My kegged Kiwi Express tastes like $h@t...

[Roland_deschain]

I brewed the Kiwi Express kit from NB. I had kegged it up and let it carbonate and hooked it up tonight to see how it tasted. Ummmm.....cloudy, no aroma, almost tasteless........I am SO disappointed......I poured several glasses of it to make sure the lines were clear and to pull any sediment through the system......no improvement. I'm so bummed but I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to dump it.....:

 

[pvpeacock]

I made NB's all grain Kiwi Express and loved it. It tasted like pineapple at first and then tropical fruit. It inspired me to buy some NZ hops in bulk to experiment with and I have brewed a number of similar beers with great tropical fruit flavors and aromas.

If it doesn't have much aroma now, it won't get any better over time. If it doesn't have much flavor, the same is probably true as well. You may want to consider buying some extra Motueka and Wakatu hops to dry hop in the keg with or try making hop tea with a French press and pouring that into the keg.

Is the problem that it doesn't have enough hop flavor/aroma or that it has an off flavor to it?

 

[RM-MN]

I brewed the Kiwi Express kit from NB. I had kegged it up and let it carbonate and hooked it up tonight to see how it tasted. Ummmm.....cloudy, no aroma, almost tasteless........I am SO disappointed......I poured several glasses of it to make sure the lines were clear and to pull any sediment through the system......no improvement. I'm so bummed but I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to dump it.....:

Tell us a bit more so we might have a chance to figure out what went wrong with your beer. Start with adding the extract to the boil kettle and finish by telling how long you fermented and at what temperature to get a final gravity of ____.

 

[Roland_deschain]

Actually, it has no flavor. I've tasted the samples as I checked th gravity and when I kegged it and it tasted pretty good. I'm wondering if it got infected when I racked it to the keg. I sanitize everything and I'm pretty meticulous about it.

Roland

 

[Roland_deschain]

Tell us a bit more so we might have a chance to figure out what went wrong with your beer. Start with adding the extract to the boil kettle and finish by telling how long you fermented and at what temperature to get a final gravity of ____.

I'm pretty sure the brewing/fermenting wasn't a problem. I've tasted samples as I checked the gravity and racked it and it tasted good. I racked it to a keg with priming sugar and let it sit in my basement to carbonate. Two weeks later I hooked it up to the gas and put in on tap(after hooking it up I purged a little gas from the keg and it smelled VERY hoppy, which was good)
I drew off two glasses which had sediment and then tried a taste of the third pour. No noticeable aroma, the taste was barely existent and the beer was cloudy. I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to throw this batch.

 

[Brewhemoth]

This may be a ridiculous question, but are you sure you didnt have sanatizer or something in the keg that you racked to? it sounds weird to me that it would smell/taste fine and then flavour would dissapear, unless solution was majorly diluted.

if it got infected etc. then you would taste a LOT, but not nice. don't know of any spoilage organisms that take flavour away, usually they add off flavours

 

[Roland_deschain]

I sanitized the keg(forced it out the valves as well) and then dumped the solution out about 5 minutes before I racked. If anything there was maybe a few tablespoons of liquid that collected.

 

[Roland_deschain]

If the yeast are still busy carbonating would that effect flavor? I suppose that could make it cloudy.

 

[bucfan1234]

Could it be that the keg failed to seal and the beer was oxidized?

I put 30 lbs of CO2 for 120 seconds on the keg to seal the last one I carbed up with corn sugar, and when I tapped it two weeks later it felt as if the cap was sealed with what I would call a minimal amount of pressure.

 

[Rev2010]

I've never tried the extract version but I've brewed the AG version 3x now and love this IPA! And I'm not generally an IPA fan. I have tweaked the recipe now though to my exact liking. I use 1lb of C20, .8oz of bittering Sauvin instead of .5oz which was too little and I use 8oz of hops total (the additional ounce is in the boil). I have four distinct tastes I get from the hops: Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Orange, and Grapefruit. Blended with the slightly maltier body it's a nice juicy IPA

Definitely give it another try, especially if you switch to all grain.


Rev.

 

[Roland_deschain]

Could it be that the keg failed to seal and the beer was oxidized?

I put 30 lbs of CO2 for 120 seconds on the keg to seal the last one I carbed up with corn sugar, and when I tapped it two weeks later it felt as if the cap was sealed with what I would call a minimal amount of pressure.

I primed it and then pressurized it to seal the cap. I 'burped' the valve before I hooked it up last evening and there was still pressure in the keg. Perhaps oxidation is the answer though. I think I'm going to stick with force carbing from now on.

 

[pvpeacock]

If there is no off flavor and it just lacks the hop aroma and flavor you wanted, I would just buy some more Motueka and Wakatu hops and dry hop in the keg. I would use 1 to 1 1/2 oz. each in a paint strainer bag with a knot tied in it. Just open the keg, drop the bag in, reseal the keg, purge it and let it sit for a day or two.

Alternatively, I prefer making hop tea. Put the hops in a French press with water around 150 degrees. Let it sit for an hour, press and pour the juice into the keg, reseal and purge. Works wonders.

I would not dump good beer just because it lacks flavor or aroma. That can always be fixed.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm pretty sure the brewing/fermenting wasn't a problem. I've tasted samples as I checked the gravity and racked it and it tasted good. I racked it to a keg with priming sugar and let it sit in my basement to carbonate. Two weeks later I hooked it up to the gas and put in on tap(after hooking it up I purged a little gas from the keg and it smelled VERY hoppy, which was good)
I drew off two glasses which had sediment and then tried a taste of the third pour. No noticeable aroma, the taste was barely existent and the beer was cloudy. I'm going to give it a little time before I decide to throw this batch.

What temperature was your basement? You mentioned that you had sediment problems and no flavor. Maybe your yeast wasn't done with the priming sugar and is still stirring up the sediment in your keg as they finish up. Let the keg get room temp for 5 days, then chill it and let it sit another 2 days before you give up on this beer.

 

[ballsy]

Important question here...I might have missed it...but are you sure you purged the o2 from the keg after you initially Kegged it? I set the regulator at 10 psi and fill/purge the keg at least 3 times prior to hitting it with 30 psi to seal and force carb. If you didn't purge the O2 and simply hit it to seal and sit for 2 wks then you are certainly looking at possible oxidation.

 

[Roland_deschain]

It is with many thanks to all who replied to my problem that I report my findings.
Patient:Kiwi Express IPA
Cause of Deathrobable Oxydation

When I kegged it I added the sugar to carb it, pressurized it and purged it but Im positive that I didnt purge it enough and it had sat for 2 weeks+ with more O2 than CO2......A lesson has been learned and the resulting beer will be given a burial with appropriate honors.......

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