Really Need Some Help

[poida]

Hi Everybody,

Well I seem to have a big problem with my brews latley. I have made some really nice beers in the past which I bottled but since purchasing my key system I've wasted a hell of a lot of money trying to brew something that is even what I would consider drinkable.

It seems that every beer I keg ends up tasting like crap and I can't for the life of me figure out what I am doing wrong. Each different brew has this same weird flavour in it which only seems to be there after force carbonation. They have all tasted really nice directly for the primary and secondary though.

I don't think its my keg sanitation techniques because I spend over an hour cleaning each keg and rinsing heaps. I either use some neo pink or some brewcraft keg/line cleaner.

The only thing I can think of is that the problem is with the c02 I'm force carbonating with. Is it even posible for c02 to become stale? Maybe this bottle was sitting in the HB shop too long? I really have no idea.

I wish I could describe the taste better but I guess its like a rubber sort of taste, you can even smell it in the beer before tasting it. I should mention that these are either k&k, partial mashes, fresh wort or ESB 3KG jobs. All have had the same taste in it.

I know I've been pretty vague, but does anyone have any ideas?

 

[mikem108]

Rubber eh, Have you tried replacing all the rubber bits of the keg with new ones? DId you get reconned kegs?

 

[Justin]

Have you replaced the rubber seals in your keg. Often they will transmit flavours and smells from the previous contents (often soft drink syrups). Either that or they are old and breaking down.

A keg oring kit should only cost you about $10. It contains the hatch oring, two orings for the posts and two orings for under the posts. Might also be worth considering getting some new poppets. These are only a few $$ each from www.Andale.com.au contact them and they will be able to help you out, might be able to do the whole kit for you too.

What brand of kegs do you have? If you can't get a kit locally send me a pm as I could make you up a kit to sell, but you should be able to find a kit at your local HBS.

Also, do you fully disassemble your kegs for cleaning (ie. take the posts off and diptubes out etc).

Best of luck,

Justin

Edit: Beaten by Mike!

 

[Goat]

do you burp the keg when carbonating it? The beer could be oxidising as a result of not burping (expelling air).

 

[GMK]

Also check the beer line.

A mate was using some dodging clear pvc line from bunnings - all his beers had a wierd flavour.

We installed brand new proper beer line - the off flavours all went away.
The flavour was more noticeabler on the 1 st pour - due to the beer being left overnight in the lines.

Hope this helps

 

[warrenlw63]

Particularly if it's that line from Bunnings that has the light blue tinge. It has a very bad plastic waft. h34r:

Warren -

 

[poida]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions people. I'll try to answer some of your questions here.

Mike & Justin, the kegs I bought were reconditioned, I think its a brewcraft kit from memory. I've only had it a few months, maybe had 3 brews in each keg since buying it. Therefore would I need to replace the rubber o-rings so soon?

Mike, to answer your question about cleaning the kegs, no I don't take the dip tube and disconnects etc out when cleaning. Perhaps this is the problem?

Goat, yes I burp the kegs as soon as I have transfered the beer to it and then leave it to chill in the fridge over night before gassing it the next day.

GMK, I always clean the beer line (which came as part of the kit) while I'm cleaning the keg. I run some of the sanitiser through the system and then run some water through afterwards.

I think I might have to take a sampe the HB shop and see if he can pick what it is. So my idea about the gas itself being the problem can be ruled out?

 

[Ross]

Poida,

It is extremely unlikely to be the gas. Fill in your profile on where you are & hopefully someone local to you might be able to indentify the taste for you. If in Brizzy, I'll gladly help you sort it out..

cheers Ross

 

[ant]

Now this is not meant to pull the piss, but an obvious question would be what sort of gas have you got? Is the bottle marked as Aligal CO2?

 

[poida]

Poida,

It is extremely unlikely to be the gas. Fill in your profile on where you are & hopefully someone local to you might be able to indentify the taste for you. If in Brizzy, I'll gladly help you sort it out..

cheers Ross

Thanks Ross, just updated my Profile. As you can see I'm in NSW so thanks for the offer but I'll have to try and make it in to my local HB shop on the weekend. Really annoying as both kegs have the same problem too.

The only time I've had a decent beer from the tap was when I first bought the system and my mates poured a few of my already bottled brews into the keg just for the on tap experience

 

[poida]

Now this is not meant to pull the piss, but an obvious question would be what sort of gas have you got? Is the bottle marked as Aligal CO2?

Hehe it's one of those mykegonlegs light green coloured bottles. I bought it when I bought the keg system from the HB shop.

 

[Darren]

I would guess at the rubber seals/poppets. Just because the keg does not lose pressure does not mean it has been reconditioned. I would pull the connectors off and have a good sniff of the poppets and rubber seals. If they smell like rasberry or pepsi then that is obviously the cause.

cheers

Darren

 

[GMK]

so pioda,

is the beer line genuine ie from Andale/Lancer pacific.

I have seen some of those HBS shop keg kits with the cheap PVC Clear beer line for sale before.

 

[poida]

so pioda,

is the beer line genuine ie from Andale/Lancer pacific.

I have seen some of those HBS shop keg kits with the cheap PVC Clear beer line for sale before.

Hmmm to be honest I have no idea who makes the beer line. It doesn't look like anything fancy though.

Hold on, here's a pic.

Cheers

 

[Darren]

Poida,
Its a bit hard to see from the pics but it looks opaque. I have had a couple of hundred kegs pass through my hands. I would sniff the poppets ( the little spring mechanisms inside the connectors) The ceramic or rubber holds the smell of the previous contents quite well. Most HB shops donot change these when they sell the kegs to you. They are easy to come by and will probably fix your problem. Make sure you change all the rubber seals too if they smell.

cheers

Darren

 

[poida]

Poida,
Its a bit hard to see from the pics but it looks opaque. I have had a couple of hundred kegs pass through my hands. I would sniff the poppets ( the little spring mechanisms inside the connectors) The ceramic or rubber holds the smell of the previous contents quite well. Most HB shops donot change these when they sell the kegs to you. They are easy to come by and will probably fix your problem. Make sure you change all the rubber seals too if they smell.

cheers

Darren

OK mate, I'll do some investigation tonight. Cheers

 

[kwikkwaka]

Just a question, you didnt accidentally get any beer back into the regulator? Cause I did once and lost a few brews trying to work out why they tasted good going into keg then after carbonation tasted foul. When I opened up the regulator it was corroded pretty badly.

Good luck with it.

 

[altstart]

:beer:
Poida GMK and Ross sell a non return valve which is fitted in the gas line to prevent beer being sucked into the regulator. Highly recommended.
Cheers Altstart

 

[Coodgee]

I must have sucked beer into my reg 20 times. didn't seem to hurt mine.

 

[poida]

Just a question, you didnt accidentally get any beer back into the regulator? Cause I did once and lost a few brews trying to work out why they tasted good going into keg then after carbonation tasted foul. When I opened up the regulator it was corroded pretty badly.

Good luck with it.

You know what, you may have nailed it. My first attempt at force carbonating using "the ross method" I had a brain failure and turned the dial down on the regulator while it was still connected to the beerout post on the keg. This caused beer to come back through the gas line and some got into the regulator.

If this is whats causing the problem, is my regulator stuffed? Or can I clean it somehow. I've had a go with a spanner to unscrew the different parts on the regulator and see if there is anything growing in it, but can't get anything to budge.