BDawg wrote:10 psi at 34 degrees is about 2.6 atmospheres, which is not all that high.
I don't think over carbonation is the problem.
One way to test this is to simply pour a beer, taste it and note the "metallic" taste.
Then let it sit in the glass for 15 or 20 mins, swirling it every now and then to drive off CO2. If the beer improves in flavor, then overcarbonation is the issue and you probably need to get your regulator guages calibrated (? not sure where you can do this? ) or you need to replace them. If that's too expensive, then simply aim for lower and lower psi levels until the off-flavor goes away.
That is a good idea, I’ll try that tonight. The main reason I think it might be over carbonation is 2 fold. The beer is totally clean and beautiful tasting before I transfer to the keg. “Metallic†might not be the best description, it seems like the hop flavor is scrubbed out and replaced by a sharp acidic/bitterness that lingers on the back of the palate unlike any commercially bitter beer does. The second reason is that I have one hell of a time setting my regulator to anything other than 10 psi. I have started with the regulator screw fully closed so no gas gets in and slowly turn it a quarter turn every couple minutes trying to reach anything lower than 10 psi but once I get to about 3 psi the next time I go to adjust it jumps to 3 or 4 to 10. Also when I start to pour the beer the pressure does not hold, it drops down to maybe 6 or lower then slowly builds back up to 10 psi over a few minutes. Not sure if that is normal.
BDawg wrote:All that said, are you sure it's metallic? Are you a member of a club? Bokonon is a BJCP judge out there in Richland and is a frequent poster here. Let him taste it and give you another opinion. Check out the Mid-Columbia Zymurgy Association. They meet in Kennewick (I think at Ice Harbor). There are plenty of seasoned palates there who can help diagnose this.
Bokonon lives less than a minute walk from me, I just joined MCZA last month. I plan on bringing some of my currently kegs beer to next week’s meeting to get their opinion.
BDawg wrote:How many kegs do you have? Does this happen in every keg, or just one or two?
What sanitizer are you using? When was the last time you completely disassembled them and replaced all the rubber o-rings and sanitized the poppets, etc? I'd make sure I did that right away. (I sugggest doing this with every batch). Sometimes a piece of hop material will get stuck inside the posts/poppet valves and you don't see it until you take them apart.
2 kegs, 1 purchased new the other used. The new keg has never had the o-rings replaced in about a year and a half but is disassembled and cleaned every other batch, with a rinse and star-san in between. The used keg got all new o-rings and a deep clean on the first use plus the same cleaning schedule I follow thereafter. I have had it about 1 year. I haven’t ever taken the poppet spring out of the post though, so I’ll do that once this keg is empty.
BDawg wrote:When you did the split batch with your brother-in-law, when exactly in the process did you split it? Ie, was it all in the same vessel right up to kegging? Or did you ferment in two separate fermenters? Did you use the exact same hose to rack from the fermenter when splitting it? When racking to the keg? You need to eliminate every possible variable here, and racking equipment can introduce off flavors.
Good luck and as you gain more info, let us know. We'll do what we can to help you diagnose this.
The batch was split into separate better bottles but fermented in the same temp controlled freezer with the same pitching rate of 1 packet US-05 each. The beer was transferred using the same auto siphon and same racking hose.
I thought the issue might be in my hoses so I replaced everything from hot wort transfer to racking to new beer lines and picnic taps, but the issue persisted
