Infected Cornie.

[Robdog]

I did an Oatmeal Stout a while agi and up until about week 4 it was fine then it got a very strong adhesive smell is the best way to describe it almost plasticy, not nice at all.

I was advised on here to take the keg apart and boil all the releveant bits and give the keg an extra clean and sanatize which is did.

Ive had a Ringwood Porter in the same keg now since 19th May and it was absoloutely gorgeous up until about the start of last week when i though i could taste the adhesive smell again, the misses tried it and said i was just being paranoid.

Just poured another pint and its def infected again . Its took longer for this one to get the off taste and its not quite as bad but still unpleasant to drink, i may try and stomach another pint of it before i chuck the rest(about just under half a keg as ive been saving it).

Not sure what to do now as its the second batch infected and its in the same keg and the off taste is the same so im thinking its def the keg.

Im worried about using it again now as i dont want to keep chucking beer.

Any suggestions on how to super sanatize it so i def wil get rid of the infection or shall i just bin the keg?

[Parva]

Bin the keg? Ye gods man, are you right in your head!!! I'm guessing that you're talking about a cornie keg here? I very rarely take mine apart and have never had a problem with plain old water and washing-up liquid followed up by a swill in Videne solution. You could maybe try oxyclean and possibly replace all of the seals in case they are harbouring something. Might be worth bottling aswell as kegging some next time just to be certain that it is the keg that's at fault.

Edit: Doh, you did mention cornie in the subject, my bad.

[Graham]

If that doesn't work its haunted.

Or the source of the infection is somewhere else.

[Robdog]

Well when i brew i do enough to bottle a few and have a full keg and the bottles have been fine plus its the same off taste in the last 2 brews that have been in that keg.

As i say both brew have been excellent up until about week 4 for the stout and id say week 5 or so for the porter.

Ill do as Chris suggests in his post and see how i get on.

[Robdog]

Strip it appart completely, scrub everything you can with a scourer and soda crystals, especially up under the lid and where it seals (you'll probably be supprised at the crap that comes off), borrow a small boy or release the missus from kitchen details and get them to scrub right at the bottom of the keg too. Fill it with bleach (it far superior to iodophor at bug killing) and soak for 20 mins, flip it over and put it top down in a bucket with bleach into soak the top too (it might put up a fight here). Then boil everything you can for 20 mins. Rinse the keg with a few kettles of hot water, reassemble and rinse again....then sanitise as usual. If that doesn't work its haunted.

Would that be just plain bleach without and perfume in it? Also do i dilute the bleach?

Just emptied it and it stunk in the keg again, not as bad as the first batch that went off and its took longer so maybe i got rid of most of the bad stuff last time?

[Grahame]

I am having I think similar issues. I have one particular keg with a built in tap. For the first 9 days, the taste was great - now it is getting more "bitter" I have made a few brews into this keg with similar taste, but in the previous brews the overly "bitter" taste was apparent right from the start.

Apart from the usual description of vinegary taste, has anyone any experience of other tastes that point towards infection?

G.