BJCP and Diacetyl

[dmtaylor]

Update: so I opened one of the bottles I had submitted (bottled extra), and I do in fact get a very strong butter aroma. But the same exact beer from the keg, I am not getting any of that. What gives?

Hmm! Well! This is indeed interesting. How did you bottle? Did you use priming sugar, or did you bottle from the keg? Yeast eats diacetyl. If you have a little yeast in the keg, but none in the bottles, that could explain the difference. Could also be a temperature differential thing? Are the bottles at cellar temperature, or room temperature, or are they refrigerated cold? In any case, warming up diacetyl should help the yeast eat it eventually with age. But, if the yeast is gone and/or dead, the diacetyl could be locked in for a very long time or forever.

Hmm.

 

[KarmaCitra]

I bottled using a beer gun straight from the keg. The bottles were chiled overnight, sanitized right before bottling. Could it be possible that I didn't purge enough oxygen from the bottles?

 

[dmtaylor]

This wouldn't be an oxygen thing. It could be a lack of live yeast thing though.

 

[Smellyglove]

It tastes like a completely different beer too. Could diacetyl be caused by some sort of bottling error?

Do you have some descriptors in how it tastes like a completely different beer?

 

[KarmaCitra]

This wouldn't be an oxygen thing. It could be a lack of live yeast thing though.

So perhaps when I bottled, I didn't get any yeast into the bottles, but the keg would potentially still have some?

 

[KarmaCitra]

Do you have some descriptors in how it tastes like a completely different beer?

The one that was bottled has a more pronounced bite to it, and I'm getting the diacetyl almost immediately on the nose. The one from the keg is much smoother and just malty.

 

[ba-brewer]

I would take apart the beer gun along with the disconnects and give it all a thorough cleaning.

Where did you get the bottles and what did you do for cleaning?

If the bottled beer is more carbonated then the kegged beer then something is going on in your bottle. If you still have some bottles left leave some at room for a while and see if the flavor gets better or worst. Better maybe the original yeast was not done when kegged and restarted in the bottle then got turned off before cleanup. Worst it is something else working in the bottle.

 

[KarmaCitra]

I would take apart the beer gun along with the disconnects and give it all a thorough cleaning.

Where did you get the bottles and what did you do for cleaning?

If the bottled beer is more carbonated then the kegged beer then something is going on in your bottle. If you still have some bottles left leave some at room for a while and see if the flavor gets better or worst. Better maybe the original yeast was not done when kegged and restarted in the bottle then got turned off before cleanup. Worst it is something else working in the bottle.

I'll admit, I haven't been the most diligent in cleaning the beer gun. Heavy rinse with hot water, then sanitizer through it before bottling. I'll try to take it apart.

Bottles are ones I recycled and soaked them in hot OxiClean. Then heavy rinse with clean water.

I'll try to leave one at room temp and see what happens.

 

[Yooper]

So perhaps when I bottled, I didn't get any yeast into the bottles, but the keg would potentially still have some?

No way. The yeast "clean up" thing occurs within about 24 hours of the beer reaching FG. It will not happen in the keg at cold temperatures, or in the bottles.

Pediococcus is an infection that is often present in beerlines and equipment- and causes diacetyl. It's got to be the beergun.

 

[dmtaylor]

They may be right. I don't use a beergun. But I do know any rubber or plastic parts or deep crevices can harbor wild critters.

 

[KarmaCitra]

So it sounds like perhaps my beergun is in order for a deep clean.

 

[ba-brewer]

cant hurt

Seems like your cleaning of the bottles was reasonable, oxiclean soak followed by a good rinse then into the sanitizer. Would also think if it was the bottles it could be more hit and miss.

I do the "We don't need no sticking beer gun" approach even though I have a counter pressure filler. Less stuff to clean and has been working just fine. I have stopped chilling my bottles just clean, sanitize then fill using serving pressure.