My beer taste sour is it ok?

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madkap_78

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This is my first time brewing. Im brewing a bells best brown ale clone. I just racked to secondary after seven days in the primary. As i was racking I syphoned off some of the beer and tasted it. It tasted very sour. Does this mean that something is wrong with my beer? Is it ruined?
 
Nothing is wrong. That is what beer tastes like before is done. Just leave it in the secondary until that taste goes away. It would have cleared up faster if you left it in the primary, but it will clear up eventually in the secondary. If you have a "schedule" already, just toss it out the window and leave it in the secondary until it tastes OK.

In the future, you really don't need to secondary a beer like that. You can just leave it in the primary until it is ready to bottle.
 
"Very sour" doesn't sound good at all. I don't expect an awesome beer coming out of the fermenter, but it should never be sour. Unfortunately, it sounds infected.
 
Nothing is wrong. That is what beer tastes like before is done. Just leave it in the secondary until that taste goes away. It would have cleared up faster if you left it in the primary, but it will clear up eventually in the secondary. If you have a "schedule" already, just toss it out the window and leave it in the secondary until it tastes OK.

In the future, you really don't need to secondary a beer like that. You can just leave it in the primary until it is ready to bottle.

This ^
 
Thanks for the advice. I got the recipe and a beer kit from a local home brew store. The instructions say to rack to secondary after seven days, thats the only reason I did it. How long should I leave it in the secondary?
 
Let it sit and see if it mellows, but like Yooper said....really sour isn't a good sign. If it's astringent ( dries your mouth out after a sip) it might get better with age. If it's sour( makes your mouth water after a sip ) it probably won't.
 
While infections are possible in any beer, most people describe Acetaldehyde as "sour" or "sour apple". It's probably the #1 new brewer "problem" taste.
 
While infections are possible in any beer, most people describe Acetaldehyde as "sour" or "sour apple". It's probably the #1 new brewer "problem" taste.

True, but that isn't described as "very sour". If it's described at all, it's "tart" or "sour apple".

"Very sour" coming out of primary is a bad sign and probably not going to go away, but it depends of course on the tastebuds of the brewer. "Sour" like vinegar or sour milk is spoiled. "Sour" like tart apples might be just fine.

In a brown ale, I'd expect a green beer to taste a little rough, with maybe some roasty bitterness that will mellow. But never "sour".
 
I think you'll be all right, that first beer is loaded with paranoia. Heck, I'm only on my 4th, but I've been through what you are going through right now and honestly, I can attribute it all to pulling my first beer off of primary after only one week. The yeast probably still had work to do. It will still do it, but it might take a little longer now in secondary. Give it a couple more weeks in secondary, then try it again.
 
Maybe I'm just sensitive to it, but the first time I tasted Acetaldehyde, I certainly thought it was sour. I had read all the stuff about it tasting like sour apple etc and was expecting a granny smith type thing, but all my tastebuds got was "Man, this sour beer sucks!" It wasn't a subtle fruity thing at all - just notably sour.

The obvious test is Acetaldehyde improves with time and infections get worse. Either way, it's just gotta sit there for at least a couple weeks.
 
I just bottled the beer today. I tasted it before putting it in the bottling bucket and besides having a really strong alcohol taste it was fine. Im hoping the strong alcohol will mellow once its in the bottle a couple of weeks. Thanks for help.
 
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