Ok Ive been brewing for 4+ years now and I have had 3 infections…i just kegged a red ale a few mins ago and the 1st sample was funky…I will give it some time though considering its already in the keg.
Anyway assuming this one is bad, 2/3 infected batches were dry hopped. This red ale smelled great when i popped the dry hops in…
Has anyone else experienced this…maybe just bad luck?? My hose clamps were not super tight on my chiller and i had about 5mins worth of dripping going on at the very start of the chill…that is the only other thing I can think of.
I HATE dumping batches…and I hate scouring everything afterwards too… :evil:
Its hard to "infect " a batch of beer once it is fermented. The alcohol in the beer makes it an unfriendly evironment for bacteria to grow. However the beer may become oxidized after fermentation pretty easily if care is not taken. If it is a true infection it most likely is happening before or during fermentation. In this case it should be apparent, either by sight or by tasting a sample before kegging or bottling.
How often do you take apart and clean/sanitize your kegs? I’ve found some off flavors can come very easily if not regularly using a keg system and especially if not disassembling/soaking all parts every few brews, or better yet, EVERY brew, a funk can develop.
I kegged a really simple blonde that I make, which has super clean flavors. Tasted the exact same beer, from the exact same batch, kegged at the exact same time from my buddy’s taps and it is way cleaner than mine. Keg lines.
