Help! CO2 is going to be my undoing....

[Pubwilson]

Right now I have 15 gallons of homebrew that is probably gonna end up in the drain. I made BM's C3C & Cent. Blonde, and a LHBS recipe. I swear all 3 beers tasted fine after cold crashing and finnings. All three were made weeks apart with good sanitation.
My problem is after putting them on gas, I ended up with 3 seriously bitter beers that are pretty much undrinkable.(well at least unshareable) I am not sure how to describe the taste, but I am almost sure that it is coming after I add the gas. To be fair, I was almost down to the red marker of my gas gauge.
Could it be that last little bit of gas ruined my beer, or should I look for the culprit somewhere else in my process? i have heard that overcarbing can impart a bitter flavor, but one of the beers had that flavor after only being of gas one night. It was not overcarbonated.
Thanks in advance for any insight on my unfortunate situation.

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

I had a similar situation with my last SMaSH brew. It was bitter/sour. It tasted fine before I kegged and carbed then all of a sudden this horribly bitter/sour aftertaste. Almost undrinkable. I was sure I had an infection, although I thoroughly clean everything before and after each use. Anyway, I wasn't about to dump it so I switched to a Amarillo Blonde Ale that I had on tap. I finished this up and since I had nothing else to drink I went back to this suspected infected batch. It had been about 3 weeks since I had tried it, and to my surprise it tasted MUCH better. In fact friends and family ended up loving that batch. Maybe it just needs to condition for a bit longer. Not sure how long you conditioned for but figured I would throw my 2 cents in and help if possible.

 

[moosetav]

Can you describe your carbing process? PSI, temp, time, etc. I have found that if I try to rush things or set the temp too low I start tasting a flavor that you're describing. Normally I purge the keg and warm it up and I'm fine. Try pulling a pint, let it warm some and stir it up to get CO2 out. Taste it and see if the flavor's still there.

 

[Bobby_M]

You have to let newly carbed beers sit a while. There's an initial build up of carbonic acid that will mellow after a few days.

 

[Pubwilson]

Thanks for the great info guys. BTW what does carbonic acid taste like?

 

[IrregularPulse]

Thanks for the great info guys. BTW what does carbonic acid taste like?

Like a harsh bitter bite and tangy/sour.

 

[Shepherd5]

Is there a way to avoid alot of that bitter/tangy/sourness? Is this typical when kegging your own? Will a slower carb time help this?

 

[matticus]

Is there a way to avoid alot of that bitter/tangy/sourness? Is this typical when kegging your own? Will a slower carb time help this?

As I understand carbonation, the carbonic acid dissolves and disperses at a particular rate. If you oversaturate either by injecting too much at once (too cold a temperature) or by doing it too quickly, the acid will not have time to dissolve/break down/escape, causing a buildup and the intense off flavors.

It's like metabolizing alcohol--too many shots in a row and you fall down. Too strong a proof and the same thing happens even if you space them out a bit more. Pace yourself in quantity and time.

 

[apo09283]

Right now I have 15 gallons of homebrew that is probably gonna end up in the drain. I made BM's C3C & Cent. Blonde, and a LHBS recipe. I swear all 3 beers tasted fine after cold crashing and finnings. All three were made weeks apart with good sanitation.
My problem is after putting them on gas, I ended up with 3 seriously bitter beers that are pretty much undrinkable.(well at least unshareable) I am not sure how to describe the taste, but I am almost sure that it is coming after I add the gas.

I make a partial mash/extract English Bitter that tastes great as a sweet wort and is outstanding once conditioned but tastes worse than medicine in between. I've not kegged a batch yet but I've bottled it dozens of times. It takes 8 weeks to be good and continues to improve the longer it ages.

Let it age a bit (even months) and you might be surprised.
Bill

 

[malkore]

Is there a way to avoid alot of that bitter/tangy/sourness? Is this typical when kegging your own? Will a slower carb time help this?

Yes, a slower carb time allows carbonic acid to slowly form and disapate after. Force carbing at 40psi and shaking the crap out of the keg is def. not the way to go IMO because you get all that acidic bite.

as far as how it tastes...ever stick your face in a primary bucket to sniff it, and you burn your nostrils with CO2 and nearly pass out?

that acrid CO2 smell is awful similar to carbonic acid 'bite' flavor.