Removing watermelon extract taste from lines

[63belair]

I brewed & kegged a watermelon wheat ale that called for watermelon extract. I only used 1/2 of the bottle for a 5 gallon batch. It sat on tap for a longer than normal time (wife and I could only drink 1 or 2 at a time) and now my newly kegged brown ale has a distinct watermelon taste to it.

Before putting the brown ale on tap we rinsed the lines with water, then (beverage line, not just tubing) with one step, let that sit for a few minutes, and then finally some star san.

Any suggestions for getting rid of this taste? I have no problem replacing the lines, but if I can use a cleaner (maybe an extended one step soak, pbw, or BLC?) that would be preferred.

 

[ong]

I had a pronounced ginger taste after going through a keg of homemade ginger ale. I ran a gallon of lukewarm PBW solution through the line, then let it sit in the line for another half hour. After running water and starsan through the line to rinse, that seemed to take care of it.

 

[63belair]

Gotcha. I ran one step and let it sit for a few minutes, maybe 5 or so. I'll give it a try with some warm one step and if that doesn't do it give pbw a shot.

Thanks for the input.

 

[tjpfeister]

Soapy water has worked best for me in removing persistant flavors that make it through a BLC cleaning, but sometimes the line just needs replacing. Like root beer, I just keep that line and reuse it for only that purpose as you will never get the flavor out. Ritebrew sells 100' boxes of bevlex for a real good price; always best to have the option of new-replacment in hand. Good luck!

 

[dmcman73]

Use beer line cleaning solution such as this: http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/cleaning/chemical/NC-203.shtml

If you use soapy water, you can get a soapy taste to your beer.

 

[tjpfeister]

You can wash the soapy water out, with water... like dishes.

 

[dmcman73]

Yes, the soapy water can be rinsed off, with water, like on your dishes. But unlike your dishes that have all smooth surfaces, soapy water can be a little difficult to rinse completely out of a closed system that has a number of crevices. If soapy water works for you, more power to you. I rather use PBW or a non alkaline beer line cleaner that rinses out easy and has no taste. There is a reason why people uses PBW or other cleaners similar to it over soap or soapy water to clean all of their brewing equipment.

 

[dk21]

Saniclean, the low foaming version of Star San, is advertised as a good odor remover. It could be worth a try. I always leave some in my lines for about a half hour or so before tapping a new keg following a cleaning with LLC.