Just Had A Grease Flavored Pint in a Restaurant

[TheMadKing]

Has anyone else ever experienced this flavor and know what causes it? I have tasted it several times, and it's usually in "sports bars" or "party bars" where the beer tastes like it's been mixed with very stale fryer grease, or like old french fries smell? I think it's just dirty tap lines, but I'm not sure.

I just went to a restaurant in Charleston and had to send back an IPA because it tasted like this.

I've had bartenders get mad at me before, thinking I'm just being a beer snob, or disliking my beer choice when I tell them that I think their lines might be dirty or something. It's hard to tell them "look I know what I'm talking about and there's something wrong with this beer" without sounding like a ******.

 

[soccerdad]

Man - you sound like a ****** �� just​ kidding

 

[TheMadKing]

Man - you sound like a ****** í*½í¸‰ just​ kidding

Lol thanks...

 

[MaxStout]

If you tip better they won't pour grease in your drinks.

Seriously...never encountered a grease taste like that. I've been to a few places that washed glassware in a chlorine-based cleaner and the smell permeated my drink.

Maybe your sports bar washes their glassware along with greasy pots and pans in the dishwasher.

 

[TheMadKing]

If you tip better they won't pour grease in your drinks.



Seriously...never encountered a grease taste like that. I've been to a few places that washed glassware in a chlorine-based cleaner and the smell permeated my drink.



Maybe your sports bar washes their glassware along with greasy pots and pans in the dishwasher.

Haha, well considering it was my first drink the tip shouldn't matter yet...

It never occurred to me that it could be the glasses, good thinking!

 

[Jwin]

Yeah. Probably the glassware
But I swear, on the rare occasion I get a drink from McDonald's, it smells of fryer grease.

Both probably a result of dishwashing technique/equipment.

 

[Thorrak]

Is it really a grease taste/smell, or is it a greasy mouthfeel? Diacetyl is a big problem I've encountered at bars that maintain less-than-stellar line cleaning protocol.

 

[woo_pig]

Mmm was it more of a nose or a taste? Maybe thwy dry hopped it with frech fries.

 

[tektonjp]

Is it really a grease taste/smell, or is it a greasy mouthfeel? Diacetyl is a big problem I've encountered at bars that maintain less-than-stellar line cleaning protocol.

I'm curious how line cleaning is related to diacetyl.

 

[TheMadKing]

Mmm was it more of a nose or a taste? Maybe thwy dry hopped it with frech fries.

Haha gross.. But it was definitely more of a taste

 

[JonM]

I'm curious how line cleaning is related to diacetyl.

Pediococcus in the line can produce diacetyl.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Maybe it's a residue off flavor from them not cleaning the lines. Many of those sports bars around me are notorious for this.

 

[Ashevillain]

Pediococcus in the line can produce diacetyl.

I just had to look this one up too, never knew an infection in the lines could cause this... makes so much sense now.

I need to retract some statements about a few breweries hahaha. This almost exclusively occurs at bars/restaurants and unfortunately reflects on the brewery as well.

I hardly bother buying draft beer outside of a tasting room now, restaurants/bars are just not trained or there's not enough at stake for them to to care.

Question. Can DMS be produced in any way post packaging?

 

[MaxStout]

The dirty tap lines problem is more common than one might think. Even some taprooms--I've been to 3 or 4 in the last year or so that had noticeable diacetyl off-flavor in APAs, IPAs, etc.

 

[TheMadKing]

Pediococcus in the line can produce diacetyl.

Interesting, I never knew that. Glad I clean my tap lines at home!

 

[Dcpcooks]

Barware is cleaned at the bar and doesn't usually go to the kitchen. I'd suggest beer lines are dirty far more often than you think and dirty glasses are common as well. It takes a good deal of commitment to clean tap lines on a regular basis.

 

[brewcat]

The dirty tap lines problem is more common than one might think. Even some taprooms--I've been to 3 or 4 in the last year or so that had noticeable diacetyl off-flavor in APAs, IPAs, etc.

Or even breweries when packaging. I sent a brewery a message about one of their beers having a weird sourness to it. I swear they didn't take it into consideration because nobody else had noticed. Haven't bought any from them since.

 

[seatazzz]

Having worked in a bar where the glassware is washed in the same dishwasher as all of the kitchen ware, I would lean towards the dishwashing techniques. Commercial dishwashers are usually nothing more than "sanitizers"...and if the trap gets cleaned more than once a week you're lucky. Don't want to turn anyone away from eating out in restaurants, but if corners get cut it's usually in the cleanliness area. On a busy night in a small venue, you need to get your kitchenware/glassware back into circulation quickly or suffer the wrath of a patron waiting on a clean beer glass.

 

[smurfjuice]

Why i still bottle ...