kegged beer taste vs. bottled beer taste

[JDGator]

i've made a few batches (extract) of an grapefruit APA/IPA and love the beer. i've been kegging all the batches so i can crank them out quick to get a feel of what i enjoy. so i decided to bottle a 5gal batch so that if my keg ran dry i'd have a few back ups. i cracked a few open and really don't enjoy them. they were primed with dextrose.

So i did this same thing with a blonde ale. kegged 1 batch and bottle another. i did everything i could to keep the procedures and temps the same. once again the bottled beer doesn't taste as good as the kegged.

I'm kinda thinking that the adding of dextrose for priming sugar is effecting the taste. i have bottled from my keg and have no issues with the taste.

So my question is, does anyone else find their kegged beer tastes better or is it just me??

 

[Travestian]

Adding the dextrose does increase the ABV slightly as the yeast will ferment it. It is mostly a taste free sugar to ferment for the CO2 you are trying to get from it. However there will be a slight taste difference between keg and bottled beer. It isn't noticeable though except to the trained tongue unless you are comparing side by side like you are.

 

[grathan]

It would be tough to say the co2 levels are identical.

 

[Xpertskir]

How long did you wait to open the bottles?

 

[JDGator]

3 weeks stored at 68-70f and 1 week fridge time.

 

[Xpertskir]

Ok, thats fine.

What are you washing and sanitizing your bottles with?

 

[Pratzie]

What kind of tap do u have? Look into a setup for bottling right from the tap. Doesn't appear to be too expensive and u don't have to worry about difference in taste since ur not adding anything.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

 

[JDGator]

washing with PBW and using star san. i wash the keg and lines out the same way. same amounts of each mixed in 5gallon pales.

it's not life of death, i was more curious then anything. now i just bottle from the keg. seems to have solved my taste issues. i wanted to know if others experience the same thing or not.

 

[DocScott]

I bottle half the time and keg half. I don't really notice a difference between the two. Your procedures for cleaning/sanitizing/fermenting/etc all sound good. The priming sugar wouldn't make a difference in my opinion. Only thing left would be to have you describe the taste difference you're getting. Maybe the extra transfer is oxidizing your bottles slightly? I doubt this is the case though.

If you want to rule out the priming sugar as the cause, you could prime a kegged batch and see if you get the same flavor change. Simply treat you keg like a big bottle- add priming sugar to keg, rack beer and seal it up. Give it 2-3 weeks at 70* then hook it up to co2 at serving pressure. See if your theory is right.

 

[JDGator]

I bottle half the time and keg half. I don't really notice a difference between the two. Your procedures for cleaning/sanitizing/fermenting/etc all sound good. The priming sugar wouldn't make a difference in my opinion. Only thing left would be to have you describe the taste difference you're getting. Maybe the extra transfer is oxidizing your bottles slightly? I doubt this is the case though.

If you want to rule out the priming sugar as the cause, you could prime a kegged batch and see if you get the same flavor change. Simply treat you keg like a big bottle- add priming sugar to keg, rack beer and seal it up. Give it 2-3 weeks at 70* then hook it up to co2 at serving pressure. See if your theory is right.

hey i never thought of that. i may just give that a try this fall.

like i said, it's not a huge deal since i usually drink for the keg and if i need to transport something i fill bottles or growlers. but i don't know how much AG i'll do over the winter because i brew outside and when it's -30C i don't want to be outside!!!

 

[cernst151]

I don't know why you would be getting a taste difference between keg and bottle, though certainly when the yeast ferment sugar they also eat up some other compounds as well (that's why we add dry hops after primary fermentation is done) but I certainly notice a different mouthfeel between bottle vs keg. Personally I stopped priming with dextrose and now I prime all of my bottles with light DME. This gives a far better mouthfeel and it's even gotten to the point that I don't like kegged beer as much as my DME primed bottles.