Smells Good, Tastes Sour!!

Need some help here. I made a pumpkin beer and put it in the primary. The yeast was WL California Ale Yeast WLP001. After ten days in the primary I racked it to the secondary and tried a sample. The beer was very very sour. I'm assuming that I got an infection somewhere down the line. It took about 36 hours for the fermentation to start. For the first two days the primary was in temp. around 77 degrees. I then moved it to a cooler and kept it around 68 degrees for the rest of fermemtation.

Any ideas what happened??

It's still "green" and hasn't matured yet...give it a try after it has been bottled and conditioned for a few weeks and see what ya got.

Does this sour beer taste like green apples, our sour in an acidic way? See the flavor wheel

While I would not rule out a bacterial infection, I would also not rule out young beer.
Acetaldehyde in flavor or aroma is caused by bacterial infections. this can be avoided by taking stock in good sanitation procedures.

Young beer with sour/green apple taste or aroma is caused by the beer well.... being young. An easy remedy for this is to relax and give it some time, like say 14 days in secondary fermentation.

Glibbidy,
In response to you question, I guess it tastes like more of an acidic sourness. Does not taste like milk or vineger. It's in the secondary now. So you think that I should leave it for 14 days, bottle and see what I get??

RotorHead6 said:

It's in the secondary now. So you think that I should leave it for 14 days, bottle and see what I get??

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Yes, that is what you should do. It will still take a few more weeks in the bottle to finish.

Lots of others here have brewed pumpkin ales. You might want to search for those threads to see what they have experienced.

77F fermentation days and 'pumpkin'...a whole variety of nasty flavors fill my head.

but i'm no pumpkin fan.

What was the whole recipe? Did you use LME or DME? The so called extract "twang" that LME can impart could be described as sour. Also, licorice and molasses are used to describe this flavor.

I used LME. I have the twang to a few of my other beers that I brewed in the past but nothing like this. This type of sour is something that I have never tasted before out of the primary. I'm convinced that it's infected but everyone says to let it go in the secondary, bottle it and see what happens. I think that is pretty much my only option right now.

RotorHead6 said:

Need some help here. I made a pumpkin beer and put it in the primary. The yeast was WL California Ale Yeast WLP001. After ten days in the primary I racked it to the secondary and tried a sample. The beer was very very sour. I'm assuming that I got an infection somewhere down the line. It took about 36 hours for the fermentation to start. For the first two days the primary was in temp. around 77 degrees. I then moved it to a cooler and kept it around 68 degrees for the rest of fermemtation.

Any ideas what happened??

Click to expand...

I'm in a VERY similar boat. I just did/am doing a pumpkin. Fermentation also took 3 days. I had it in a constant 65 degrees though. I tasted a bit while bottling (17 days in the primary...skipping secondary due to lack of container, lol...too much going at once). It seemed the most sour of any of my beers yet. Not killer, spit it out sour, just...more sour than I was expecting. A smell that perfectly matches that taste. I'm 50/50 on whether it's infected or just young.
If it helps to analyze it, my beer is crystal clear (no signs of baddies there). When I tasted my gravity sample a week through fermentation, it was just spicy, no sour. That sort of has me worried.
Well, in the bottles for 2 weeks it sits.

Since my last post I have bottled my beer. It was in the secondary for two weeks as directed by other members. Since then it has a better taste. I no longer think it is infected. Went through the same thing, never tasted one of my beers that was so sour!! I think it was just green and needed some time to complete fermentation. I will let it go in the bottles for one month and then try again. It should be OK. Good luck with yours, it should be just fine!!

RotorHead6 said:

Since my last post I have bottled my beer. It was in the secondary for two weeks as directed by other members. Since then it has a better taste. I no longer think it is infected. Went through the same thing, never tasted one of my beers that was so sour!! I think it was just green and needed some time to complete fermentation. I will let it go in the bottles for one month and then try again. It should be OK. Good luck with yours, it should be just fine!!

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Thanks! It definitely didn't have a rotten smell, just maybe that "greenness"...and I've seen one batch that my dad did get infected while in the primary...YUCK, but this looks nothing like that (this is crystal clear, great color, good looking trub). So, I've got my fingers crossed. Keep me posted and maybe even PM me if you try one of yours in a few weeks, and I'll do the same.

Will do. For now it's time to hit the road with a final destination of Greenfiled Mass. for the Green River Brew Fest tomorrow. 40 craft brewers on hand. Should be a good one!!

ezatnova said:

Thanks! It definitely didn't have a rotten smell, just maybe that "greenness"...and I've seen one batch that my dad did get infected while in the primary...YUCK, but this looks nothing like that (this is crystal clear, great color, good looking trub). So, I've got my fingers crossed. Keep me posted and maybe even PM me if you try one of yours in a few weeks, and I'll do the same.

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Just to close out my portion of this topic, my Pumpkin is almost gone...the bottles just seem to disappear! I was VERY happy with my end result. Any taste of bitterness/sourness that was there initially, tasting out of the fermenter, is gone now. It's a great smelling, great looking, manageble spiced pumpkin ale. I'd make it again next year in a heartbeat. Maybe shove a bit MORE spice and pun'kin in there! :rockin: