I'm having recurring issues with a sour taste in my beers. It is clean and reminiscent of plain yogurt, not overpowering but definitely noticeable. It seems to taste a lot better when the beer is warmer, but is still there. There are no vinegary or apple/cider flavors with the sourness. On the first batch I made it did not improve with age (even up to 6 months.) I've only bottled 4 batches (1 more in lagering, another in primary), so it could also certainly be any number of mistakes on my part.
I suspect either a recurring lactic infection, or something to do with old LME. I know there are a lot of arguments over whether old extract can cause these types of flavors, so I figured I would see what you guys think.
Here are a couple of factors but of the two batches with this problem:
1. Of the two batches that have this flavor, one was canned extract purchased over 4 years ago and the other was canned extract from a Brewer's Best Altbier kit that was of unknown age.
2. I have brewed other beers using the same equipment which lack this flavor.
3. I have never seen any sort of film or floating sign of infection in primary or secondary.
4. I am very careful with my sanitation with a few notable exceptions: I add unboiled bottled water as top-off water in primary, also my racking and bottling equipment are old and I got them off of craigslist.
Maybe a timeline would help:
1. ESB w/ very old LME - HAS the sourness
2. Stout w/ new ingredients - NO sourness (could be covered by the other off flavors due to my other mistakes with this brew)
*Got a new primary due to two bad batches in a row, plus it was picking up smells from the beer.
3. IPA w/ new ingredients - NO sourness (unless covered up by the bitterness/hop flavor)
4. BB Altbier kit w/ unknown ingredients - HAS the sourness
I need to go back and look at my notes... I remember tasting that Altbier when I checked FG, and I can't remember whether it was sour at all then. It is certainly more sour now after bottling than before. It's also highly carbonated, actually enough to burn my throat, I'm not sure if that contributes to sourness.
This is probably TL;DR material, but I'd appreciate any ideas you guys have.
I suspect either a recurring lactic infection, or something to do with old LME. I know there are a lot of arguments over whether old extract can cause these types of flavors, so I figured I would see what you guys think.
Here are a couple of factors but of the two batches with this problem:
1. Of the two batches that have this flavor, one was canned extract purchased over 4 years ago and the other was canned extract from a Brewer's Best Altbier kit that was of unknown age.
2. I have brewed other beers using the same equipment which lack this flavor.
3. I have never seen any sort of film or floating sign of infection in primary or secondary.
4. I am very careful with my sanitation with a few notable exceptions: I add unboiled bottled water as top-off water in primary, also my racking and bottling equipment are old and I got them off of craigslist.
Maybe a timeline would help:
1. ESB w/ very old LME - HAS the sourness
2. Stout w/ new ingredients - NO sourness (could be covered by the other off flavors due to my other mistakes with this brew)
*Got a new primary due to two bad batches in a row, plus it was picking up smells from the beer.
3. IPA w/ new ingredients - NO sourness (unless covered up by the bitterness/hop flavor)
4. BB Altbier kit w/ unknown ingredients - HAS the sourness
I need to go back and look at my notes... I remember tasting that Altbier when I checked FG, and I can't remember whether it was sour at all then. It is certainly more sour now after bottling than before. It's also highly carbonated, actually enough to burn my throat, I'm not sure if that contributes to sourness.
This is probably TL;DR material, but I'd appreciate any ideas you guys have.