Almost a rotting meat off flavour

[Likefully]

Excuse the subject, but it is the best way I can describe it.

Recently I made an american amber ale that just smells and tastes foul. The older it gets the worse this smell gets. Carbonation is 100% and I think has stayed the same since the first bottle I opened.

I always take sanitation very seriously and so do not think anything in my bottling procedure caused the problem. The only two sources of infection I can think of are as follows:

first - I forgot to throw in the flameout hops at flameout - I went outside to turn the tap on for the wort chiller and when I got back I saw the hops there and quickly chucked them in the pot. The wort was about 95C by then so I thought it should fine.

Second - I used gelatin for the first time. This is the biggest deviation from normal routine I have made. I cleaned everything I used to mix the gelatin and heated in the microwave, let it cool and then added it to the wort.

When I bottled the beer it tasted fine, so I don't think the source of the problem is the hops.

I am starting to believe that somehow some meat got in somewhere and is now rotting and causing the stink. It is that terrible.

Could some bacteria have been hanging around the microwave and infected it?

Or is it possible that .... as the gelatin has bovine products in it - something has come out wrong from the gelatin?

The gelatin has made the beer look good, but I would rather it be hazy and taste awesome (like the first time I used the recipe) than look like a million bucks and taste like s#$%!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

the first and only time I had a similar experience was with autolysis. but I forgot about a batch in primary for many months (in a closet over the summer with no temp control). it smelled and tasted like rotting meat. I've never used gelatin, but I know other on here have used it quite regularly with no off flavor problems.

 

[flars]

What is the possibility of a very severe case of oxidation? Anything in your racking that could have gone wrong?

 

[Calichusetts]

I get this from ales that use the chico strain in the low 60s to 50s. It probably isn't as strong as you are saying but we have a local brewery that does this and I literally can not drink their beer, others can not pick up on it. I often described it as rotten strawberries so it may be different.

I never figured it out until a did a few experiments with 05 at or below 60 in the fermenter.

 

[ubnserved]

the first and only time I had a similar experience was with autolysis. but I forgot about a batch in primary for many months (in a closet over the summer with no temp control). it smelled and tasted like rotting meat. I've never used gelatin, but I know other on here have used it quite regularly with no off flavor problems.

See I'm not the one that's crazy! You tasted something that smelled like rotting meat!

 

[RM-MN]

It sounds like you have yeast autolysis. It's pretty rare with the volumes and pressures that homebrewers have but it can happen. There is no cure for this. It has nothing to do with the addition of the hops that were late nor does gelatin cause it. It can be caused by heat during the ferment or in the bottles but that would be pretty rare too. If the flavor is strong enough that you cannot stomach the beer, the only solution is to dump it.

 

[Likefully]

Thanks for these replies.

The yeast was Pacman that I harvested from some Rogue Ales. It was in the fermenters (primary and secondary) for a total of 17 days - is that long enough for Autolysis? I kept the temp around 16C for the entire ferment.

This is my fourth generation with this pacman (since harvesting I have used it 3 times) - BUT for this batch I made a starter to get some fresh yeast.

I actually can't describe the smell - perhaps because I made the beer I can't believe it is that bad, especially when the last batch of this was just so damn good. My wife smelt it and came up with the rotting meat theory and the bovine from the gelatin!

I still have the trub from the brew - I have been too lazy/busy to clean the yeast - it smells 100% fine.

Yip - I am coming to terms with the fact that I am going to have to ditch this one.

The real bummer is that I entered it in the national homebrew champs! I won't be walking away with any prizes that's for sure!

 

[RM-MN]

I wouldn't dump it before I had the results from the competition. You and your wife may be more sensitive to this odor than anyone else. It would be a shame to have dumped it only to get a good rating from the competition.

 

[Likefully]

The beer I wrote about in this post got worse with time and I eventually ditched the whole lot, which was a tear jerking experience.

The next batch I had the same infection, but much milder - I think the problem came from not cleaning the pot I boiled the priming sugar in - it had been cleaned, but obviously not scrubbed to death like it should have been to ensure its completely sanitised. I have subsequently bought a little pot that is kept out of the kitchen.

Unfortunately I have had another batch with the same infection, but much milder - and i haven't tossed those yet. It seems like the infection is getting milder, so I am holding on to the beers in the hope that it disappears altogether.