Weird flavor from beer lines

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deadwolfbones

deadwolfbones

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Just picked up my first keezer last month and finally kegged a beer last week (slow method).

Yesterday, I decided to keg some seltzer water and used the burst carb method so I could try it right away. Worked great! Unfortunately, the water tasted weird. I don't really know how to describe it. Almost like licorice?

The keezer has four taps, so I tried it on all four, and all four had the same off-flavor in varying degrees. It seemed to diminish the more water I poured, but would come back with a vengeance when the water sat in the lines for an hour or so.

I depressurized the seltzer keg and dipped a cup in there: perfect tasting water. So I figure the issue has to be with the line or taps.

Before I kegged/dispensed the water, I flushed all the lines with PBW (homemade, Oxiclean + TSP/90) and then Star San solutions (a gallon or two of each). Could this lead to the off flavor? Or do the lines just need to be replaced?
 
Standard vinyl lines? If so, even replacing them you're likely to get a nasty taste for any liquid that sits in the lines. When I got my first kegerator the beer that sat in the lines took on a really nasty plastic taste. I eventually swapped out to better beer lines that did not impart this plastic taste. You've probably seen threads talking about Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra which is what many on here use to avoid any off flavors and oxidation caused by the lines. I upgraded to them recently myself: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...uflex-bev-seal-ultra-lines-last-night.662535/


Rev.
 
deadwolfbones said:
The latter. The lines are Bevlex 200.
Click to expand...

Do you know if the previous owner used it for root beer? I know root beer really imparts a taste in the lines. My bar tender friend who's been tending for about 20 years tells me they can't put anything else on a line that has had root beer in it as it imparts a root beer taste to anything else that goes through the line.The place he works also makes their own sodas as well as beers.


Rev.
 
Rev2010 said:
Do you know if the previous owner used it for root beer? I know root beer really imparts a taste in the lines. My bar tender friend who's been tending for about 20 years tells me they can't put anything else on a line that has had root beer in it as it imparts a root beer taste to anything else that goes through the line.The place he works also makes their own sodas as well as beers.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he only used it for beer.

I should note that I did have an early taste of my pilsner that's carbing up and didn't notice any off-flavor when I pulled a fresh half-pint. When I switched that line to the seltzer keg, I noticed it immediately. So the flavor is pretty subtle—maybe too subtle to notice in even a lighter beer like a pilsner.

When I let the pilsner sit in the line for a couple hours and tried another pull it tasted pretty bad, though.
 
I use BLC line cleaner for the lines. Takes out yellowish beer stains in the lines. Its some sort of acid I think. I've been running the same lines for 6 years. Its a tad pricey but lasts forever...literally years. Your gong to need line cleaner so you might as well get some and try it before going through the trouble of swapping lines. I have Bevlex lines also. They're good lines

Edit: Seltzer water taste disgusting to begin with...so what did you expect :rolleyes:
 
have you pulled apart your beer faucets for a good cleaning? I was amazed at the crud I pulled out of my used system the first time I fully disassembled it for a deep cleaning.

while you're at it, it's only $8-$10ish for a rebuild kit for most faucets.
 
Ya clean the faucets...nasty black mildew looking crud hides inside them.

My cleaning method is to flush/clean the lines into a sauce pot..shut off pressure at tank then dissemble the faucets and let them soak in the BLC in the sauce pot....Saves BLC
 
Rodent said:
have you pulled apart your beer faucets for a good cleaning? I was amazed at the crud I pulled out of my used system the first time I fully disassembled it for a deep cleaning.
Click to expand...

No, but this is a very good idea. Possible it's the faucets and not the line.
 
If I were to go with the Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra, does having flow-control faucets matter with regard to line length?
 
I'm currently using a flow control faucet directly attached to a port of my Unitank, so I would say anything up to 0 line lenght should work fine.
 
Welp, I'm going to deep clean the faucets (though I took 'em apart and they look pretty clean already), do another cleaning cycle on the lines, and see where I'm at. If it's still tasting gross, I guess it's time to change lines.
 
