Batch taste like vinegar after fermenation

[Rasputen]

Sampled the beer after two weeks fermentation and measured the gravity(1.015) to see if it was time to bottle. Its a tarweiber extract. I can taste a mild vinegar flavor in the sample. Is the batch ruined or should I just be patient?

 

[Timmi9191]

Hello hbt with my first post from sunny melbourne Australia.

Most likely an aceto infection.. You can be patient if u would like to mature your malt vinegar..

 

[Rasputen]

damn it, since I will never use 5 gallons of malt vinegar... down the drain it goes

 

[nukebrewer]

Wait! If is aceto (a pic would be helpful), since aceto is an aerobic bateria, bottling now would limit the effect and perhaps keep the beer in a drinkable state.

 

[Timmi9191]

Nuke- it already tastes like vinegar. Bottling and feeding bacteria more fermentables will only increase the vinegar effect..

 

[Rasputen]

any tips to prevent this in the future?

 

[AT-JeffT]

any tips to prevent this in the future?

What sanitizer are you using?

 

[Captain Damage]

any tips to prevent this in the future?

Meticulous sanitation! Keep a spray bottle, and a big bucket of your favorite no-rinse sanitizer (usually either Star San or Iodophor) on hand. Anything that touches your beer must be sanitized first. New equipment always looks clean, but it is not sanitized. You can not over-sanitize your gear. There is no harm from sanitizing something twice, because you can't remember when you sanitized it. The lid to your kettle; the lid to your fermenting bucket; your tubing and siphon; completely disassemble your bottling bucket spigot. Don't think it's probably okay - know it's definitely okay!

Also, as Nukebrewer pointed out, actetobacter is areobic. This may indicate that your fermenting vessel isn't sealing well. If you use a bucket, make sure the lid fits on tightly (and pull out the gasket and sanitize that while you're at it). make sure you maintain a proper amount of sanitizer or vodka in your airlocks. But keep in mind that most other infections are anerobic, so sanitizing should be your main focus.

Lastly, pitching a lot of healthy yeast will help start your fermentation quickly, reducing the likelihood of infections gaining a foothold. Use the Mr Malty pitching calculator to make sure you're pitching enough yeast. Make starters for your liquid yeasts and rehydrate your dry yeast.

 

[RM-MN]

A slight taste of vinegar is likely to be acetaldehyde. The way you tell for sure is to wait a week. If it was acetaldehyde, it will disappear. If it was acetobacter, it will be obvious. Unless you transferred the beer to secondary or really disturbed the carbon dioxide layer there will be no acetobacter because it needs oxygen.

 

[unionrdr]

I remember someone on here mentioning that those pesky lil fruit flies carry acetobacter bacteria.But I think it'll only get worse with age. But malt vinegar is great on fish-n-chips!

 

[BigFloyd]

I'd wait. It's easy for someone new to the experience to confuse flavors in green beer with the vinegar that is associated with aceto.

 

[nukebrewer]

Nuke- it already tastes like vinegar. Bottling and feeding bacteria more fermentables will only increase the vinegar effect..

Well actually, as I said, aceto is an aerobic bacteria which means it needs oxygen to do what it does. Bottling would put the beer in an oxygen free environment where the aceto will die. It's true that since it already tastes like vinegar that it's probably a moot point, but I was just trying to say that bottling now won't further the vinegar flavor and if it's mild enough might leave the beer in a drinkable state.

 

[kyt]

If the vinegar flavor is light enough to be drinkable, it's possible you've made a kombucha beer, naturally low in alcohol and chocked full of vitamins and probiotics! Acetic acid and other kombucha constituents will throw off your gravity readings. If you have in fact, acetobacter infection.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Home Brew mobile app