drkaeppel
Well-Known Member
So about three weeks ago I made a 5 gallon AG batch of Ed's Bavarian Hefeweizen. Brewing pretty much went as planned. However, I noticed a cidery taste after the 2nd week in primary (I was doing a hydrometer reading).
This was the first time I tried using a starter. It was a 1.5L starter using WLP300 (hefe yeast). I used a sanitized 1 gallon water jug with an airlock to make it. Fermentation temps were kept at a fairly constant 68-71 degrees.
The starter worked like a charm! Unfortunately, it kicked off really vigorously and blew out of the airlock. I was unaware of this until several days later since I brew at my dad's place (no room for brewing in my 1 bedroom apartment) and wasn't around to clean it up. Wish I hooked up a blow-off tube.
. So it sort of made a mess all over the bucket and got moldy pretty quickly on the outside. I racked the beer to a glass carboy thinking it might curb the effect of any further off-flavors getting into the beer. Hoping it will clean up after a few weeks, but I'm kind of doubting it.
Although the krausen looked healthy throughout primary with no obvious signs of contamination, I'm assuming that cidery//winey taste is due to some sort of bacteria. Maybe brett or something.
My sanitation procedure is VERY thorough. I'm pretty OCD about it. Everything is scrubbed and soaked in star-san and anything touching the cooled wort is sanitized, so I am thinking the gunk and mold from the blow-out is my most probable cause of infection.
What do you guys think? Any pointers would be great.
This was the first time I tried using a starter. It was a 1.5L starter using WLP300 (hefe yeast). I used a sanitized 1 gallon water jug with an airlock to make it. Fermentation temps were kept at a fairly constant 68-71 degrees.
The starter worked like a charm! Unfortunately, it kicked off really vigorously and blew out of the airlock. I was unaware of this until several days later since I brew at my dad's place (no room for brewing in my 1 bedroom apartment) and wasn't around to clean it up. Wish I hooked up a blow-off tube.
. So it sort of made a mess all over the bucket and got moldy pretty quickly on the outside. I racked the beer to a glass carboy thinking it might curb the effect of any further off-flavors getting into the beer. Hoping it will clean up after a few weeks, but I'm kind of doubting it.Although the krausen looked healthy throughout primary with no obvious signs of contamination, I'm assuming that cidery//winey taste is due to some sort of bacteria. Maybe brett or something.
My sanitation procedure is VERY thorough. I'm pretty OCD about it. Everything is scrubbed and soaked in star-san and anything touching the cooled wort is sanitized, so I am thinking the gunk and mold from the blow-out is my most probable cause of infection.
What do you guys think? Any pointers would be great.
