Tap cross-contamination

maybe if they had the framboise in that line prior to hop hunter...not sure how the taps being next to each other could cause that other than the obvious possible spilling from one glass into another while filling from both taps...or osmosis...

 

As cherche said, no way lines next to each other could be the issue. Either that had Framboise on the same line before Hophunter (or some other fruity beer) or your glass had some fruity beer in it and wasn't washed or something. The beer lines go from the keg to the spigot and there is no junction box so to speak in between.

 

Had this happen 10+ years ago with a porter or stout and the tapline previously held a fruit beer, so I got the fruit flavor in my beer. Most of the places I visit have constantly rotating taps and I haven't had a similar issue, so I presume some best practices for preventing that kind of thing are common: isolating fruit/sour beers to certain handles, better cleaning regimens, etc. I read somewhere that Brouwer's, a highly regarded beer bar in Seattle, has a setup that allows them to replace the draft line every time they change a keg.

 

If you friend got his hop hunter after yours off the same keg then chances are good the hop hunter keg followed a fruit beer and the line was not cleaned out enough or the server was sloppy. Some direct draw systems use a single tank of bar gas (usually CO2 or CO2 and nitrogen) to drive the beer from several kegs to the various taps. There is a remote possibility that during the transfer of kegs if people were sloppy some beer might get transfered from one keg to another but then the whole keg would be contaminated. Some long draw systems have Foam on Beer (FOB) detectors that can tetect empty kegs. Shut the line off, keeping the beer in the line presurized while the empty keg is replaced with a new one. If both kegs ran out at the same time, there is a chance someone hooked the new kegs up to the wrong line so you would get a raspberry Hop Hunter. This might explain your funky Hop Hunter and your friend's normal one.

If you beer came after your friends then chances are more likely a sloppy server. Contaminated beer lines (all too common) can taste sour (lactobacillus), moldy, like someone dumped canned vegetable juice into the beer or like spoiled fruit among other things and would probably not taste like raspberries.

 

That's awful. I'd point it out to the bartender and then order something else instead.

 

If you buddy got a clean pour. Perhaps they tapped them recently and to the wrong lines and just recently swapped them out to correct that. It also sounds like someone was in a real hurry to keep their customers served and did not run out the Framboise which was in it previously and you got the some of the residual that was left in the tap line.

 

I know Max's Taphouse had to drain pour about 74 gallons two days ago.

 

What's the story with that? I looked at the FB link, but it doesn't really tell us anything.

 

I don't know. I've been into the keg cooler in the basement, but I don't know tap systems. Never had a contaminated beer. However, I've had it where they've accidentally hooked the lines up wrong, La Folie vs. Le Terroir.

 

had a fruity tasting guinness once was awful

 

a lot of bars don't bother to flush or soak their tap lines with starsan in between kegs.

some think that merely flushing it with a pitcher of the new keg is enough to rid the line of residual bacteria and off flavors.

I've run into this a few times at some local establishments, and let them know through yelp and trip adviser.

 

Did anyone have the nads to sample a pint of that concoction?

 

Your bartender probably was daydreaming, started your pour by mistake with the fruit beer, realized the mistake, dumped the fruit beer and filled your glass without getting a new glass or rinsing the first one. Easy explanation. But once you complained, I'm surprised that they didn't offer to replace your beer.

 

Probably made it taste better

 

Ding ding ding. We have a winner. It's the most likely scenario for sure.

 

The remoteness of that is infinitesimal. Gas lines have one way Thomas valves where they join the coupler which prevent beer from going up the line, and even if it were missing (which happens and is a common cause of CO2 loss in draft systems), the pressure would keep it out of the line as long as the gas was turned on.