About a year ago I made a pilsner. I should say, I brewed a pilsner recipe. Something didn't go right though, from what I could tell. I opened it up at some point and sniffed it and it didn't smell right. Additionally it wasn't producing any bubbles, so I figured it was either stalled or infected. I haven't had any stalled beers before so I figured it got an infection.
I've had bad batches of beer before, but it has always been some stupid thing I've done. There were only two beers I wouldn't drink: a brown and a sour. The brown was basically without taste. The sour had mold floating in it and it spooked me. This one really made me wonder what was going on. I thought the starter had gone off. I talked to my LHBS owner and he told me I might a week play with it and gave me some expired Saison yeast vials.
I decided to get a bit wild and transferred the beer to a neutral barrel cleaned in an unusual manner. Note, I did not say "sanitized". This barrel had been used for one porter and two stouts, and then I filled it with water for a few months. I emptied it out and then filled it with the pilsner and dumped some expired yeast in it.
Fast forward to several weeks ago, I decided to to take a sample of it.
It was really clear, but had absolutely no taste and no tartness. Barrel, you failed to be inoculated with anything interesting. I took a pH reading and it confirmed what I thought.
So since I had no sour, no activity, and we are going in a year, I decided to dump some blackberry puree in it and see what happens.
I've had bad batches of beer before, but it has always been some stupid thing I've done. There were only two beers I wouldn't drink: a brown and a sour. The brown was basically without taste. The sour had mold floating in it and it spooked me. This one really made me wonder what was going on. I thought the starter had gone off. I talked to my LHBS owner and he told me I might a week play with it and gave me some expired Saison yeast vials.
I decided to get a bit wild and transferred the beer to a neutral barrel cleaned in an unusual manner. Note, I did not say "sanitized". This barrel had been used for one porter and two stouts, and then I filled it with water for a few months. I emptied it out and then filled it with the pilsner and dumped some expired yeast in it.
Fast forward to several weeks ago, I decided to to take a sample of it.
It was really clear, but had absolutely no taste and no tartness. Barrel, you failed to be inoculated with anything interesting. I took a pH reading and it confirmed what I thought.
So since I had no sour, no activity, and we are going in a year, I decided to dump some blackberry puree in it and see what happens.