Soooo.... my first batch of homebrew was a mr beerkit that I didn't have terribly high hopes for turned out tasting like vinegar and apple cider with a hint of beer. For my second batch I bought grains to steep, dry malt extract, hops, and yeast according to a recipe I found. I started my second batch on monday and have not seen much taking place in my mr beer fermenter. Today I noticed a vinegar smell. I am a bit worried this means I am infected/contaminated. The lid is on tight. I sterilized everything with the powder even to the point of leaving my utensils in the water amd rinsing them before each use. Do you think I should just dump this batch and start over and what suggestions would you have to better sterilize things.
noob
- Thread starter shaggy727
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jump_xiii
Well-Known Member
Certainly sounds like something's not going right. I'm no expert, but those on here that are will want to know a bit more detail about your process and what sanitiser you're using etc. can you expand on your post?
I'm nor exactly sure what type or brand of sanitizer. It came in a kit. Its powder that you mix in water. Like the title says noob. Hopefully not for long though. Process was I fill up my sink with warm water. Desolved the packet. Put some water in my fementer for about 20 mins t. I rotated it every couple of mins. I ran all of the water out of the spicket to sanitize that. I put water in my boil pot and swirled it a around for a few mins. I made sure to get all of the sides. I kept all of my measuring cups, spoon, and whisk in the water when it wasnt being used. I rinsed all of the items before use to not put sanitizer in contact with the brew. I know I need to upgrade my equipment to but I'm getting frustrated at this "simple" process.
I steeped the grains for 30 mins then added the dried malt extract. It took maybe 10 mins off of heat while I mixed in the dme. I brought it up to a boil then added my first hops. 45 mins added second hops then at 60 added last per the recipe. It is a kilkenney irish red ale knock off. It took about 20-25 mins to cool in an ice bath in my sink then went straight into my fermenter. I aerated for a couple of minutes. The fermenter is a mr beer keg which will be changing very soon. It does not have an air lock. The lid coveres two small holes on the thread basically to prevent a bomb but to still seal it.
You shouldn't give up on your beer. Even if it doesn't turn out very good time may heal some of the wounds.
I made a honey blonde that ended up having much more alcohol than anticipated ( I wanted <5%) and without thinking of what I was doing watered it down considerably. What I did was lower my IBU's way under specs as I started with the bare minimum. Upon trying it when it was ready, and I give it longer than many, it was so sweet and unbalanced. I almost dumped it, but I kept some in the fridge and tried it a month later. It's something that BMC drinkers would appreciate, and isn't bad.
As for a vinegar like smell, I'm not familiar with that. But I wouldn't give up on it.
Many people don't like those sanitizers. Get something like Star San if you can.
What kind of beer are you making and what yeast are you using? Maybe it has something to do with that and someone can pick up on it.
I made a honey blonde that ended up having much more alcohol than anticipated ( I wanted <5%) and without thinking of what I was doing watered it down considerably. What I did was lower my IBU's way under specs as I started with the bare minimum. Upon trying it when it was ready, and I give it longer than many, it was so sweet and unbalanced. I almost dumped it, but I kept some in the fridge and tried it a month later. It's something that BMC drinkers would appreciate, and isn't bad.
As for a vinegar like smell, I'm not familiar with that. But I wouldn't give up on it.
Many people don't like those sanitizers. Get something like Star San if you can.
What kind of beer are you making and what yeast are you using? Maybe it has something to do with that and someone can pick up on it.
Don't give up. I screwed the pooch with my first batch. The mr beer kits while a great way to start and learn the process make terrible beer. The little fermentor works well for small batches however 
Find a good tried and true extract recipe in the recipes section of the forum and cut the ingredients in half to make a 2.5 gallon batch in your Mr beer fermentor.
How on to your issue:
Your issue is likely a sanitation issue.
The powder is 1step. It is really not a sanitizer. It is more or less a version of oxy clean and great to clean with. Invest in a small bottle of Star san for your next brew. It is an excellent no rinse sanitizer that will not contribute any off flavors to your brew. Once applied do not rinse the Star san. It will foam. The foam is good. Do not fear the foam.
Also try to keep your fermentation temps down below 70. High fermentation temps can also lead to off flavors.
