stevereno30
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- Jun 8, 2014
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Hey everyone. A months ago, I posted this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/recurring-off-flavor-488058/
Since then, I've had two more kegs come to fruition and get tapped. Initially I thought I had solved my problem. The first pull from each get was incredible! The first one was an Oktoberfest lager, the second was a heavily hopped IPA. Both had really nice malt character, were well balanced and extremely delicious! I thought I had finally killed this monster that had been haunting my beers since I began kegging.
I was wrong.
A couple days after tapping the Oktoberfest, I had some friends over to have some. It tasted good, but I detected that horrible sharp bitterness that I had tasted in other beers. It was slight, but noticeable for my hyper-critical palette. I hoped it was a fluke, or my imagination, so I ignored it. The next day, I tried it again. I could still taste it. It was faint, but there. On that same day, I tapped my IPA which had been sitting in the keg carbonating for 3 weeks. It was incredible! It was the first beer I've brewed since I started kegging that made me sad I only had 5 gallons! It was malty, but well balanced with a mountain of hops. It smelled like brew day (thank you aromatic malt!). I thought my troubles had finally come and gone!
The next day, I poured a single pint... and I could taste it. The malt had subsided (in 24 hours!) and the sharp bitter/sour taste was there. Not overwhelming, but definitely there.
The next day, which happens to be today, I poured a pint, hopeful that the flavor wouldn't be there. I was hoping it was just from whatever beer sat in the lines.... it was awful. No maltiness detected, no bright aromatic hop smell, just a nasty, sharp, bitter sour sh*t flavor. I grabbed a large 1L stein and poured until it was full. Dumped it without tasting, then pulled another pint. It tasted just as terrible. I'm compltetely lost. I would think "dirty lines! A dirty tap!," but I gave every element of my tap system a 6 hour Oxyclean soak, followed by a 24 hour Starsan soak. They're as clean as they can possibly be. The ONLY thing I can think of that would cause this is my CO2. It doesn't make sense, because as far as I know, CO2 doesn't go bad! Both tanks I have were hand-me-downs that sat unused outside through the coldest MN winter imaginable. The IPA and the Oktoberfest were both carbonated naturally. I decided that *maybe* the taste came from the CO2, so I decided to use the tried-and-true method I used bottling for so many years. Since neither tasted bad at tapping, could it be the CO2? Could it be that something in my CO2 tanks is fouling my beer, but it doesn't come in contact with the liquid until I've tapped since the pressure in the keg exceeds the pressure on the regulator until I've poured some? I've tried both tanks exclusively to make sure it wasn't one or the other, but the taste remains. Im just baffled because I cant imagine any bacteria completely ruining 5 gallons of beer in two days, and every time, it was two days or fewer. Any ideas?
Since then, I've had two more kegs come to fruition and get tapped. Initially I thought I had solved my problem. The first pull from each get was incredible! The first one was an Oktoberfest lager, the second was a heavily hopped IPA. Both had really nice malt character, were well balanced and extremely delicious! I thought I had finally killed this monster that had been haunting my beers since I began kegging.
I was wrong.
A couple days after tapping the Oktoberfest, I had some friends over to have some. It tasted good, but I detected that horrible sharp bitterness that I had tasted in other beers. It was slight, but noticeable for my hyper-critical palette. I hoped it was a fluke, or my imagination, so I ignored it. The next day, I tried it again. I could still taste it. It was faint, but there. On that same day, I tapped my IPA which had been sitting in the keg carbonating for 3 weeks. It was incredible! It was the first beer I've brewed since I started kegging that made me sad I only had 5 gallons! It was malty, but well balanced with a mountain of hops. It smelled like brew day (thank you aromatic malt!). I thought my troubles had finally come and gone!
The next day, I poured a single pint... and I could taste it. The malt had subsided (in 24 hours!) and the sharp bitter/sour taste was there. Not overwhelming, but definitely there.
The next day, which happens to be today, I poured a pint, hopeful that the flavor wouldn't be there. I was hoping it was just from whatever beer sat in the lines.... it was awful. No maltiness detected, no bright aromatic hop smell, just a nasty, sharp, bitter sour sh*t flavor. I grabbed a large 1L stein and poured until it was full. Dumped it without tasting, then pulled another pint. It tasted just as terrible. I'm compltetely lost. I would think "dirty lines! A dirty tap!," but I gave every element of my tap system a 6 hour Oxyclean soak, followed by a 24 hour Starsan soak. They're as clean as they can possibly be. The ONLY thing I can think of that would cause this is my CO2. It doesn't make sense, because as far as I know, CO2 doesn't go bad! Both tanks I have were hand-me-downs that sat unused outside through the coldest MN winter imaginable. The IPA and the Oktoberfest were both carbonated naturally. I decided that *maybe* the taste came from the CO2, so I decided to use the tried-and-true method I used bottling for so many years. Since neither tasted bad at tapping, could it be the CO2? Could it be that something in my CO2 tanks is fouling my beer, but it doesn't come in contact with the liquid until I've tapped since the pressure in the keg exceeds the pressure on the regulator until I've poured some? I've tried both tanks exclusively to make sure it wasn't one or the other, but the taste remains. Im just baffled because I cant imagine any bacteria completely ruining 5 gallons of beer in two days, and every time, it was two days or fewer. Any ideas?