Kegged beer starts off watery

[seilenos]

On almost every beer I've kegged the flavor has been "watery" and "thin" initially with a weird bite.

This seems to be the case no matter what happens before tapping ... short/long fermentation, cold crash or not before kegging, quick/long primary, burst or force carbonation, gelatin in bucket vs keg, etc.

After it sits for some amount of time the flavors finally to come through.

I surmise there are two possibilities:

1) Aging

All beers need time to develop. What's strange is I can turn-around a beer in a week or let it sit in the fermenter for eight weeks and they both have this same "delay" after kegging. In essence, beer goes from muted to flavorful, often within a few days.

2) Flocculation

If the beer appears to be yeasty, I discount any taste issues assuming that the yeast left in suspension is doing something. However, when it gets to a certain brightness this watery bite is still there. After some time, the flavor comes through. It goes from yeasty to muted to flavorful.

Is this making sense? Does anyone else experience this?

I'm getting a little anxious because I have two lagers that were kegged on Saturday for a huge party at the end of October. I just tapped them for the first time and again have this thin, watery bite. As this was the first time I've quick lagered and the first time I've used these specific recipes I am starting to freak out.

 

[WFox93]

How many beers is "A few days?"
How are your lines before the new keg? Empty, old beer, full of water or starsan?

I will often try the first pint then immediately pour it out for the homies. After that Its usually good, occasionally it takes 2 or 3 pints to get "good" beer from. Although after the first pint the following ones are very drinkable.

 

[seilenos]

Most recent example:

8/26 Brewed two batches: "Three Crops" and an English Pub Ale
9/8 Kegged both
9/9 Both tasted thin
9/10 Still thin
9/11 Still thin
9/14 Tasted great

What I don't know is if that one week was an aging process or did I work my way through the remaining yeast that was at the bottom of the keg by ultimately pouring off a few pints through samples.

 

[seilenos]

For reference, the two lagers that were kegged on Saturday and tapped today are:

Festbier

Batch Size (fermenter): 5.60 gal  
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
OG: 1.058 SG
FG: 1.012
ABV: 6.0%
Color: 4.1 SRM
IBU: 23.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %

Amt                   Name                                   
152.00 oz             Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM)         
16.00 oz              Munich (BestMälz) (7.6 SRM)           
16.00 oz              Vienna Malt (Avangard) (3.0 SRM)       
1.00 oz               Tettnang [3.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min     
0.50 oz               Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [2.60 %] - 60 min
1.50 oz               Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [2.60 %] - 20 min
2.0 pkg               Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70)

Marzen:

Batch Size (fermenter): 5.60 gal  
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
OG: 1.058 SG (came up a few points light at 1.055)
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.6%
Color: 10.8 SRM
IBU: 22.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %

Amt                   Name                                                
92.00 oz              Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM)            
76.00 oz              Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                    
18.00 oz              Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM)      
2.00 oz               Hallertau [3.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min      
1.0 pkg               Octoberfest Lager Blend (Wyeast Labs #2633)

 

[GPP33]

It doesn’t sound like aging since it’s not age related, it’s age in keg related. Oh, and not all beer requires aging.

I’d suspect either carbonic acid mellowing and or yeast/trub muddling the flavor.

How do you carbonate? Shake, high pressure for a couple days, set it and forget it?

 

[seilenos]

I've tried shake, stepped force (30, 20, serving), and set and forget.

I don't think it has happened with "set and forget", but the keg also sits for 7-10 days.

Last night I dropped the regulator to 6 psi (from 11 psi) and pulled the release on both kegs. Today they are both more flavorful with less bite. They are also more clear. Frustrating that I can't localize on one cause.

I thought about buying one of those keg beer floats that moves the dip tube to the top of the beer level instead of the bottom. That would eliminate yeast as a possibility.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I've tried shake, stepped force (30, 20, serving), and set and forget.

I don't think it has happened with "set and forget", but the keg also sits for 7-10 days.

Last night I dropped the regulator to 6 psi (from 11 psi) and pulled the release on both kegs. Today they are both more flavorful with less bite. They are also more clear. Frustrating that I can't localize on one cause.

I thought about buying one of those keg beer floats that moves the dip tube to the top of the beer level instead of the bottom. That would eliminate yeast as a possibility.

Every beer I've ever kegged has tasted thin and watery at first. It doesn't seem to get better until the carbonation is equilibrated throughout the keg.

 

[Aaron Beers]

What I'm hearing is the first few beers go down like water, until the buzz kicks in.

But seriously, with beer that's being kept cold in a keg, I'd start by figuring out if it's carbonation related. Presumably you force carb in keg, and depending on the beer, if you just set it and forget it, I've found it can take weeks to fully carb.

 

[seilenos]

...and just like that, the two beers that I kegged last Saturday are no longer watery.

 

[Booker78]

I have pondered your question for the past few brews myself. What I have found is that it is a carbonation issue (at least I think). I have been rocking my keg to carbonate at 30psi, sit for a day and then gradually bring down to serving psi over the period of about a week. I have noticed for the next week it is a bit flat in flavor and in carbonation. After another week or so I am able to get a better head at pour, the carbonation is better and the flavors begin to come out more. Now, I've just started to keg my beer, however this is something I have consistently found after the first few kegs.