Pukey smell in my KY Common

I just racked a Kentucky common to secondary and there seems to be some butyric acid presence in the nose, but the taste is relatively clean. I did a sour mash for 2 days at 90-120 F, and it smelled/tasted clean, as well. The boil seemed to smell vomity though. Anyway, my question is: will this character age out of my beer or am I stuck with the vomit smell in 10 gallons of beer? Thanks!

I'm not sure if it will age out of the beer or not but i have always heard that you are supposed to consume Kentucky Common while its still young

I had one that did the same thing, the vomit nose never went away and I dumped it, I just couldnt handle the smell

Supposedly if you read the thread about clostridium butyricum, brett will clean up the butryic acid to a degree

I have read about consuming these beers young as well, but if it still smells like this after clearing it might have to turn into an accidental Oud Bruin... Of course I had to make a 10 gal. batch.

WhatsOnTap said:

I have read about consuming these beers young as well, but if it still smells like this after clearing it might have to turn into an accidental Oud Bruin... Of course I had to make a 10 gal. batch.

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What Im doing this time around is building small starter with some grain about 2wks in advance to use to sour the beer. So far its extremely fruity and nice and tart. By doing a starter the pH drops so that any enterobacter etc that might give the starter bad aromas/tastes will die and not effect the beer

ryane said:

What Im doing this time around is building small starter with some grain about 2wks in advance to use to sour the beer. So far its extremely fruity and nice and tart. By doing a starter the pH drops so that any enterobacter etc that might give the starter bad aromas/tastes will die and not effect the beer

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+1 on this method. The smell can clean up (at least it has for me a little), but i think the heat thing is critical to the lacto and keeping the clostridium out. ryane's trick seems like a more reasonable way to control the bacteria. it's what i just used for a habenero sour relish, and it smells great. I've had some KYCs sitting for about 8 months and they still tasted great, so i think you can wait a little and see what happens.

Cool, that makes sense about the starters. I will try that for my next sour mah. I am actually buying the 5335 single strain Lacto for a Berliner next week as well, so I may keep a "stock strain" of pure lacto starter in the fridge for a time like this. What do you guys know about using apple juice to get the Lacto going? I heard 75% apple juice and 25% wort.

i've heard apple or pear juice, but have never done it. maybe my next batch.

Strange, when I did sour mash KY Commons I never got this in the finished product. The mash was foul some times, in look and smell, but the wort was always fine, even pre-boil. I never did over 24 hours though. I prefer my standard clean KY Commons.

If you can find glucose I'd use that before apple juice. Glucose is pretty damn cheap.

ODaniel said:

Strange, when I did sour mash KY Commons I never got this in the finished product. The mash was foul some times, in look and smell, but the wort was always fine, even pre-boil. I never did over 24 hours though. I prefer my standard clean KY Commons.

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maybe i'm infected with clostridium, my grain pile/ compost heap smells like it when i don't turn it or keep it dry enough. If i don't keep my sour mashes or lacto starters hot enough, i also get it.

spearko520 said:

it's what i just used for a habenero sour relish

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That sounds fantastic, do you mind sharing the recipe?

sure -2 parts water to one part honey and one part apple juice. 2 cucumbers, 1 cup shredded cabbage and about 12 deveined and deseeded habaneros (mine were pretty big- like a cup and a half), 2 carrots. put everything in the processor. infect with a lacto starter. after signs of fermentation slow, rack yeast sediment and liquid out from under relish. add some salt and lime juice and can.

spearko520 said:

12 deveined and deseeded habaneros (mine were pretty big- like a cup and a half)

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12 habaneros, wow - how hot is that relish? I guess if you take the seeds out it will tame it a bit, but I would imagine it has some punch. I think I will make it, though - sounds fantastic with the cukes. I have 30 lbs of sauerkraut going as I write this so my starter is made. Thanks!

Okay, so I tried the KY Common and I have to admit, it is turning a bit but I am still conflicted whether I like it or not. It has a complex nose now - hops and deep malt with a little vomit, but now I have some parmesan creeping in. The flavor is pretty sour, with the parmesan, malt, hops, and a little corn coming through with a little vomit but much less. I don't know how you guys' Commons come out - this is my first, but it might just be drinkable after a bit. My guess is that it is a bit "dirtier" than it is supposed to be. Any input on this? Thanks,

it's actually a little less hot than my regular jerk sauce recipe- which is basically eight peppers per 2 cups brown sugar (and all the spices). don't get me wrong- it is hot, but the deseeding and deveining cuts back the heat a lot, and the fermentation, honey and "pickling" cuts it back a bit, too. glad to hear the KYC is turning the corner a bit. My lambic that had the vomity nose seems cleared up- i have a spontaneous rotted banana thingee going for about two months and the smell is completely putrid. I added some weizen bam dregs about two weeks ago, and i am going to give it a few more weeks- if it never clears, the plan is to rack into the brew pot, boil it when no one is home, add 3 lbs of wheat dme and toss in a sacc/lacto starter that i use for gose along with some brett B, then wait a year...chapeau banana it definitely ain't.

hey - if you like the cucumber thing - i just had an awesome ceviche that they added julienned cukes to just prior to serving and it gave the dish great contrast and texture- i would think the thing may hold true for this, too- maybe adding the cukes just prior to canning (it might also dissipate a bit of the heat) ... I am also thinking of adding more sugar to my next batch and reducing into a jelly. Pepper jellies are delicious!