deadwolfbones said:
Care to expand? The general guidance I've gathered is that you can use shorter lines with flow control, but I'm wondering how much shorter, especially with the low-resistance tubing.
Click to expand...
Its kind of a debated topic around here...Flow control restricts the flow at the faucet. Its just a ball valve inside the faucet and can be set from full flow like its not there to completely closed (no flow) and everywhere in between. Long lines restrict the flow but your set to one speed of pour (slow) that isnt always needed but your stuck with it. Plus its a balancing act getting the line length right plus different beers are carbed at different levels but your stuck with the same line length restriction. With the flow control you can restrict the flow when need to simulate long lines when your first pour might be foamy then open it up when its not needed for a nice fast flow. Simply put it takes all the figuring out of setting up a "balanced " system and just makes things easier with hassle free pours...plus you dont have 5 miles of line in your kegerator...I stand with the few that advocate them around here but lots of people like to "figure things out" with an engineer standpoint...I'd rather just hook it up and be done with it....and thats not a dig on anyones profession in any way. I'ts just a different way of looking at things..cheers
 
JONNYROTTEN said:
Its kind of a debated topic around here...Flow control restricts the flow at the faucet. Its just a ball valve inside the faucet and can be set from full flow like its not there to completely closed (no flow) and everywhere in between. Long lines restrict the flow but your set to one speed of pour (slow) that isnt always needed but your stuck with it. Plus its a balancing act getting the line length right plus different beers are carbed at different levels but your stuck with the same line length restriction. With the flow control you can restrict the flow when need to simulate long lines when your first pour might be foamy then open it up when its not needed for a nice fast flow. Simply put it takes all the figuring out of setting up a "balanced " system and just makes things easier with hassle free pours...plus you dont have 5 miles of line in your kegerator...I stand with the few that advocate them around here but lots of people like to "figure things out" with an engineer standpoint...I'd rather just hook it up and be done with it....and thats not a dig on anyones profession in any way. I'ts just a different way of looking at things..cheers
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get you. I agree with you, for the record.

Just wondering how many feet of the Bev-Seal Ultra I'd need with flow-control, since people are recommending 12+ feet for non-flow control.
 
deadwolfbones said:
Yeah, I get you. I agree with you, for the record.

Just wondering how many feet of the Bev-Seal Ultra I'd need with flow-control, since people are recommending 12+ feet for non-flow control.
Click to expand...
My tower came with 5 foot lines and I almost never need the flow control. I also run sanke kegs and not corny kegs and with zero technical data to prove it I'm convinced they serve better...Cornys were made for high carb soda and sankes were made for beer and are totally different by design....but thats a whole other story....so your mileage my vary with cornys
 
Well, definitely wasn't the taps. They're sparkling clean and it still tastes bad. Onward to another line cleaning before I give up and order new line.

Anyone have experience with caustic (BLC/LLC) vs. non-caustic (PBW) for line cleaning? Any real difference in terms of end result?
 
Last edited:
PBW is an alkali-based cleaner - ie: also a caustic.
I know folks use it on beer lines but due to the haze I get inside my ss kettles after PBW-treatment I stick with the BLC or LLC for keezer cleaning, whichever I have on hand...

Cheers!
 
PBW is specifically billed as non-caustic, though.

"PBW. An Alkaline Non-caustic, Environmentally and User friendly CIP cleaner."

Presumably because unlike BLC (which is basically lye) you can touch it without your skin melting?
 
Interesting - I admit I made the assumption it's a caustic due to the strong alkali ingredient (encouraged by ads on the web that call it a caustic cleaner).
Still rather use something designed for lines...

Cheers!
 
Well, I'm not going to declare victory just yet, but after two rounds of BLC soaking (45mins total) it tastes waaaay better. Hopefully that's all it needed.
 
Now that I think about it. It sounds like you used the same keg for all taps tested....are you sure it couldnt be some off flavor from the keg also....it would make sense
 
JONNYROTTEN said:
Now that I think about it. It sounds like you used the same keg for all taps tested....are you sure it couldnt be some off flavor from the keg also....it would make sense
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wondered about that myself. I know the keg itself is clean, but the dip-tube could have some gunk in it, maybe. For now it's tasting good after the line cleaning but if it returns I'll definitely use a pipe cleaner to scrub the tube.
 
Update: Taste came back (though not as strong) after the seltzer spent the night sitting in the line. Second pour was fine. I think I need to replace the lines eventually.
 
deadwolfbones said:
Update: Taste came back (though not as strong) after the seltzer spent the night sitting in the line. Second pour was fine. I think I need to replace the lines eventually.
Click to expand...
Licorice is weird flavor to pick up. Lines are cheap enough to replace...I'd open the keg and dunk a clean cup in there and see what it taste like. If it taste fine its something downstream of the keg but at least you know its not the keg...I'd disassemble the keg and clean the crap out of the dip tubes and ball/pin locks. Nows your chance to isolate the issue...Crud/ hops can get stuck in them and all fluid flows threw them
 

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