I recently picked up some tubing at the NB store and I noticed a very strong odor on it. I asked the guy behind the counter and he said they changed suppliers and noticed it, but didn’t think it should affect the beer.
Has anyone else experienced this when purchasing liquid lines? Not trying to be paranoid, but I’d rather change it out sooner than later. Did the odor fade over time, or did it stick around?
Any thoughts would be great. I know they will be more than willing to work with me in exchanging out if I really detect a difference. I just tapped a new keg of Dead Ringer as I added the new lines so I’m not sure if off flavors is a result of the lines or a flaw in the beer.
I should have added: Will running BLC through the lines help, or will this not solve the problem? Just tried a pils from another tap and it doesn’t taste right.
The above thread is a couple of years old. I’ve changed lines a few times since then without issue, but I’ve definitely experienced it with tubing from multiple manufacturers purchased from different retailers.
I had racking tubing that I returned last week. It stunk so bad that I didn’t want to take a chance with a beer that I racked this weekend.
Jeff, a manager at the NB store in Minneapolis, was great. He was very understanding. I did try over the weekend running BLC, PBW, and then Star Stan through all my lines. I left the BLC in the lines for about 18 hours (Jeff suggested this). At first I thought it was OK, but I think it might still have some odor to it. Going to try a few different beers tonight. If it’s not OK, Jeff said he would exchange it out as they went back to the old supplier for their tubing and it doesn’t have that strong smell.
I’ll have to say that the way he handled it will keep me a NB customer for a long time. I was getting a little concerned that NB was slipping due to new owneship. I’m glad I was wrong.
