Tangy Aftertaste

[otyler]

Hi all,

I made my first homebrew from a kit. It was the light lager kit from craft a brew (extract). I will list notes below.

I followed instructions to the tee but some mishaps happened which I will list below.

When chillling the wort, I was clearly not prepared, did not have enough ice to quickly chill wort. I was throwing frozen sausages, etc. I was throwing whatever frozen **** I could into the water to try to bring down quickly. I kept lid on to prvent large openings during the chilling process but it must've taken at minimum 15 minutes if not more to chill. I do not have fancy equipment. Once chilled, I transferred to glass carboy using funnel and then I pitched the yeast. Since it was a lager, I was able to put a fermometer on the carboy and used frozen water bottles to keep the temps between -56 to -68 F. I'd say I averaged 62 F. Fermented for 2 weeks w/ a diacetly rest for 3 days at RT. I did 3 days cold crashing because it was cloudy (I did not notice the cold crash to really clear the beer up unfortunately). I bottled which was an absolute mess. Had trouble with siphon, bought an autosiphon now.

I think if anything, risk of bacteria infection occurred during chilling of wort or during bottling... However, I tasted a Yuengling and and it also has a sour/tangy aftertaste but definitely not as bad. Maybe I am sensitive to tanginess.

I have seen through some forum articles already that the yeast suspended could contribute to tanginess... I think I am going to bring to a craft brew store or somewhere where someone who makes beer can taste it and give their opinion. I love the process and learned a lot but I am just wanting to get some ideas before I start my next batch... I bought some star san to mix in a gallon jug to have instead of using sodium metabisulfite powder.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jeroen79]

Did you throw the saussages in the wort itself ?, or in a container around it?, the wort should only come in contact with the immersion cooler, and it should be inserted when it is still hot so its sterilized.

I presume it is infected, but let sit for a while might still be drinkable.

 

[BeerNsteadofH2O]

I'll say you learned alot from this experience(at least I hope you did), tackling a lager for you first brew is a tall order, withoutbstarting and final SG readings,my guess,amongst other things, is it's not fully fermented, not knowing your entire sanitation process, alot of other things could be going on, give this one some time to bottle age, but be alert for the degree of carbonation, you dont need to add bottle bombs to the list of mishaps with this brew,
Fancy equipment is not needed, but a solid plan , preperation and patience will go a long way to steering you in the right direction..

 

[Skeeter686]

... I was throwing frozen sausages, etc. I was throwing whatever frozen **** I could into the water to try to bring down quickly. ...

Sorry to hear about your experience, but that's funny as hell!!!

I wouldn't be so concerned about super quick chill times. If your sanitation is good, you'll probably be fine with a longer chilling period. Some folks just cover their wort and let it naturally cool overnight.

I didn't have a mentor when I started and I was all paranoid about following all the rules to a T and cooling as fast as I could. I've learned to relax, don't worry and have a homebrew. It's really easy to make beer. It's a little more work to make good beer. It's kinda hard to make great beer, but a lot of that is knowledge and experience.

Don't beat yourself up on your first beer. Get the process down, take note of ways to improve the process, and your next beer will be better and our easier.

You could try chilling the entire pot in an ice water bath, if you don't have anything better. Or look for an immersion chiller, which would be better. And you could always read up on no-chill brewing... I think it's basically closing up the kettle to prevent stuff from getting in and letting it cool naturally. Which sounds kinda convenient in a lot of ways... you would stagger the brewing tasks over two days, which may be easier for some folks.

Hang in there... you'll get this!

 

[mac_1103]

Did you throw the saussages in the wort itself

Sous vide sausages - yum!

But how about a little perspective...

it must've taken at minimum 15 minutes if not more to chill

Assuming the OP means that it took 15 minutes to chill to a suitable pitching temp, that's actually pretty fast and certainly not anything that should be expected to lead to contamination unless the kettle was open the whole time. Sounds like bottling might have been more of an issue.

Anyway, when trying to chil wort without the benefit of a wort chiller, save your ice for late in the process. Put the kettle in a tub or sink and use tap water first, replacing it frequently as it warms up. Then switch to chilled water, and finally add ice. Melting all of your ice right off the bat by dumping it into a tub with a hot kettle is not going to chill your wort faster.

 

[hottpeper13]

When i first started my friend and i brewed 3 kits on the same day he had a family fish fry planned. We chilled in the sink amid frozen packs of walleye and perch, no cover. The fry was excellent and no contaminated beers.