first pint of beer through a beer engine question

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BrewStew

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does anyone get an odd smell.... kinda "woody" and a really metallic taste on the first half pint poured of the day when pulled through their engines?

every evening when i get home from work and pour a pint, i'm having to pour half a pint off and chuck it to get rid of the taste :?

i'm thinking the air is going up the spout or something and making the beer go weird.

at the end of and evening's drinking i turn off my gas, and disconnect the gas in on the cornie hooked up to the engine, so that it doesn't make the engine drip if the regulator decides to play silly buggers.... i then take the creamer tip off and leave it in a glass of water overnight so the tiny holes dont get clogged, and i make sure the swan neck is clean.

should i be leaving my creamer tip on, to help stop the air getting in and up the swan neck?

i cant think of anything inside the engine causing the taste/smell as i stripped and cleaned it all and thoroughly sanitised it before use.
 
hmmmm i might leave the cask creamer on then after giving it a rinse.

i just didn't want the beer to congeal in the tiny holes and block them
 
Good call Vossy. Surface moisture is a barfly magnet and come summer you will thank yourself a million times over for a good bar close down each night. Rinse out your taps and cling film them over is all you need to do. Your Beer Engine when not in use should not be "running on" so you shouldn't get any congealing in the sparkler/creamer.

I was drinking in a place in Manchester last summer and they had a terrible problem with Barfly. The place was full of swarms of them and it was pretty disgusting. I was at at the bar drinking a rather poorly kept pint of Pendle Witch and saw one of the staff pull a fridge out from underneath the bar....a black cloud of barflies whooshed out! Needless to say I never went in there again. It's a terrible Pub anyway but my mate dragged me in with tales of a "riverside" beer garden.....Manchester Ship Canal anyone?
 
:sick: :lol:

thanks arturobandini :thumb:

i must confess that before getting beer engines, i've been slacking with my bar closedowns... and had to completely strip all four enodis taps cos they weren't properly flushed after use (when the kegs were empty) and became stuck :oops:

learned my lesson.... even a home bar needs a good deal of attention and cleanliness (infact moreso than a commercial one as it's not in use all the time, so proper cleaning when not in use for long periods is essential)

since getting beer engines on the other hand, i'm shutting off gas, disconnecting lines, cleaning creamers, spraying sanitising fluid over everything and wiping it down.. polishing the chrome and brass.

owning a couple of beer engines has actually given me a kick up the ****! :lol: :cool:
 
heh! Nice one Brewstew. It's a good practice to get into as you don't want your friends and family fighting off the barflies as you've put so much hard work into the brewing of your beer and the construction of your bar. Barfly and fruitfly are definitely an indicator of a dirty bar. Worst thing is the feckers often hide in the tap nozzle of the engine or font so the bartender often won't know anything about it until you get a pint of beer with added protein floating in it.

Another thing is leaving nozzles and measures etc in water or whatever. Not a good idea if your bar isn't in frequent use as it goes stagnant and stinks up your equipment and is another breeding ground for bar pests. Just rinse out anything you've used, a quick wipe with blue roll or paper towel, place them back on and cling film your taps to be ultra secure. Your bar isn't going to turn into a fly infested dump if you have a few too many and have a shabby close down though. Just helps to know what to expect if you consistently neglect the more tedious side of caring for our favourite liquid.
 
last night i cleaned the lines with Bactosol (i wanted to get prosan but KingUK had none available :( ) as per the instructions, and pulling another pint or two of it through the lines every 5-10mins over the course of 30 to keep the fresh stuff coming through and doing it's thing. it made a BIG difference to the taste.... it's not so bitter now... so that answers one question for me.... a strong Videne solution to clean a beer line IS NOT ENOUGH!!! :oops:

I found that my lines hold about half to 3/4 of a pint when it's through my chiller (as it is at the moment)

now, i came home today... took off the cling film, poured off a half pint... and that oaky smell and really sharp metallic taste was there.... chucked it... poured another half and it was gone and back to it's lovely tasting self.

so it appears to me that it's not just what's in the spout, but the whole line that's giving it an odd flavour... as that taste/smell is there until i've got past pouring half a pint!

anymore suggestions?

should i clean the lines again, but with stronger solution and for longer?
 
BrewStew said:
a strong Videne solution to clean a beer line IS NOT ENOUGH!!! :oops:
Click to expand...

Surely Videne just sanitises it and doesn't clean it. If you've got any stuck on beer, organic crud, etc you'll still have the **** in there after the videne.

I just use beer line cleaner (about a fiver from the cash and carry)
 
that's the realisation i've come to!

do you reckon using Bactosol in a stronger quantity might shift that taste?

weirdly, i dont get this problem through my enodis taps, even when i've run it through the very same line in the chiller :hmm:
 
Why not stick your cornie post into a jug of fresh water with the last couple of pulls of the nights drinking session.This means you are still drinking most of whats in the line next night ditch the first couple of pulls of water . :thumb:
 
remove the outpost of the cornie? that would leave the beer open to nasties?

or have i read that wrong? cos quick disconnects are airtight unless they are attached to a post are they not? :wha:
 
What we really need is someone that makes a 9/16" UNF threadded bar to a hose barb fitting. then we could take a 'spare' disconnect thread it to the adapter, and put the hose into BLC or Water and 'pull' or pump fluid through the lines.


Bru4U???
 
Aleman said:
What we really need is someone that makes a 9/16" UNF threadded bar to a hose barb fitting. then we could take a 'spare' disconnect thread it to the adapter, and put the hose into BLC or Water and 'pull' or pump fluid through the lines.
Click to expand...

what's that in english? :oops:

actually no.... what's that in Drunk? :lol:
 
BrewStew said:
remove the outpost of the cornie? that would leave the beer open to nasties?

or have i read that wrong? cos quick disconnects are airtight unless they are attached to a post are they not? :wha:
Click to expand...
What i meant to suggest was unscrew the cornie disconnect stick it in water then draw water through the top threaded part of the disconnect.Hope this makes sense now :thumb:
 

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