cripplecreek
Well-Known Member
So two weeks ago I attempted to brew my first Saison. I mashed:
8.5lbs of Belgian Pale
1.25lbs White Wheat
6oz of Crystal
at 145F for 60min.
I then batch sparged twice with 175F water (screwed up my calculations and ended up adding 1gal of water to fermenter to get 5.25 gallons).
I added .4lb Turbinado Sugar .75oz Hersbrucker pellets and 1.25oz East Kent pellets and boiled for 60min.
I added another .5 oz East Kent for the last 15 as well as .5oz bitter orange peel, 2g paradise seed, and some corriander for the last 5 mins.
Ice bath and I was down to about 80F in 20-30 mins.
Then pitched one tube White Labs Belgian Saison Blend. It was one day past the "best before" date, but I figure worse case is that it wouldn't take off. But this may have been where I went wrong.
I forgot to dry my bung before installing it and it ended up falling into the wort. This wasn't too much of a disaster b/c it has a thermowell for the temp control. I was able to retrieve with a hanger that I heat treated and doused with some Crown Russe. (Again maybe where I went wrong)
I then set my fermenter control to 80F and waited. Within 12hrs I had and strong and rigorous fermentation. It had a 2-3in krausen head and the airlock was humming away.
I was able to monitor progress for the next 48hrs, got the temp up to 83F , but then was away (Dogfish head, WHOOHOO!). Everything seemed fine. When I returned home on the 6th day there was still an occasional blip in the airlock and everything looked / smelled normal.
On the 9th day I transfered to 2ndary, again it looked and smelled fine. But then I tasted it. It's got a sort of sour tart nastiness to it that I can't quite put my finger on. It's seems familiar, and not in a good way (BBQ frito laced vomit???). I tasted it again today (day 13), and it still tastes gross. Gravity reads at 1.008.
This was only my 5th all grain batch, but it is my first bad batch since I started brewing 2+ years ago.
I'm thinking it may be lactobacillus??? Or could it have been the yeast?? I know it will be in large part speculative, but any educated guesses would be appreciated.
THANKS!!
8.5lbs of Belgian Pale
1.25lbs White Wheat
6oz of Crystal
at 145F for 60min.
I then batch sparged twice with 175F water (screwed up my calculations and ended up adding 1gal of water to fermenter to get 5.25 gallons).
I added .4lb Turbinado Sugar .75oz Hersbrucker pellets and 1.25oz East Kent pellets and boiled for 60min.
I added another .5 oz East Kent for the last 15 as well as .5oz bitter orange peel, 2g paradise seed, and some corriander for the last 5 mins.
Ice bath and I was down to about 80F in 20-30 mins.
Then pitched one tube White Labs Belgian Saison Blend. It was one day past the "best before" date, but I figure worse case is that it wouldn't take off. But this may have been where I went wrong.
I forgot to dry my bung before installing it and it ended up falling into the wort. This wasn't too much of a disaster b/c it has a thermowell for the temp control. I was able to retrieve with a hanger that I heat treated and doused with some Crown Russe. (Again maybe where I went wrong)
I then set my fermenter control to 80F and waited. Within 12hrs I had and strong and rigorous fermentation. It had a 2-3in krausen head and the airlock was humming away.
I was able to monitor progress for the next 48hrs, got the temp up to 83F , but then was away (Dogfish head, WHOOHOO!). Everything seemed fine. When I returned home on the 6th day there was still an occasional blip in the airlock and everything looked / smelled normal.
On the 9th day I transfered to 2ndary, again it looked and smelled fine. But then I tasted it. It's got a sort of sour tart nastiness to it that I can't quite put my finger on. It's seems familiar, and not in a good way (BBQ frito laced vomit???). I tasted it again today (day 13), and it still tastes gross. Gravity reads at 1.008.
This was only my 5th all grain batch, but it is my first bad batch since I started brewing 2+ years ago.
I'm thinking it may be lactobacillus??? Or could it have been the yeast?? I know it will be in large part speculative, but any educated guesses would be appreciated.
THANKS!!