I'm a long time lurker on this site, and not an absolute newbie to brewing, but still pretty new. I have done several 2.5 gallon batches with a friend starting out with a Mr. Beer kit and continuing to use the Mr. Beer fermenter with ingredients from a LHBS.
I moved a few months ago and just brewed my first solo batch. It was a kit from the LHBS for a witbier, mostly LME with 1lb of corn sugar and some steeping grains plus the spices and a packet of T-58 yeast.
I realized that my hydrometer was broken on brew day and wasn't able to get an OG for the brew, but the kit says it should have been 1.051. I fermented in a bucket in a swamp cooler, keeping the fermenter temp in the mid-upper 60s for the first week and low 70s after that.
After 12 days the SG was down to 1.008 steadily for 3 days, so I bottled it. I racked it to another bucket, primed the 5 gallons with 4.25 oz of corn sugar dissolved in little more than a cup of boiling water, and bottled with an auto-siphon and bottling wand (don't have a bottling bucket). Even though I transferred it off the trub, I ended up stirring up a lot of sediment that went into the bottles (little less than 1/4 inch in bottom of bottle after a week). I used mostly 22s but a couple 12s as well.
I put the bottles in the closet that stays between 70-75 degrees. In the smaller batches I brewed with a friend, I never tried the beer before a minimum of 2 weeks, but this time I wanted to taste the progression as it conditioned. I chilled one for 24 hours after 4 days conditioning and tried it. It was SOUR and not much carbonation. I tried another one today (8 days carbing) and it was the same taste, it has a little better carbonation, but not pouring any head.
The sour flavor is kind of like very tart fruit, and that is all I can really taste except for some of the flavors I expect from a wit in the finish. I can't really tell if it is a vinegar taste or not like I have read others say is a sign of infection. When I took SG readings and even on bottling day, the beer tasted exactly like I expected and not sour at all. I am meticulous about sanitizing and sanitized all of the equipment and bottles with star-san. I also noticed today that there is a faint ring in the neck of the 12oz bottles at the top of the beer, but I can't tell if it's there in the 22oz bottles.
So after that novel, does it sound like I have an infection, or is this a flavor that will go away even though it's really strong right now? I'm sure everyone asks these questions, and I hate being "that guy" but I don't know what may have gone wrong.
I moved a few months ago and just brewed my first solo batch. It was a kit from the LHBS for a witbier, mostly LME with 1lb of corn sugar and some steeping grains plus the spices and a packet of T-58 yeast.
I realized that my hydrometer was broken on brew day and wasn't able to get an OG for the brew, but the kit says it should have been 1.051. I fermented in a bucket in a swamp cooler, keeping the fermenter temp in the mid-upper 60s for the first week and low 70s after that.
After 12 days the SG was down to 1.008 steadily for 3 days, so I bottled it. I racked it to another bucket, primed the 5 gallons with 4.25 oz of corn sugar dissolved in little more than a cup of boiling water, and bottled with an auto-siphon and bottling wand (don't have a bottling bucket). Even though I transferred it off the trub, I ended up stirring up a lot of sediment that went into the bottles (little less than 1/4 inch in bottom of bottle after a week). I used mostly 22s but a couple 12s as well.
I put the bottles in the closet that stays between 70-75 degrees. In the smaller batches I brewed with a friend, I never tried the beer before a minimum of 2 weeks, but this time I wanted to taste the progression as it conditioned. I chilled one for 24 hours after 4 days conditioning and tried it. It was SOUR and not much carbonation. I tried another one today (8 days carbing) and it was the same taste, it has a little better carbonation, but not pouring any head.
The sour flavor is kind of like very tart fruit, and that is all I can really taste except for some of the flavors I expect from a wit in the finish. I can't really tell if it is a vinegar taste or not like I have read others say is a sign of infection. When I took SG readings and even on bottling day, the beer tasted exactly like I expected and not sour at all. I am meticulous about sanitizing and sanitized all of the equipment and bottles with star-san. I also noticed today that there is a faint ring in the neck of the 12oz bottles at the top of the beer, but I can't tell if it's there in the 22oz bottles.
So after that novel, does it sound like I have an infection, or is this a flavor that will go away even though it's really strong right now? I'm sure everyone asks these questions, and I hate being "that guy" but I don't know what may have gone wrong.