First batch down the f'in drain...

[ChshreCat]

+1 on sanitizing. People will say "In the medieval times they didn't have sanitizers and they made beer". This is true. But they made crappy beer that they had to drink green before it started to grow a beard and crawl out of the fermenter and drink the blood of their goats and carry off their women. Seriously. There's a reason why we invented indoor plumbing, penicillin, Nintendo and Starsan. They make the world a better place. Nobody bathed back then either. Is that a good idea? Hell no. Wait... I've been drinking Ruination all night. I'm druk... I should be posting this in the drunking ranting forum or something. Nevermind. Go about your business. Nothing to see here.

 

[northernlad]

Have any of you forgot to clean your MLT out properly, left spent grain for a day or two or composted grain? I told my neighbor if he smelled a dead body don't worry, its my compost.
This doesn't have anything to do with Ecoli (not a chance), Salmonella (an equally slim chance) or botulism ( probably a better chance). He is sitting on a bucket of rotting grain juice. THere is no need to prolong the inevitable.

The rule of thumb is: if the smell backs you up, throw it out.

 

[Pommy]

Whatever it is, the OP need to let if ferment, bottle it and give it a month just to prove one way or the other. I still say let it ride, better to dump bad beer than good green wort (wherever it is on its way to becoming our favourite beverage) (also if the wort is actually green maybe it is best to dump it!)

 

[cheezydemon3]

IT IS HIS FIRST BREW 3 DAYS IN.

I don't trust anyone in that situation. My first brew was PHUCKED!!!! Wierd smell, huge moldy floaties.

Wish I still had a bottle of that Fantastic imperial stout.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Sorry I should have specified it was a one-step but many people still use sanitizers after that.

 

[cheezydemon3]

1 step has worked great for me, 80 or so brews.

 

[jbrookeiv]

IT IS HIS FIRST BREW 3 DAYS IN.

I don't trust anyone in that situation. My first brew was PHUCKED!!!! Wierd smell, huge moldy floaties.

Wish I still had a bottle of that Fantastic imperial stout.

It was actually four days.

I took the gravity again, and it hadn't moved one bit.

This leads me to believe my yeast arrived dead. It's hotter than hell here in FL, and even with a cold pack I think the yeast might have gotten overheated on the journey from TX.

AHS replaced the kit, so it's all good. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Also, the "He's a noob, it can't be infected" mentality is a little frustrating. Still loving these forums, but learning about the particular situation before chiming in and telling me it can't be infected would be great.

 

[smizak]

Aaahh dude! I guarantee you threw away good beer!

Completely exterminate all preconceptions you have about what beer looks and smells like while it's fermenting and brew a simple pale ale. Don't mess with a pineapple mango jalapeno graff mead Oktoberfest. Do something simple and get a handle on your process and techniques. Then experiment.

 

[jbrookeiv]

Aaahh dude! I guarantee you threw away good beer!

Completely exterminate all preconceptions you have about what beer looks and smells like while it's fermenting and brew a simple pale ale. Don't mess with a pineapple mango jalapeno graff mead Oktoberfest. Do something simple and get a handle on your process and techniques. Then experiment.

I still don't understand how after 4 days the beer could not have even begun fermentation and still have turned out okay.

 

[Hang Glider]

...Also, the "He's a noob, it can't be infected" mentality is a little frustrating. Still loving these forums, but learning about the particular situation before chiming in and telling me it can't be infected would be great.

Yeah, welcome to HBT - thick skin required, pick and choose your advice...you will get plenty of conflicting thoughts. Not as bad here as some forums, but definitely opinionated.

(Me - I would have dumped it and started over...)


On the other hand, we did have a lively OFF-TOPIC! discussion about Wikipedia, and you got a lot of action on this one ---

 

[jbrookeiv]

Yeah, welcome to HBT - thick skin required, pick and choose your advice...you will get plenty of conflicting thoughts. Not as bad here as some forums, but definitely opinionated.

(Me - I would have dumped it and started over...)


On the other hand, we did have a lively OFF-TOPIC! discussion about Wikipedia, and you got a lot of action on this one ---

Yea, that made me crack up. Kept getting email notifications about a new post on the thread and it was another argument about whether drinking this or that would kill you.

