Leeds1

Recipes 

Brewed a pumpkin in September and a Winter Warmer in beginning of November. At bottling the Pumpkin had a slight cider taste that I just attributed to being green. 5 weeks later it still has it. The warmer was brewed right after the Pumpkin was bottled and placed in the same fermenter. Pulled a sample for a hydro reading and it has the same taste and smell as the pumpkin.

So it seems I've got some sort of bug, I'm leaning towards acetobacter. The Warmer is still in the carboy sitting in the basement. Is it worth a shot to try to turn it into a full blown sour? I don't need the carboy for anything so I can let it sit for a long time. I've got some commercial sours that I could use the dregs from and I just so happen to have a pack of roselare in my fridge as well. I've read that acetobacter needs oxygen to really turn a beer sour and the warmer has only been opened once. Is it possible to add the dregs and maybe the Roselare and let them do their thing while keeping the aceto at bay?

And I'm guessing I should probably move it to a warmer part of the house instead of the 60F basement.

weremichael

Recipes 

personally, I don't treat sourness as a way to cover up off taste anymore than hoppiness covering up off flavors. if you have an off-beer, keg or bottle it now and drink it after a few pints of good beer. fix the problem, then make a sour.

cervezarara

Recipes 

Do you want 5 gallons of malt vinegar? Actic acid will likely predominate even if you add other souring bugs. Pedio will form a pellicle to prevent oxygen and acetobacter. But if you already have it, forget about that.

Fruit flies are notorious for introducing acetobacter. Dust can also harbor this bacteria, now that you have it. I agree that you should probably drink it soon or dump it, bleach bomb all your equipment, and start over.

Leeds1

Recipes 

Thanks guys. Looks like I'll dump it because it's not even decent enough to drink right now and there's no sense wasting other ingredients on it.