Small Brewery Question - Aftertaste on all their beer

[Nubiwan]

Not sure if this is suposed to go in this forum or somewhere else.

Was at a local small brewery this past weekend. They have a bar that is quite popular of late, and it is packed to the rafters on Friday evenings. I tried their Saison IPA, a regular IPA, and dark lager/red ale they have. I could not help notice that there was an underlying aftertaste on all of their beers. The best way I can describe it is a sort of dishwater linger that sits at the back of the taste. Not skunky. Not terrible, but not great either. A dull staleness at the end. My impression was that it was stale or bad water. Each beer had the same aftertaste. This stuff was all serverd from kegs.

Another way I can try to describe it, is to think of the smell you get from an empty pub the morning after. Danky wet odor. Well, what that would subtley taste like, at the bottom of a pint.

Ironically, we went to a local restaurant afterwards, who had the same brewery beers on tap. I bought the same Saison IPA, and it was significantly fresher tasting, and without the bad aftertaste.

So, what can cause that? Bad pipes? Bad kegs. Why would it be consistent throughout all their draft beers? I wonder if they regularly flush or clean their pipes, as I seem to recall many pubs doing in a past life.

In the past, I have regularly bought their bottle and tap beer elsewhere, when I am out. Never noticed this aftertaste. I should perhaps point out that they are a reasonable sized distributor where I live, and have had problems with capcaity and keeping stock available. Good problem to have, eh?

Postscript to this.... Maybe it is the damn water they wash all their glasses with. That could really be the probelm I am thinking. Ruined all my beers I have to admit.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Dirty tap lines sounds like to me.

 

[mongoose33]

Oxidation? I agree that dirty tap lines could also be the culprit, but the fact that the fresher beer didn't have that flavor suggests an aging-related thing.

There's a local brewery whose beers all tend to have the same underlying flavor. I can't confirm it, but I suspect they're using the same yeast for most if not all their styles. At least to me, it tastes like yeast is the culprit in that case.

 

[Nubiwan]

Oxidation? I agree that dirty tap lines could also be the culprit, but the fact that the fresher beer didn't have that flavor suggests an aging-related thing.

There's a local brewery whose beers all tend to have the same underlying flavor. I can't confirm it, but I suspect they're using the same yeast for most if not all their styles. At least to me, it tastes like yeast is the culprit in that case.

The fresher tasting beer was in a different location. That is, not their pipes, at a restaurant.