[whitey]

A few months ago, I made a 3 5gal corney kegs of beer, Belgian Triple, Alt and an Oktoberfest. After sitting for a few weeks, 2 of the three developed what I could only describe a very strong taste that overpowered everything about the beer. I thought that I had screwed up the recipe, so the next few batches I made I bottled, and they turned out fine.

I made another 2 batches a few weeks ago, cleaned and santised the crap out of everything and kegged them again, with the intent of having them available for National Homebrewers day. I sampled it last Saturday, and it tasted awesome. I also noticed that my newly refilled CO2 was almost empty. There was a noticible lack of carbonation, but it still tasted fine.

By Sunday, the tank was empty, so I took it to be refilled on Monday. Got it back on Tuesday, hooked it up and discovered a leak at the regulator/tank connection. Sorted that out and let the Beer (Belgian Tripel and Dark Wheat) sit for a day at 12psi (apparently the middle ground for all beer). Sampled the Belgian Tripel and that strong overpowering taste is back.

So I'm begining to wonder if there is such a thing as too much carbonation, and if so, would it impact the flavour as violently as this?


Thanks for your time.

[tumarkin]

well, you may be tasting Carbonic Acid from the CO2. one way to tell is to take the beer that you thought had this negative flavor, leave it sit in an open mug for a bit, maybe even stir it gently to encourage the CO2 to degass. then taste it and see if that flavor is no longer there. if that's not it, can you further describe the overpowering flavor? give us more to work on.

[whitey]

funny you should mention that. l took my time drinking the mug that I'd poured, and it did start to taste less violent. I'm sorry, but I lack the wherewithall to give you an accurate description of what it tasted like.

I have since drained all the CO2 in the two kegs, and set the psi to 8.5. Will this work? or should I let the whole thing sit with no gas for a day then try to recarbonate?

Thanks for the feed back

[theDarkSide]

Hey Whitey, where's your hat? 

What temperature are you carbonating at?  If you're at 40 F, 12psi is about 2.5 volumes...not a huge amount for a Tripel.  I would look at your regulator to make sure it's not wonky.  Do they seem extremely carbonated when you pour them?

[whitey]

37 degrees in the fridge right now, I tasted the two again this am, there's still that flavour in the Trip, although not as bad. The Dark Wheat is ok.

I read somewhere that once kegged, one shouldforce carb for a period of time, then shut the CO2 off only to be turned on when needed to apply enough pressure to serve. Any truth to this?

[liquidbrewing]

The moment I start force carbing, my beers never leave the gas.  I start out with a cold keg, pressurize at 30 psi, shake the crap out of it for a minute.  Leave it at 30psi for two days, vent and then set at 10 psi, which is roughly my serving pressure.  (9-10 psi)  I've never heard anything about taking your beer off the gas.  The whole point is to equalize the pressure from the regulator to the keg.  It takes a few days to equalize the pressure.  And yes you can "de carb" this way too, much to my dismay, I found out, by leaving a Pale Ale at 4 psi for a few days, unknowingly, poured a glass and it was hardly carbed like it was the week before...

[tschmidlin]

As long as your system is tight (ie no leaks) then there is no reason to take it off of the gas.  If your system leaks, then putting pressure on the keg and then shutting off the gas isn't a bad idea.

But most likely I think that advice comes from someone who has not balanced their system for the beers they are serving.

[bluesman]

Here's a great manual for balancing and general kegging info. that will clear up any misconceptions that may exist.

http://www.kegworks.com/faqs/Draft-Beer-Quality-Manual.pdf

Don't hesitate to ask more questions.

Welcome to the AHA Forum! 

[whitey]

Thanks for the welcome, and the advice thus far. Assuming it is carbonic acid, is there anything I can do to reverse the effects? I've shut off the line to it and vented the keg. Anything else?

[denny]

Just waiting...

[whitey]

Well, beer is flat, and I'm happy to say it appears that it's returned to it's delicious self. Now, every place I've looked, I've seen ppl say that a Tripels volumes must be this....only problem is that everyone has different volumes ranging from 1.4 to 4.7.

What is the best, most fool proof way, to get a good level of carbonation? Start low and sample periodically until I find a level that works for me? Choose a specific carb guru's opinion and stick to it?

I'm confused.....again.

[maxieboy]

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

[whitey]

Ok, so I drained off the co2 in the keg, used the chart and set the psi 9psi, which is  5psi lower than what I had it at (I was trying to carbonate two beers at the same time as I don't have a multiple secondary regulator), and after one day at that psi, that nasty taste is coming back.

So, I've blown off the co2 again, adjusted the psi to 5psi, but beyond that I'm at a loss.

I'm a little miffed, because its lost a lot of flavour.

Do I just bottle it next time? Naturally carb in the keg and use co2 to serv?
 

[oscarvan]

I'm a little miffed, because its lost a lot of flavour.

Nothing to do with the carbonation method IMHO.....

[whitey]

Odd, because the consensus was that the off taste was as a result of carbonic acid. Once it was blown off, that over powering flavor dissipated. Now since the reintroduction of co2, albeit at lower volumes it seems to be returning. If not co2 what could it be?