Frustrated Fermentation

Hello All.

I am very frustrated at the moment.

A while back I busted a glass carboy that was full. Wife got worried asked me to move to plastic. I went with buckets instead of Better Bottle.

I brewed my House Pale(10gal) batch and things were going nicely.. woke up one morning during fermentation both lids were blown off. Bubbler stopped up and full wort. - This was not the first time either. They are 23liters I guess not enough head room.

I did what I could and cleaned them and re-sealed the lids. Well I racked them to kegs. No visible sign of contamination. No floaties and stuff.
But I tasted both. One tasted fine and the other .. had a sour taste? I think it was sour and the nose was sour.

Anyway.. I was pissed.

When I used glass I had no problems... not one when it came to this sort of thing. Sure my recipes might has missed the mark and such.. but not with contamination.

Anyone know what that sour taste is? Is is slight but enough you know it is there.

I am moving to Better bottles.. but my concern there is that they are only 6g as well.

Anyway, thanks for listening.
T

Given that both fermenters had the same beer, and only one had a detectable sour note to it, it is most likely a bacterial infection. If it gets worse through time, that should confirm it. Best to drink it now before it does get worse (probable).

That's too bad that the batch didn't work out. I have had a couple of wild yeast infections over the years, and it sucks to lose a batch. Just be sure to mark that BB fermenter so if it produces another bad batch, you know to either sanitize the heck out of it (might still not be possible) or chuck it.

BLOW OFF HOSE

3 words to live by!

+1 for the blow off hose. I find it necessary for my hefeweizens. Krausen out the wazoo.

I definitely support the idea of a blow-off hose.

But I like Fermcap/Foam Control drops and a blow-off hose better. Especially for beers with lots of wheat, rye, or oats -- the foam control really works from losing too much wort, and aids in head retention in the finished beer.

Ok.

I kegged them both.
One is fine. Tastes Great. Friends agree.
the other one I will not drink. when I taste it it SCREAMS ... SOUR.

I had 5 others friends taste it on Sunday while we were brewing and playing washers.

2 agreed with me. 3 thought it was "different" but fine and drank it.

One of the 3 asked for it... if I was going to dump it .. which I was going to do.

Question is: If he drinks it .. is it going to make him sick ?

I do not want to harm him even if he does not have a good pallet .. ha!

Thanks.
T
My last brew... I used blow off tube and not one problem.

Thanks

The sour beer shouldn't sicken him. In all probability the infectious bacteria have flocculated out just like their friendly cousins.

As far as his pallette... well that might be a lost cause.