Beer tastes bitter after several days

[dan46nbrew]

A few weeks ago I went to a local craft brewery and bought 3 kegs. An oatmeal chocolate stout, doppelbach, and an IPA like beer. Set it up to about 12psi with food grade CO2. The first day they were all great, spot on. The next day I noticed the stout was a little bitter but not that noticeable. 2 weeks later I can't even finish a full glass of any of the three, they are so bitter I can't take it. The lines were new and sanitized with star san. I'm going to call the brewery and see what they say. Theres also another taste imparted to the beer I can't quite describe. Any ideas?

 

[day_trippr]

What type of beer lines are you using? Some folks are sensitive to a "plastic" character imparted by (especially brand new) solid vinyl tubing - which is fairly generic. If that's what you're picking up it might be worth switching to a PET barrier tubing such as Bev Seal Ultra Series 235.;

Otherwise, would "bitter" be synonymous with "carbonic acid bite"? I can't imagine what else could happen so rapidly (even that is a bit of a stretch)...

Cheers!

 

[dan46nbrew]

What type of beer lines are you using? Some folks are sensitive to a "plastic" character imparted by (especially brand new) solid vinyl tubing - which is fairly generic. If that's what you're picking up it might be worth switching to a PET barrier tubing such as Bev Seal Ultra Series 235.;

Otherwise, would "bitter" be synonymous with "carbonic acid bite"? I can't imagine what else could happen so rapidly (even that is a bit of a stretch)...

Cheers!

Its Micromatic vinyl line.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, so are you noting a plastic character - or something else?

 

[dan46nbrew]

Ok, so are you noting a plastic character - or something else?

Its definitely much more bitter, a friend tried some and thought it was also bitter. The other taste I wouldn't say is plastic, its an off flavor, can't really describe it. The kegerator had vinyl lines when I bought it I think maybe 5 feet? When I changed the lines I set them to 10 feet to reduce foaming. Maybe more beer is sitting in the line giving more of this off flavor? I have some Bev Seal Ultra, may be time to swap it out and see if it makes a difference...

 

[day_trippr]

Well you seem to have been doing all the right things, it might be worth switching one line to the Ultra and see where that leads.
The whole "bitter" thing remains a mystery from this end, and without some characterization of your off note it's difficult to follow up...

Cheers!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Two unlikely possibilities -
1. Brett infection. Brett gives a bitterness that I think of as tobacco or ash like. Could the other flavour also be from Brett? If you're not sure what it's like, get someone familiar with Brett to try it.
2. Could you have got some oxygen into the kegs? Malt bitterness from oxygenation can be unpleasant, although I doubt you'd notice it that much in those (big) beers. Did the CO2 line have air in it (rather than purged with CO2) when you first connected the kegs?