kerbythepurplecow
New Member
Hi guys! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've made a porter and it turned sour. I'm trying to work out what the problem was as to avoid it in the future.
This was an all grain 5 gallon batch. Recipe was Northern Brewer's Saint Paul Porter.
8.5 lbs Rahr 2-row Pale
1 lbs Simpsons Medium Crystal
0.5 lbs Simpsons Chocolate Malt
1.5 oz Cluster 60 minutes
1 oz Cascade 1 minute
Safale US-05
This was made via the brew in a bag method. It went into the primary, a 5 gallon bucket on 11/8. The bucket was too small and there was a small blowff.
The batch went into the secondary around 11/15. At this time I was using two Mr. Beer fermenters for a secondary. They both had blowoffs. I cleaned them up and all seemed fine. There were no signs of infection. However, a few days into the secondary, the beer's smell turned from a roasty porter smell to a more sour smell. I thought at the time that it was residual yeast crude that was left all over the inside of the kegs.
The beer was bottled on 11/22. Every one I've tried since then has been sour. There's a strong sourness that hits the outer edges of the tongue. You can still taste undercurrents of the roasty porter that this was meant to be. The sourness has diminished a bit, but is still pronounced.
The beer has been in the bottle for a month and a half, so I think I'm past the green beer phase. The beer is strange, but I can still drink it. I'm just trying to figure out what went wrong so I can be sure not to repeat it in the future. I'm confused as to what caused the sour flavor as there were no signs of infection at all.
Also, just as a quick note, I have moved to a proper primary and secondary now.
This was an all grain 5 gallon batch. Recipe was Northern Brewer's Saint Paul Porter.
8.5 lbs Rahr 2-row Pale
1 lbs Simpsons Medium Crystal
0.5 lbs Simpsons Chocolate Malt
1.5 oz Cluster 60 minutes
1 oz Cascade 1 minute
Safale US-05
This was made via the brew in a bag method. It went into the primary, a 5 gallon bucket on 11/8. The bucket was too small and there was a small blowff.
The batch went into the secondary around 11/15. At this time I was using two Mr. Beer fermenters for a secondary. They both had blowoffs. I cleaned them up and all seemed fine. There were no signs of infection. However, a few days into the secondary, the beer's smell turned from a roasty porter smell to a more sour smell. I thought at the time that it was residual yeast crude that was left all over the inside of the kegs.
The beer was bottled on 11/22. Every one I've tried since then has been sour. There's a strong sourness that hits the outer edges of the tongue. You can still taste undercurrents of the roasty porter that this was meant to be. The sourness has diminished a bit, but is still pronounced.
The beer has been in the bottle for a month and a half, so I think I'm past the green beer phase. The beer is strange, but I can still drink it. I'm just trying to figure out what went wrong so I can be sure not to repeat it in the future. I'm confused as to what caused the sour flavor as there were no signs of infection at all.
Also, just as a quick note, I have moved to a proper primary and secondary now.