• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Beer tastes like water after kegging

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brewin_Sparty

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
10
Reaction score
2
Hey guys,

I brewed a caramel amber about a month ago. When I kegged it last week, I tried a sample and it was fantastic. It was bold, full-bodied, and had a great aroma. I tried my first pour of it today off of the new keezer, and it tastes like water. I am so confused. It was so good a week ago! It was not watery in the least when I kegged it. Any ideas of why it tastes watery now?

TIA!
 
carbonation and temperature are a possibility. I assume your sample was warm with no carbonation?
 
Might of had water in the line .Pour another and see what you got .
 
That is correct. So there is nothing that I can do?

Not much other than the obvious. Unless you have a nitro tap. I expect the beer would be much improved served this way.

Or you can enjoy it as a refreshing session beer and move on to the next one.
 
If it's mainly hop aroma you're missing, you can throw a couple ounces of whole hops in a weighted, sanitized bag, and add them to the keg.

This has become my standard procedure for anything hoppy -- it really freshens up aromas that tend to get a little weak in the keg.
 
Hold on - it's probably just green and maybe not fully carbed yet. I'd definitely give it some more time. Heck, most of my beers don't really hit their stride until they've been on the gas at serving pressure for two weeks, sometimes more.

(Just because I made this mistake recently: the gas is turned on, right?)
 
Hold on - it's probably just green and maybe not fully carbed yet. I'd definitely give it some more time. Heck, most of my beers don't really hit their stride until they've been on the gas at serving pressure for two weeks, sometimes more.

(Just because I made this mistake recently: the gas is turned on, right?)

flavor should not fade so quickly. Hop aroma and other aromas can fade over time but I would wait, make sure it's cold and fully carbed, condition for a week or so, drain a few pints and see if it gets better.
Water in line/diptube could be result of beer tasting "watery" but that should disappear after first pint or so.

By the way, if the beer is served too cold, like 32F, it may seem like it has less body/flavor, since cold beer numbs the receptors on your tongue. Make sure you wait for the beer to warm up again in the glass then taste again.
 
If it's mainly hop aroma you're missing, you can throw a couple ounces of whole hops in a weighted, sanitized bag, and add them to the keg.

This has become my standard procedure for anything hoppy -- it really freshens up aromas that tend to get a little weak in the keg.

That's actually a damn fine idea. :rockin:
 
Hold on - it's probably just green and maybe not fully carbed yet. I'd definitely give it some more time. Heck, most of my beers don't really hit their stride until they've been on the gas at serving pressure for two weeks, sometimes more.

(Just because I made this mistake recently: the gas is turned on, right?)

I'm hoping that is the case. And yes, the gas is on
 
Back
Top