1st BIAB disaster

OK so my first BIAB a cream of three crops 10 gal batch has been in the fermentor almost 4 weeks, opened it up to check gravity and it has turned to vinegar. I am so disgusted. I have been reviewing my sanitation and can't think of anything I forgot to do. I did use a new bucket that I have never used before, maybe it had some scratches that I could not see or feel? Maybe my attempt at BIAB was flawed in some way. Just sick at having to dump 10 gallons.

Wow, four weeks for vinegar. That's quick. I would look at your yeast. Was it healthy when you pitched. Did you have a normal fermentation? I didn't think something like this could happen so fast. I think there is something more amiss than scratches.

The fermentation appeared to ve normal I pitched the yeast at aroun 80%, at aroun 8PM at night. Had krausen by the next morning aroun 9PM. If my bucket was scratched and therefore my sanitation was flawed could this be the culprit? It was very definantly vinegar, the smell was recognizable. Had to pitch the whole batch.

I really hope you tasted it before you threw out the beer.

Sorry to hear you lost a batch.

that's crazy -was it fresh yeast or a repitch? Did you accidentally step barefoot in your primary?

Sorry to hear it - the Cream of Three Crops was my first AG and was awesome. Def give it another try.

What yeast were you using?

Sounds like a pretty hefty dose of acetobacter got in there somehow. Usually the yeats comptes and that type of infection is usually inccured after primary fermentation.

Could your airlock have run dry?

I used knotty for the yeast it was fresh. No walking in the primary . Air lock did not run dry. I am getting this bucket out of my brewery. Maybe I will use it for cleaning or somthing. I can only figure that is the culprit.

you tasted it?

You clean/sanitise your lid? Could be junk in the rim seal.

Also, you didn't drink a bunch of apfelwein, then open the lid, staring at the fermenting beer while breathing heavily. Did yah?

+1 to all those who've asked if you tasted it. Sometimes fermentations can produce that vinegar odor, but the beer can still be fine.

What was the fermentation liquid temperature? Not the room temp.

Nottingham produces great results at 62-65 or lower liquid temperature.

menschmaschine said:

+1 to all those who've asked if you tasted it. Sometimes fermentations can produce that vinegar odor, but the beer can still be fine.

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I'd like to know if he tasted it.

I have a wild wheat that gets a faint smell of vomit and is gone quickly. I get this smell when I first pop the airlock off. The smell dissipates quickly and starts to smell like a tart-fruity beer.

I did taste the beer it was nasty. Not a harsh alchol taste the kind that will mellow out, a nasty vinegar sour taste. I have never had a problem with Nottingham before and I don't think it was the yeast as I had very active fermentation at the begining. I did not open the fermentor during the month after I observed the activity die down. I can only assume something got into the fermentor to turn it. Anyhow, taking a break this week to figure out what went wrong. Also need to finish working on my fermentation fridge before I embark on any thing else that will require swamp coolers or ice baths.

Acetobacter require access to oxygen to create acetic acid, so somewhere you had a break in your seal... airlock, bung, or ring. If there was enough of a gap oxygen could get in to sour it, it's also likely you got some vinegar flies up in there going after the alcohol, and that is how you got the infection.