Why does the keg taste better?

[Libigage]

Hi All, can someone please explain the reason for this:-
I've been kegging since last Christmas (guess what I got). I start off with bottling 4 to 6 bottles, add carbination drops and keg the rest and carb with CO2. Why is it that my kegged beer is sooooo much better than the bottled beer in taste, head retention and clarity. I've got a Dark Rock Expresso stout to do which I planned on bottling the lot so that I could share them, but now I'm not sure what to do. Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[Sandimas]

I dunno but I agree with you, much prefer my kegged beer to the bottled ones.

Could it be the amount of carbonation? I've never liked fizzy beer, in the kegs I just use enough CO2 for serving. Certain styles are better bottled, mainly IPAs and Stouts, which both go in the fridge for a long time, but normal ales like pale ales are much better from the keg. I half-bottle half-keg most batches so it's the same beer I'm comparing.

 

[MickDundee]

I dunno but I agree with you, much prefer my kegged beer to the bottled ones.

Could it be the amount of carbonation? I've never liked fizzy beer, in the kegs I just use enough CO2 for serving. Certain styles are better bottled, mainly IPAs and Stouts, which both go in the fridge for a long time, but normal nowales like pale ales are much better from the keg. I half-bottle half-keg most batches so it's the same beer I'm comparing.

I’d actually say IPAs and stouts are better kegged - closed transfers to corny help IPAs stay fresh, and for stouts you can sit the beer at minimum carbonation (or even use a nitro mix) to keep the carbonation low and mouthfeel smooth.

Wheat beers on the other hand are better bottled, but I love wheat beers and hate bottling so keg them anyway - with kegs you can often end up with a clear wheat pretty quickly as I discovered with my last Wit.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I keg my British bitter and bottle everything else.

 

[Brewnaldo]

I did mention this recently. Definitely the case for me with lagers and pale ales. I think in some cases I might have generated some undesirable flavours during bottle fermentation. Sometimes they go ibto the bottle tasting better than they come out.

Oddly, my current stout tastes better bottle conditioned than keg (I have a mixture.)