After taste! Why?

[BackyardHB]

Could your kegs lines cause a bad after taste? It seems when I go for a pint the first one taste a little off than my second pint. The flavor is a little bitter! It's a blonde beer that I used .75 Tradition hops (60), .75 Willamette (20) .75 fuggles (5) and .50 Cascade dry hop. Could it be the hop bill or the dry hop? Could I have over hopped the Blonde? Could it be the yeast? I used California V.
Any thoughts?

 

[BryceL]

You might get some better feed back if you describe the off taste a bit. The reason could be any number of things. I've had that before where I had a slight sour taste to my beer but by the time I had 3-4 sips, I wouldn't notice it anymore. I guess my taste buds got use to it. If you are talking about the first pint of a keg and not the first pint of every session, then it could be that you are picking up a good amount of yeast that has settled in the keg.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

More info would be helpful, but I had an experience with my first full-volume-boil (boiling the full amount rather than just three or so gallons) and didn't reduce the first (bittering) hop addition by 20% like you're "supposed" to. Turned out quite a bit more bitter than I'd expected. Alkaline water seems to do it too.

In response to your first question: YES of course nasty keg lines can cause a bad after taste. Clean those suckers.

Also maybe your first pint is sucking up some hop debris / trub with that first pull and you're drinking the dregs!

 

[BackyardHB]

You might get some better feed back if you describe the off taste a bit. The reason could be any number of things. I've had that before where I had a slight sour taste to my beer but by the time I had 3-4 sips, I wouldn't notice it anymore. I guess my taste buds got use to it. If you are talking about the first pint of a keg and not the first pint of every session, then it could be that you are picking up a good amount of yeast that has settled in the keg.

I thought about the yeast being the issue. Not sure but it is aggravating the crap out of me. I am buying new tubes after work. I am hosting poker night tomorrow and I hope the tubes are the issue! Thanks for the feed back.

 

[TopherM]

How long did you ferment (primary + secondary)? How long did you condition?? How long did you carbonate?

I find that the keg line can go about 3 kegs before it needs to be cleaned as long as they are kept cold the whole time. After that, I start getting bacteria in the lines, but it still doesn't particularly contribute to an off flavor in the beer.

 

[BackyardHB]

More info would be helpful, but I had an experience with my first full-volume-boil (boiling the full amount rather than just three or so gallons) and didn't reduce the first (bittering) hop addition by 20% like you're "supposed" to. Turned out quite a bit more bitter than I'd expected. Alkaline water seems to do it too.

In response to your first question: YES of course nasty keg lines can cause a bad after taste. Clean those suckers.

Also maybe your first pint is sucking up some hop debris / trub with that first pull and you're drinking the dregs!

Interesting! I have never thought about that. I am still new to brewing and I thought I was doing the hop schedule correctly! Maybe that is it...

 

[BackyardHB]

How long did you ferment (primary + secondary)? How long did you condition?? How long did you carbonate?

I find that the keg line can go about 3 kegs before it needs to be cleaned as long as they are kept cold the whole time. After that, I start getting bacteria in the lines, but it still doesn't particularly contribute to an off flavor in the beer.

Fermented for 7 days then other 20 days in the secondary.

 

[wpshadowens]

FWIW... Assuming a 5 gallon batch, entering your hop schedule into Beersmith shows the expected ibu's to be 41.4 which is a bit out of style for a Blonde (15 ~ 28). If your SG was on the low end the percieved bitterness could be accentuated even more. The dry hops won't add much in the way of flavor to your beer, they're mainly for aroma.

 

[ISUBrew79]

Could your kegs lines cause a bad after taste? It seems when I go for a pint the first one taste a little off than my second pint. The flavor is a little bitter! It's a blonde beer that I used .75 Tradition hops (60), .75 Willamette (20) .75 fuggles (5) and .50 Cascade dry hop. Could it be the hop bill or the dry hop? Could I have over hopped the Blonde? Could it be the yeast? I used California V.
Any thoughts?

So, when you are having a session of a few beers, the first pint is a little unpleasant, and the next pint you pour is better? If that is the case, I have experienced something similar. Before I pour a pint, I dispense and discard the first 2 or 3 ounces of beer that have been sitting in the lines for a while before pouring the first pint of a session. Despite the fact that beverage tubing is food safe, I find it does contribute some unpleasant character to beer that has been sitting in it for a few days. Of course, my beer lines are two years old, so that could be part of it, too.

 

[beerkrump]

also maybe your first pint is sucking up some hop debris / trub with that first pull and you're drinking the dregs!

+1

Give it a week or two and the yeast will cake and this won't be an issue.

 

[BackyardHB]

FWIW... Assuming a 5 gallon batch, entering your hop schedule into Beersmith shows the expected ibu's to be 41.4 which is a bit out of style for a Blonde (15 ~ 28). If your SG was on the low end the percieved bitterness could be accentuated even more. The dry hops won't add much in the way of flavor to your beer, they're mainly for aroma.

After reviewing everyone's post I am thinking I over shot the bittering hops a little. Plus I did not take into consideration the size of my wort/water amount when adding the first 60 min hops. I will brew this recipe again and lower the hop bill to match a true blonde and take into consideration the size of water minus 20% bittering hips.
Again these are rookie mistakes!!!

 

[heferly]

could always add a little citrus to your beer to calm the bitter...piece of lime or something?

or just serve, and tell everyone it's how it's supposed to be

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

"It's an Extra Special Bitter....and yes it is SUPPOSED to taste like chalk!"

 

[BackyardHB]

could always add a little citrus to your beer to calm the bitter...piece of lime or something?

or just serve, and tell everyone it's how it's supposed to be

Really that would work? Like a orange or something? I might try that. What and how much would up recommend?

 

[heferly]

Not sure how much to add to the keg...i would just have some cut as an option to your buddys