Vingegar Scotch Ale...

Hello all,

Just bottled a Scotch ale tonight. The beer was my second batch and a Brewcraft beer. The beer is now 2 months old and as I took a gravity reading I tasted it and spit it out. It tasted gross. Almost like vinegar. I did not have a temperature controller as I do now and perhaps was not ready to make a big beer like this.


Well my question is am I doomed?? I know certain flavors improve or mellow after aging, but this beer tastes real bad. Is there any hope or is it infected?? The kit recommends aging at low temperatures which I could not do at the time but can now. Is it worth giving it the time??

Any help would be appreciated. My 3 batches after making this beer came out great and hope to not have to dump this one.

Thanks again

If it tastes like vinegar, that is an acetobacter infection, and it is doomed. No ageing or conditioning will get rid of that. Check your process for a source of contamination, or chalk it up to bad luck.

Just how vinegar-y is it? That is, does it just have a vinegar background or is it straight vinegar? I agree that it is an infection, however do not throw it out. If it ages well and gets good and vinegar-y it makes for excellent cooking and excellent gifts for other cooks. I've had batches of wine do the same and hold onto it and use it in the kitchen. With that smokey background (assuming since it is a scotch ale) it will be flat awesome for beef and pork, salads, etc...

reed1911 said:

Just how vinegar-y is it? That is, does it just have a vinegar background or is it straight vinegar? I agree that it is an infection, however do not throw it out. If it ages well and gets good and vinegar-y it makes for excellent cooking and excellent gifts for other cooks. I've had batches of wine do the same and hold onto it and use it in the kitchen. With that smokey background (assuming since it is a scotch ale) it will be flat awesome for beef and pork, salads, etc...

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Thanks that is a great idea.

I am still hoping somehow it is not an infection though I know it is doubtful.

My next question is, is my equipment/bottles ok???
I have made 3 subsequent batches and they turned out great. Now though I have used all my racking equipment on this beer. Will a good PBW rinse and starsan soak be enough??

I have 2 batches lined up for this week and do not want anything to go wrong. The possibly infected batch was only my second batch. I really try to clean/sanitize everything really well so I am surprised at this infection. Perhaps this happened while racking to the secondary since the beer seemed fine in the primary.

Thanks again for the help

There are really so many ways for an infection to begin. IIRC the general issue is keeping O2 away from the beer and that should help keep its growth from spreading too much (assuming you have a large local colony around naturally) Honestly, I would do a good bleach rinse of my equipment prior to making another batch. I use it religiously after each batch, then the equipment goes back in storage, and star-san prior to using it again. Is it overkill? You betcha! But, I've not gotten any unwanted bugs since. I like to fiddle with local bugs and brett so I run a good chance of issues if I'm not careful. The plus side of that it that if it does happen chances are I'll like it enough to drink it at minimum.