Find a good tried and true extract recipe in the recipes section of the forum and cut the ingredients in half to make a 2.5 gallon batch in your Mr beer fermentor. How on to your issue:
Your issue is likely a sanitation issue.
The powder is 1step. It is really not a sanitizer. It is more or less a version of oxy clean and great to clean with. Invest in a small bottle of Star san for your next brew. It is an excellent no rinse sanitizer that will not contribute any off flavors to your brew. Once applied do not rinse the Star san. It will foam. The foam is good. Do not fear the foam.
Also try to keep your fermentation temps down below 70. High fermentation temps can also lead to off flavors.
The beer is supposed to be a kilkenney irish red ale clone. Safale s-04 dry ale yeast was the yeast. The location was in an interior closet that stayed at a consistant 70. I moved it to my basement which is a few degrees cooler on another persons advice. The temp is monitored by a stick on thermometer similar to what is used for an aquarium.
WyomingBrewer
Well-Known Member
Keep in mind that ambient temperature is not the temperature in the fermenter. Fermentation creates heat and you could be up near 80 degrees inside. Not saying you were that high, but its possible. Hot fermentation creates some nasty off flavors from the yeast, harsh alcohol like flavors, maybe even vinegar smell. My guess is it got too hot and in my experience time does not heal that. I like to have an ambient temperature between 60-65 degrees and let it alone for 3 weeks. Still, dont throw out the beer. Go ahead and bottle it up when its time.
Do not throw it out unless you know 100% you have an infection. And even then you might be able to salvage it. My advice is to keep it cool and dark and forget about it for 3 weeks then see what you got.
You mention vinegar but also a cider smell. You may be just picking up the odor of acetaldehyde, one of the intermediate compounds that yeast produce on their way from maltose sugar to ethyl alcohol. Let this batch finish fermenting completely, check for that with your hydrometer to be sure, then bottle it. If you got an infection of acetobacter it will get more and more vinegary. Save some of it you do, you have malt vinegar. I'm betting that it isn't infected and you will have some decent beer when you are through.
I am really hoping so. Kilkenney is one of my favorite beers. An irish/scottish pub my cousin bartends at stopped carrying it and said the stopped a shipping to the US.I'm not expecting an exact clone but something close to would be fantastic.
I don't think (but can't say for sure) that plastic is the kind of porous they mean. More like cork. Plastic buckets are popular for fermenting in. There are a lot of plastic tools (spoons, tubing, air locks, siphons, etc.).
PorterPete
Active Member
I am new to brewing also but a few things I thought I would suggest.
I noticed that you said you rinsed the sanitizer off. Many of the sanitizers are soak for 2 min and no rinse. I bought a cheap dish pan from walmart for about 2$ to do all my sanitizing in. I don't trust doing in the sink.
I would also make sure you get all the nooks and crannies of the MrBeer. I had a few friends that had issues with the MrBeer and it was my opinion that the shape made it easy to miss a spot or two.
I noticed that you said you rinsed the sanitizer off. Many of the sanitizers are soak for 2 min and no rinse. I bought a cheap dish pan from walmart for about 2$ to do all my sanitizing in. I don't trust doing in the sink.
I would also make sure you get all the nooks and crannies of the MrBeer. I had a few friends that had issues with the MrBeer and it was my opinion that the shape made it easy to miss a spot or two.
Youre going to have to trust us on the StarSan. 90% + of the people on this board are using it on stainless, glass, plastic, aluminium, copper, ect... Dilute it properly and you wont have a problem. It works pretty much on contact so you wont generally be soaking things in it long term just a minute or so.
homebrewnewb86
Member
I had a question about dry hopping. I have a basic APA 5 gallon batch, with approx 32-34 IBUs .
About how much and how long to dry hop for an extra kick of aroma? I don't want it to be pungent, just a good floral whiff. I have whole-leaf golding hops. I'm about to transfer from primary (10 days) to secondary, using isinglass for the last week or so if that makes a difference.
About how much and how long to dry hop for an extra kick of aroma? I don't want it to be pungent, just a good floral whiff. I have whole-leaf golding hops. I'm about to transfer from primary (10 days) to secondary, using isinglass for the last week or so if that makes a difference.
From what I can tell the hops added for aroma are generally added at the very end of the boil. 0-2 mins left. According to some of the recipes that add things like fruit later, they seem to add them after fermentation is complete and racked over to secondary.