 

[JLem]

I still don't understand how after 4 days the beer could not have even begun fermentation and still have turned out okay.

If it hadn't started after 4 days, it is likely that it would never start - something wrong with your yeast. But this doesn't mean you can't repitch and have just as good a beer in the end. Case in point: my pumpkin ale didn't ferment on my first pitch. I waited 3-4 days to make sure, but the gravity never moved. So on day 4 I pitched some dry yeast and off it went, just as happy as can be and is now sitting at 1.012, smelling and tasting fantastic.

Your photo and smell description are pretty bad - worse than anything I have had to deal with - so whether or not you would have had good beer is up in the air, but it's not automatically the case that things can't turn out after a 4 day lag (in fact, I would argue it is the exception)

 

[jbrookeiv]

If it hadn't started after 4 days, it is likely that it would never start - something wrong with your yeast. But this doesn't mean you can't repitch and have just as good a beer in the end. Case in point: my pumpkin ale didn't ferment on my first pitch. I waited 3-4 days to make sure, but the gravity never moved. So on day 4 I pitched some dry yeast and off it went, just as happy as can be and is now sitting at 1.012, smelling and tasting fantastic.

Ah, ok. So I guess I should keep some yeast on hand? Wish I would have thought of that before ordering from BOTH Brewmaster's Warehouse and Northern Brewer, lol.

 

[BigB]

My guess is... and I know it may be a stretch, but it fits the facts... is that the yeast were in fact pretty much dead on arrival and went into autolysis after pitching. IF that was the case, dumping it would have been the best option because of the massive amounts of off flavors it would have released into the wort.

 

[jbrookeiv]

My guess is... and I know it may be a stretch, but it fits the facts... is that the yeast were in fact pretty much dead on arrival and went into autolysis after pitching. IF that was the case, dumping it would have been the best option because of the massive amounts of off flavors it would have released into the wort.

My thoughts exactly. Well, I've learned quite a bit from this first batch, wish me luck on brewing tomorrow!

:rockin:

 

[cheezydemon3]

Also, the "He's a noob, it can't be infected" mentality is a little frustrating. Still loving these forums, but learning about the particular situation before chiming in and telling me it can't be infected would be great.

I'm still liking you, but the whole "I want advice, but only if it agrees with what I've already decided" bugs me a little.

Good Luck!

 

[jbrookeiv]

I'm still liking you, but the whole "I want advice, but only if it agrees with what I've already decided" bugs me a little.

Good Luck!

Not trying to complain, I just think some people jumped in with their comments before even reading through the thread.

 

[Pommy]

Its a shame that we will never know whether or not you made beer the first time and I wish you had given it a chance but good luck on your next brew

 

[cheezydemon3]

Not trying to complain, I just think some people jumped in with their comments before even reading through the thread.

You have to understand that 99 times out of a hundred the "is my beer ruined?" thread from a first timer results in beer that is fine.

 

[Pommy]

+1 Beer is beutiful as a field of barley and once it is in your glass, everything in between is pretty ugly. I am not saying your beer was fine and your just a noob but just that its a possibility

Anyway thats your first batch out of the way so hopefully some lessons learnt and successful brewing ahead. Whatever happens dont let this experience put you off brewing.

 

[jbrookeiv]

+1 Beer is beutiful as a field of barley and once it is in your glass, everything in between is pretty ugly. I am not saying your beer was fine and your just a noob but just that its a possibility

Anyway thats your first batch out of the way so hopefully some lessons learnt and successful brewing ahead. Whatever happens dont let this experience put you off brewing.

No way! The brewing bug has bitten me hard, and I don't foresee myself quiting any time soon.

 

[Fuzzywumpers]

Wow. I just spent the last 30 minutes or so of my life going through an emotional roller coaster. This was like reading a soap opera. I loved it.

1)Probably should have re-pitched, but whatever.

2)Wikipedia is best used to see how many albums Michael Jackson sold.

3)Beer is awesome.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

No way! The brewing bug has bitten me hard, and I don't foresee myself quiting any time soon.

I'm with you. I just did batches 4 & 5. After batch 3 which sucked I took 6 months off, but now I want to go buy another fermenter and do another batch. After reading this site for the last couple weeks I feelike starting a "Things I did wrong" thread, but I'm sure they'll be good.