Hi Everyone,
I've done a lot of searching around the forum, but I'm not sure I've found the answer to my specific question.
I brewed a my second batch, a 2.5 gallon Belgian dubbel (followed a recipe from a LHBS), on 11/19. Used Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity, and all seemed to be going well. After about 2.5 weeks in the primary at 68-72 degrees I noticed some strange bubbles/spots on the top. I decided to take a gravity reading and it had gone from 1.061 to 1.013, which seemed pretty normal. When I opened it up there was a pretty bad smell coming out of the fermenter (the bubbles looked fairly normal when looking into the carboy though, so I assumed I was just being paranoid). When I tasted the sample it tasted normal. You could even taste a bit of dubbel in the background.
Two days later, I take another gravity reading and it's 1.012. Not as strong of a smell this time. I taste the sample and it's now got a distinct sour taste that wasn't present two days prior. This didn't seem good, and since I wouldn't have a chance to bottle for another three days, I decided to bottle it today.
So, a few questions:
1) Assuming this is an infection, will the taste it clear up in time?
2) Assuming it's not an infection, could there be any other reasons for this?
3) For future reference, in this situation is it better to bottle or leave in the primary?
Thanks,
John
I've done a lot of searching around the forum, but I'm not sure I've found the answer to my specific question.
I brewed a my second batch, a 2.5 gallon Belgian dubbel (followed a recipe from a LHBS), on 11/19. Used Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity, and all seemed to be going well. After about 2.5 weeks in the primary at 68-72 degrees I noticed some strange bubbles/spots on the top. I decided to take a gravity reading and it had gone from 1.061 to 1.013, which seemed pretty normal. When I opened it up there was a pretty bad smell coming out of the fermenter (the bubbles looked fairly normal when looking into the carboy though, so I assumed I was just being paranoid). When I tasted the sample it tasted normal. You could even taste a bit of dubbel in the background.
Two days later, I take another gravity reading and it's 1.012. Not as strong of a smell this time. I taste the sample and it's now got a distinct sour taste that wasn't present two days prior. This didn't seem good, and since I wouldn't have a chance to bottle for another three days, I decided to bottle it today.
So, a few questions:
1) Assuming this is an infection, will the taste it clear up in time?
2) Assuming it's not an infection, could there be any other reasons for this?
3) For future reference, in this situation is it better to bottle or leave in the primary?
Thanks,
John