasted great. I turned it up to 12 psi and within three to four days it has now lost its flavor and developed significant metallic bite
After these facts last night I was convinced I was over carbing but I'm only at 12 psi like everyone recommends! I am at 7000' elevation though, could this affect things in this area at all?
Now this is what brings me to suspecting my water. Last night I was tasting all my beers they all had that metallic bite. Some had it BAD- undrinkable. I get to work this morning and I bring a 5 gallon plastic better bottle of water to work every week or so because the drinking water at work sucks and mine tasted better when straight from the tap. This time I was slow drinking the water and it's been setting for maybe eight days. Not thinking about it I pull a glass of water to drink and boom. There's that metallic taste. It was subtle but definitely there.
I have brewed beers that tasted great. The thing is though those kegs got drank relatively soon, almost right away. These kegs tasted fine right away too, as does the water I bring to work. When it's fresh from the tap it tastes great, after a week I get metallic tastes forming.
SO .... I have a 10 gallon batch in my fermenter for now brewed with my straight tap water. I'm going to keg it and put it on low psi. That should tell me whether or not carbonation is a factor..... I think.
So then moving on to water. I do have an r/o filter I could use, or I could use bottled water from the store for a test batch. I think I might just go get bottled water for this batch to confirm or rule out water as a culprit. From there I may look to building water from scratch.
If you guys have ANY suggestions whatsoever I'm all ears. My brew kettles are stainless steel, I have been storing starsan in my kegs (which I'm not going to do anymore I've decided, just in case), and I don't go over 170 on mash out. I try my best not to oxidize the beer but I do cold crash which could be pulling air in the airlock bung when I remove it but I rack the beer directly to the keg as gently as possible and immediately purge the O2 from the headspace.
Gonna have to dump four freaking kegs I guess and put everything on hold until I get this figured out!
Thoughts? Maybe it's a combination of over carb and water?