Some of my brews are turning sour during bottle conditioning

[JAG107]

I just started homebrewing in January. Since then, I have brewed about 9 or 10 five gallon batches, and 3 of them have turned sour. Of those, they tasted fine right out of the carboy, but once bottled and tasted 2, 3, 4 weeks later they are sour to the point of undrinkable. I starsan everything, bottling bucket, siphon with racking cane, bottles, bottlecaps, etc. All bottles have tasted sour, meaning I don't think it's an issue of the bottles being dirty. Could it be my cane/siphon? The tube is tinted slightly brown. Or the bucket? Maybe there's bacteria hiding in some scratches that could cause it?
It's REALLY disappointing everytime I crack one of these open and find it sour.
2 of them were Weizenbocks, and the other a dunkelweizen. Any ideas? The souring seems to only get worse with age.
All batches have been AG and spend 2-3 weeks in primary, with no secondary done yet.

 

[mlanoue]

I'm mostly just blown away that you've cranked out ten batches since January. Nice job.

As you are discovering, beer changes a lot in the weeks and months after packaging. Usually it gets better. But, I've had those times when it gets less tasty. Still, you're beer is pretty young. Give it time, and maybe replace your hoses.


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[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

Are you using carbonation drops? I am just wondering because at one point I had a similar problem and found out it was the drops that were giving me that off flavor. Someone said that I should try dipping them in sanitizer but I switched to straight corn sugar and a small amount of water. Boil it and it is sanitized.

Other than that replace everything in your bottling chain. Also limit exposure time to air.

There are honestly a ton of things that could be going wrong. While it is great you have completed so many batches, I would slow the process down and examine everything I am doing. I have had a few beers that once the carbonation is included, it changed the character at first. Give it a month and check it again.

Good luck.

 

[Calder]

Taste a little like vinegar?

The contamination probably started in the fermenter, with acetobacter. You bottled with air in the bottle, which allowed the acetobacter to keep working, making the beer more sour.

Lactic acid is 'gentler' and takes longer.

My suggestion would be to soak everything (no metals) in mild bleach solution for at least 24 hours (1 tablespoon per gallon), then rinse with hot water. And when fermenting, minimize O2 exposure; quit taking samples, and peeking at the beer ....... just leave it alone.

 

[mysteryshrimp]

I had a saison that went sour in the bottle, complete with a pellicle in the bottles themselves. I replaced everything in the bottling process except the bottles. It hasn't happened since.

Not all Lactobacillus is created equal, and some will take a week or less to make something noticeably soured. Acetobacter is still a possible culprit, but in any case it's a bacteria somewhere hidden, possibly in the bucket or the spigot.

 

[flars]

Which of the 10 brews have turned sour? The last three or random? How long do you primary?

 

[JAG107]

The ones that turned sour were #3, 7, 9.
I'm ready to replace the bottling bucket/spigot and siphon hose. I bottle fairly quickly (within less than an hour) from starsan in the bottling bucket to final capping. The carboys get rinsed, brushed and sanitized after emptying, then sanitized again prior to racking. I think I'm going to give everything a good bleach soak next time for good measure, in case the starsan isn't fully working. I starsan everything, even the lauter tun and copper wort chiller.
And I don't open the airlock until the day I bottle, unless it's before 2 weeks in primary I will take a gravity sample (not returned), then check again in 3 days, then bottle if its the same.
Not using bottling drops, just corn sugar boiled in water.

 

[flars]

Remove the spigot from the bucket and look for some crud around the washers. Pop the spigot apart and check inside also

Take your bottling wand apart and check for crud inside the tip.

I would recommend using an auto siphon if you are using a simple racking cane. The simplicity of an auto siphon leaves less chance for inadvertently picking up contaminants as with manipulating a racking cane and tubing.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I agree with flars. I would be looking at your spigot on the bottling bucket. I have noticed that there is a "blowback" pressure release valve in my spigot. There could be some stuff inside there too. Hose is cheap to replace too.

 

[JAG107]

Thanks for the tips, I will be replacing that bucket and siphon before my next bottling.

 

[Ilan34]

I've tried posting this three times and the phone app keeps eating my post, so here's the short version:

Any tips on taking the spigot apart without banging the hell out of it? Search function and my LHBS were no help. Thanks!

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[flars]

I've tried posting this three times and the phone app keeps eating my post, so here's the short version:

Any tips on taking the spigot apart without banging the hell out of it? Search function and my LHBS were no help. Thanks!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

Remove the spigot assembly from the bucket. Put the outflow tip on a hard surface. Press down on the body of the assembly. The spigot will pop up.

 

[satph]

Batches #3, 7, 9 turned sour. 2 of them were Weizenbocks, and the other a dunkelweizen.

It seems unlikely to me that there are bugs in your bottling bucket that only like German wheat beers.

I would guess those three beers had a lot of common ingredients. What ingredients did they all have in common that were not used in any of the other batches? Did they all use the same yeast?

 

[coravetz]

Could you give us some more details on your brewing process, bottles and ingredients? Could your other beers also have it, but it's covered up by high hops, malt or other flavors? If it truly is just those 3, then I'd be looking at the process or specifics to those batches. Are you doing a partial or full boil? Are the bottles new or reused? Are all the ingredients coming from the same source? If you don't find anything in your fermenter, siphon/tubes, or valves, you should consider these other areas as suspect before you start replacing things and spending money where you don't need to.