Off Taste

[simplypn]

In an earlier post I said how I had put far too much priming sugar in my bottles and mini kegs by mistake. About 50g per keg instead of 10g. I vented the kegs by letting out the C02 for the first few days (in order to avoid explosions) and then I hoped it would be okay and have left them for 3 weeks But it ain't good!

It is very bitter with I think the old green apple taste. It tasted fine before kegging so it must be the overdose of sugar and also perhaps letting the air in (though there is loads of pressure in the kegs).

So; any thoughts on what has caused the problem? And should I tip it or wait another month or so and hope for improvement?

All advice would be very welcome1

 

[pittsy]

it air that has tainted the brew , did you type correct by writing that you usually add 10g for plastic keg (23l brew) , 85g is often the max and 125g for king kegs . Most brews want around 80 up to 200 g per (ipa 80/100g - lager 160/220g ) so i think you under prime to start with

 

[simplypn]

The mini kegs only hold 5 litres and need less sugar than you use when bottling. I meant to add about 10 -12g per keg but misread my own notes and put 10g per litre into the bottling bucket.

 

[Fil]

depends on how you vented the kegs, if you released some co2 but kept some pressure in then its unlikely anything got in against the pressure.

if you let it all out in one big whoosh, its more likely that some air could have gotten in, but your probably ok still

the beer could just be green and need a few weeks to condition and mature, some beers can take months.. and even those that taste good after a few weeks generally taste fantastic after 3 months.

 

[simplypn]

I do hope it is just a matter of it being green but the thing is it tasted pretty good before it went into the kegs. Do you think it might just be that with quite a bit of sugar in there maybe the yeast still has more work to do.

There is quite a lot of pressure in the kegs. Would it help if I vented it carefully and just released a little bit of C02?

 

[Fil]

I do hope it is just a matter of it being green but the thing is it tasted pretty good before it went into the kegs. Do you think it might just be that with quite a bit of sugar in there maybe the yeast still has more work to do.

There is quite a lot of pressure in the kegs. Would it help if I vented it carefully and just released a little bit of C02?

Fingers crossed. :) time will tell, as for the pressure, if you keep venting you run the risk of losing all the condition. if kept warm most of the extra sugar you put in may have already been eaten?? how long have they been conditioning?

Perhaps, if you have 5 kegs? try keeping 4 as cool as possible while warm enough not to put the yeast to sleep (12c) depends on the yeast, and keep one keg the sacrificial keg :) in normal room temps, or just warmer. That way the warmer keg will do what its going to do a little bit ahead of the rest. so if the one shows signs of starting to bulge, you can vent and pe prepared for the others later, if you miss and the one keg bulges, its not the whole batch.. tho cooler beer will hold more co2 anyway?
.
i kegged a batch of highly hoped bitter(60g challenger 70g styrain bobek in a 19l brew) a few weeks ago and once conditioned i poured a few small glasses it was rank sour smelling like a damp 7am pub carpet. i waved it under a pals nose and he wouldnt even taste it..
Like you i started having doubts about the batch, it didnt look good..

I had a brewday 2 days ago and when the boil was on i had to have a glass in my hand so i poured another pint of this beer, and it was a good pint, not its best tho it may take another month to mature to its best flavour, but it was so bad tasting that i thought infection or bad hygiene?? now its as good as many better than some pints you get served in a pub. next month it could be a real lipsmacker :)

stick a keg back for christmas, it will be nectar by then..

 

[simplypn]

Thanks a lot for this. It has really cheered me up. I am very hopeful that all is not lost. And I have got another brew coming along nicely. It's a 100% cascade IPA and I had a taste the other night and it's good. I stuck another 50g of Cascade hops in the FV now that the fermentation is finished and I'll probably rack it next week. And I won't be making the same mistake again with the sugar.

 

[simplypn]

By the way the off batch has been just 3 weeks in the keg.

 

[Fil]

Ive been supping my foul beer this evening with my pal who turned his nose up at it 3 or 4 weeks ago.. he's convinced i chucked the beer and brewed a completely new one kegged conditioned and matured it in less than a month :) he sank at least 3 and needed collecting as he didnt think it wouild be a good idea to drive...

if yours has been in the mini kegs for 3 weeks id bet the farm theres no simple sugar left in the beer so i wouldnt vent anymore, if vented in the last week you could have already lost some condition, but you will have to drink some to confirm it. i think you will be happy with a nice beer if a little under conditioned, i would..

pop them somwhere cool and forget them for a month.

the hardest brewing skill to develop is patience :)