What went right?

[TheCrowsNest]

We kegged our first homebrew (a cream ale from Northern Brewer) last Tuesday. When I first tried it after we kegged it, the beer had a slightly off after taste. It didn't taste terrible for our first beer but it definitely didn't taste quite right - kind of inorganic/plasticky.

I tried it last night for the first time in a couple days and it tasted infinitely better. No more weird after taste! I'm pumped. I know that carbonation makes it taste better, but why? If anyone can give me a breakdown of why our taste improved so much I would really appreciate it.

Also, how do you control the carbonation level of beer when kegging? Just lower the pressure?

 

[erock2112]

How long had it been fermenting? It was probably still green when it was kegged and has now cleaned up.

 

[TheCrowsNest]

Primary for 11 days, secondary for 7 days, and it's sat in the keg for 5.

 

[wildwest450]

Also, how do you control the carbonation level of beer when kegging? Just lower the pressure?

Carbonation is controlled by the beer temp and co2 pressure. You need to set your regulator to the volumes of c02 you want for your beer style and temp. It's that simple. There's a good carb chart in my sig.