Flavor profile changing while in keg

[Ultima]

I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere on here, but I really DO try to take advantage of the search feature before starting a new thread!

I kegged a saison probably 2.5 or 3 weeks ago, I let it sit on 30 PSI for a couple days and then backed down to 12ish, and from the very first one I had, it tasted overly sweet with a fairly thick mouthfeel. I attributed this to using WLP 565 which isn't known for great attenuation and sluggish performance (1.018 from 1.057 in 40 days at 88 degrees..), but JUST today, this beer went from "okay, not bad for my first saison" to "WOW". It finally turned out to be everything I hoped it would be.

I guess I just want to know what happened between then and now to make it improve so drastically. It doesn't have the thickness or sweetness it did before. I can tell it's a little more carbonated than when I poured my first one, so if that's a major factor, should I shake it up a bit more at serving pressure to begin with? I know unfermentables can contribute to body, but I though that as they were longer-chain carbohydrates they didn't contribute much to a sweetness, and the short carbohydrates only get metabolized by yeast, which shouldn't be active when my beer is at 38 degrees F!

Cutting a long post short, what is going on here? CO2 headspace volume? Just time? Full carbonation offsetting sweetness and thickness? What are the variables at play here, and is there any way I can get this to happen in oh..4 or 5 days instead of 2 or 3 weeks?

 

[cheezydemon3]

I assume it is chilled.

Kegging, unfortunately, is basically lagering. Any long cold storage will drop particles out of suspension.

This is "clearing" the beer, but it is also dropping flavor, mouthfeel, and other compounds out of the beer.

 

[rycov]

+1

also co2 does really affect the way a beer tastes. and the beer will always be changing. and for a long time it will be getting better, though it does usually reach a peak where it starts to fade. the timing depends on the beer, a bigger beer will age better. but if you can make this keg last a month or so, it will taste a lot different then than it does now. i usually find the last couple of beers are the best. usually i just do the set and forget method of carbing. its usually good at a week and great at two. cheers! and congrats on making great beer!

 

[Flywheel]

I assume it is chilled.

Kegging, unfortunately, is basically lagering. Any long cold storage will drop particles out of suspension.

This is "clearing" the beer, but it is also dropping flavor, mouthfeel, and other compounds out of the beer.

Wouldn't bottling be lagering then too?

I would attribute the change in taste to the aging of the beer. Homebrew changes over time, it changes differently depending on style and depending on length of time.

 

[Ultima]

I cold-crash for a couple days, at least one, before racking into the keg. I try to quick-carb without over-carbing, and even if the beer does feel and taste right a couple days after kegging, it doesn't seem to matter what style or strength it is, it just turns to absolute gold after 2 weeks, pretty consistently. For what it's worth, this saison is still slightly cloudy even after being in the keg that long, so it's not like all the yeast is totally dropping out. I'm baffled and delighted...such is the experience with most of my brewing thus far!

 

[garae10]

Hi.
Well let's first say that about a year ago, i started reading some threads about beer clearing and wether beer had to be filtered or not.
I bought myself some filters and used them. I built a keggerator and i use it a lot now, friends come over a lot and drink huge amounts of beer. Last time they came, i just had brewed Orfy's mild ale. I put the beer on tap and we drank about 2.5 gallons.
It has been a week and a half since that happened and my friends will visit me on thursday. I just sampled some of the orfy's mild and all the sweet/chocolate/caramel aroma was gone. I can just taste the hop profile, which was very pleasant in combination with the other flavors, but now my beer has lost it's body and a lot of flavor.
What can I do????
I see that everyone likes how the beer changes with time and low temps, but i don't!!!!
any advice?

 

[dirtybear7]

Try bringing up the fridge temps. The colder the beer is the less you taste it. Try pouring a pint, tasting it then let it sit out for a while before tasting it again. See if it doesn't seem to have more flavor after it has warmed up a little.