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**PurpleJeepXJ** · 09-24-2011, 04:59 PM

So I made a Dunkelweizen on 8/27. It fermented for 2 weeks and I did not secondary. My OG was 1.059 and my FG was 1.015. I have made this recipe many times and it always turns out amazing. My problem is this... At bottling the batch smelled very sour, almost like rotten grain. I bottled any ways and cracked open 2 bottles that still smell bad and taste even worse. I dont dump beer but I am just wondering what this could be? There was a nice thick krausen and the beer did not show any signs of infection. The recipe I made is the Dunkelwiezen under my recipe drop down tab. Comments and ideas of what this is would sure help me understand where I went wrong. Thanks

***Yooper*** · 09-24-2011, 06:18 PM

Those symptoms sure sound like a lacto infection to me.

I hope I'm wrong! But I'd definitely go ballistic and bleach bomb any glass and replace any plastic.

Grain is covered with lactobacillus, so the source of contamination could be just about anything. I had lacto once- it was in a lager. I don't really know exactly where it came from, but I went on the offense and got rid of it in future batches.

**PurpleJeepXJ** · 09-24-2011, 06:36 PM

You are just the person I was hoping would comment on this. I am leaning towards lacto also but doesn't lacto typically show visual signs on the surface? Some say the smell will go away over several months... what is your opinion on that?

oldschool · 09-24-2011, 09:23 PM

I know that pedio can have an effect and not show any "visible" signs although it produces lots of diacetyl. So I would assume that lacto can be in the beer and not show a pellicle etc.

***Yooper*** · 09-25-2011, 04:06 AM

The only signs my lacto infected beer showed coming out of primary was a slight sourness and something not-quite-right. I was suspicious enough though to not rack it to a keg and just cover it back up and wait another two weeks. 'Two weeks later, it had the characteristic slime in it, and tasted even more sour. It still looked ok except for the small amount of slime, and smelled a bit off. It tasted like **** by that point, though.

No doubt in my mind at all that it was lacto at that point!

**PurpleJeepXJ** · 09-25-2011, 02:32 PM

Yep that is sounding along the same lines... Oh well I have plenty of bottles so It wont hurt to just leave it and maybe the beer gods will just make it disappear. Thanks Yooper and Old School!! I figured to post this in the AG forum so I would not get the default RDWHAHB by people that have no idea what infected beer is.

DrMaltyVonHopenstein · 09-26-2011, 03:18 AM

I guess the question is how. Were you really careful to sanitize your hydrometer/thief/fermenter/whatever? I have only had to toss 2 batches in 87 brews and I could never really pin down how they were contaminated.

**PurpleJeepXJ** · 09-26-2011, 01:10 PM

Yep I always wash with bleach and then rinse with tap water to get the bleach residue out. then I soak with starsan for about an hour... I have no Idea where it cam from either... Oh well, I guess it is time to make a new batch

DrMaltyVonHopenstein · 09-30-2011, 03:05 AM

If it makes you feel better, I probably just contaminated my next few batches. I left a bucket of spent grain to cool in my garage and forgot about it for a few days. Now I'm sure there is a nice lacto-sheen all over everything. I got rid of it and bleached some stuff 3 days ago and it stills kind of stinks in there.

**PurpleJeepXJ** · 09-30-2011, 12:20 PM

That is what happened to me in order to cause my lacto infection too. I Acid washed, Bleached, PBW'd, and Starsaned everything. It would have costed way too much for me to replace all my plastic parts. Hopefully this turns out well.