So, I've brewed three batches so far - all extract. The first was an IPA which sat in the primary for three weeks and has been bottled 2-3 weeks at this point. It tastes alright, but I'm figuring the flavor will develop as it spends more time in the bottles.
The second batch was a Scottish ale, which I was going to bottle on Christmas day. My FG turned out right were I was hoping, but when I tasted it, it was incredibly sour - beyond undrinkable. I fermented it in a 5 gallon glass carboy with a blowoff tube rigged to a growler with sanitizer in it. Hoses were all clamped down with tape to make sure that I didn't inadvertently expose it to the air. The fermentation was so vigorous that foam leaked out below the blowoff cap which left behind a nasty residue that prevented me from being able to look inside, so no pictures or anything of the top.
The third batch is an imperial stout. I used a liquid yeast starter for that one and, after finding out that the Scottish ale was nasty, I tasted it as well. It's only been in the fermenter a little over two weeks, but it has a similar sour taste to it as well. Not nearly as bad, but I'm wondering if it's headed in the same direction.
Now, I'm a really nervous to brew up another batch now. I made a yeast starter earlier this week for a tripel I was going to brew, but I'm afraid I'm doing something wrong and am just going to wind up dumping batch after batch.
I've tried to be really careful with sanitizing, but here are a couple of things that I'm wondering if it could be:
1. I didn't realize after the first batch that I could dismantle my auto-siphon, so I'm wondering if just soaking in PBW wasn't sufficient. I fixed this on the third batch and was able to soak both pieces in my sink.
2. I check the pH of my sanitizing solution prior to each use and make sure that it is sufficiently acidic.
3. My brew pot can only hold 3.5 gallons, so I boil 2.5 gallon batches and then add refrigerated bottled gallons from the grocery store.
4. I chill my wort in about 20 minutes down below 70 by adding the chilled water as well as placing the brew pot in a cold water bath. I don't cover the top of my brew pot because I don't have a lid.
5. I pretty much keep all my implements and hoses in Star-San until ready for use.
6. Spray bottle of Star-San anytime I open up the fermenter, which is rare - I've been more or less ignoring them for at least three weeks before cracking them open.
7. All of my carboys are glass and these were my first batches in them - so, never used before.
Some things that I'm going to start doing are sanitizing the outside of the gallon jugs before adding them to the wort and sanitizing my yeast vials before adding them to the starter flask.
Anyone have any advice / suggestions that might help improve my sanitizing process? I'm more than a little bit discouraged right now - blowing two batches in a row really sucks. I was just starting to get really excited to be brewing my own beer.
The second batch was a Scottish ale, which I was going to bottle on Christmas day. My FG turned out right were I was hoping, but when I tasted it, it was incredibly sour - beyond undrinkable. I fermented it in a 5 gallon glass carboy with a blowoff tube rigged to a growler with sanitizer in it. Hoses were all clamped down with tape to make sure that I didn't inadvertently expose it to the air. The fermentation was so vigorous that foam leaked out below the blowoff cap which left behind a nasty residue that prevented me from being able to look inside, so no pictures or anything of the top.
The third batch is an imperial stout. I used a liquid yeast starter for that one and, after finding out that the Scottish ale was nasty, I tasted it as well. It's only been in the fermenter a little over two weeks, but it has a similar sour taste to it as well. Not nearly as bad, but I'm wondering if it's headed in the same direction.
Now, I'm a really nervous to brew up another batch now. I made a yeast starter earlier this week for a tripel I was going to brew, but I'm afraid I'm doing something wrong and am just going to wind up dumping batch after batch.
I've tried to be really careful with sanitizing, but here are a couple of things that I'm wondering if it could be:
1. I didn't realize after the first batch that I could dismantle my auto-siphon, so I'm wondering if just soaking in PBW wasn't sufficient. I fixed this on the third batch and was able to soak both pieces in my sink.
2. I check the pH of my sanitizing solution prior to each use and make sure that it is sufficiently acidic.
3. My brew pot can only hold 3.5 gallons, so I boil 2.5 gallon batches and then add refrigerated bottled gallons from the grocery store.
4. I chill my wort in about 20 minutes down below 70 by adding the chilled water as well as placing the brew pot in a cold water bath. I don't cover the top of my brew pot because I don't have a lid.
5. I pretty much keep all my implements and hoses in Star-San until ready for use.
6. Spray bottle of Star-San anytime I open up the fermenter, which is rare - I've been more or less ignoring them for at least three weeks before cracking them open.
7. All of my carboys are glass and these were my first batches in them - so, never used before.
Some things that I'm going to start doing are sanitizing the outside of the gallon jugs before adding them to the wort and sanitizing my yeast vials before adding them to the starter flask.
Anyone have any advice / suggestions that might help improve my sanitizing process? I'm more than a little bit discouraged right now - blowing two batches in a row really sucks. I was just starting to get really excited to be brewing my own beer.