Rebuild a full keg?

[Chad_C]

I have a full keg of carbonated hefe that has a taste left over from the last batch that was in it. The last batch was "Brandon O's Graff", so the taste is of an apple cider. I was worried at first that it might be an infection, or another off taste from poor sanitization, but I confirmed that the taste is in the out post by popping the top off and sampling from the hatch.

I assume that since I did not breakdown and clean the keg thoroughly that the taste is coming from the post / poppet orings, or from the diptube. I'm just surprised that the flavor carried over.

I am planning to take apart the full keg, and either swap out the post / diptube with a clean sanitized keg, or just clean and replace what is there. I shouldn't have any problems doing this after I relieve the pressure should I?

 

[bad67z]

A couple of questions:

Is this a corny keg?

Are your using the same lines you used on the Graff?

 

[Chad_C]

Yes, Sorry. It is a ball lock corny.

And yes, the same line was used briefly for the graff, I usually had it on a picnic tap, but it was on the same faucet as this for a few days. I will be doing a recleaning of the lines. I can replace the lines as needed.

 

[bad67z]

You might first look at the pores materials hoses and o-rings, if you rinsed and sanitized the keg, the stainless components should hold no residual flavors or odors. If you have a spare keg and a couple of outlet side (black) connectors and a few inches of hose you could rack (push) the hefe out of the suspect keg and into the "liquid out" side of a "new" one. It will help control the foam and reduce the chances for contamination and oxidation. Then you can change the rubber o rings on the suspect corny. Just my $.02

 

[KYB]

Oxyclean and then Baking Soda soaking should get rid of any residual flavors or smells.

 

[Chad_C]

I had originally done a 24hr oxiclean soak on the keg, followed by a starsan rinse before filling the keg. That's why I believe that the flavor is in the o-rings etc.

My only worry from the transfer from keg to keg, is I will then impart the flavors to the whole keg as it is being transferred through all of the o-rings, if the off flavor is indeed coming from the outpost side of the keg. I am going to take off the outpost and diptube tonight, and swap it with a known clean keg and see if there is any difference. If not I'll then try to clean/replace the draft line to the faucet.

I hope to get this figured out b/c the beer in the keg tastes great, but out of the faucet, it tastes like a hefecider!

 

[SweetSounds]

I had originally done a 24hr oxiclean soak on the keg, followed by a starsan rinse before filling the keg. That's why I believe that the flavor is in the o-rings etc.

My only worry from the transfer from keg to keg, is I will then impart the flavors to the whole keg as it is being transferred through all of the o-rings, if the off flavor is indeed coming from the outpost side of the keg. I am going to take off the outpost and diptube tonight, and swap it with a known clean keg and see if there is any difference. If not I'll then try to clean/replace the draft line to the faucet.

I hope to get this figured out b/c the beer in the keg tastes great, but out of the faucet, it tastes like a hefecider!

Do you have another identical keg?
Just swap out the parts...
If you don't have another one laying around, you can pull the posts, tubes, and lid for cleaning. Just cover the top of the keg with something.