Beer is sour

[jrobnz]

Hi everyone,

My first batch of brew was an IPA, I only brewed 1 gallon to start, but it turned out excellent.

I moved up to 5 gallons and decided to try a blonde. Tomorrow, it will be two weeks that it's been bottled.

I put one in the fridge earlier just to see how it's coming along. It opened nice, poured great, has a great color with a nice frothy head.. but, it's tastes pretty sour.

It's not a hoppy sour, I love hoppy beer, but a vinegar even apple juice sour.

I thought, well, maybe it was the one bottle, chilled another.. same thing.

Any ideas what would name it so sour?

My first thought was an infection of some sort, but I figured if that was the case, it wouldn't have such good carbonation and look so healthy.

Everything went fine in the brew process, hydrometer readings, etc.

Thanks!

Judy

 

[H-ost]

An infection would not prevent carbonation. Also it takes a while for a pellicle (visual signs of an infection) to appear. Vinegar sour is the type of sour you are looking for. It sounds like it was infected but how long was it in the primary for?

 

[jrobnz]

It was in the primary for 2 weeks.

 

[geer537]

What yeast did you use and what temps did you ferment at? Apple juice sour sounds like acetaldehyde.

 

[geer537]

Adetaldehyde is also a byproduct of the conversion of ethanol to acetic acid (vinegar) by acetic acid bacteria. If this is the cause of your acetaldehyde problems, it will probably be accompanied by a vinegar-like or cidery flavour and aroma.

From the Wiki

 

[jrobnz]

What yeast did you use and what temps did you ferment at? Apple juice sour sounds like acetaldehyde.

I used Nottingham yeast and the temp stayed a pretty constant 66 degrees.

 

[jrobnz]

From the Wiki

Interesting. That sounds like the problem. The hydrometer readings stayed steady for four days, so I thought it was time to bottle.

Oh well, live and learn.

Will it get any better leaving it in the bottles longer or is it drano?

 

[Hang Glider]

Will it get any better leaving it in the bottles longer or is it drano?

In my experience, no, that one doesn't get better with age, it actually gets worse.

It can happen to the best of us - (not that I'm the best...) but I recently had this occur, almost exactly as you describe, but more toward vinegar sour/acid. I've made dozens of batches (maybe hundreds?) over the last 10 years, but "pow" - a dumper out of the blue.
So, I throw out all my plastic tubing, get extra careful with my sanitation and get back on the proverbial horse.

 

[jimmywit]

What did you use to sanitize with?

 

[onthekeg]

Sounds like acetobacter. Its from fruit flies. Not anything to worry about, if you sanitize well you don't have to worry too much.
Make BBQ sauce or something out of this batch, sanitize well and do it again! You will make beer!

Last question, when did you ferment this batch?

 

[jrobnz]

What did you use to sanitize with?

Your question just solved what went wrong. I thought I was using a sanitizer, but in fact, it was a cleaner! I knew I should have just used the StarSan I used before. Doh, what a dufus.

What I used was LD Carlson Easy Clean. The instructions that came with it said to mix 1 tbsp with a gallon of water to clean and sanitize but, I guess that wasn't the case.

Oh well, problem solved.

I'm going to join this forum, very useful information and very helpful people.

Thanks everyone!

 

[jrobnz]

Should I take a chance and reuse the bottles, or start with a whole new batch?

 

[Brewnoob1]

If you clean and sanitize them, nothing wrong with re-using bottles. Glass is easy to take care of anything, I've used bottles with mold in them (after cleaning/sani of course). Just make sure you clean everything and sanitize really well and you're golden.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

. . . . . . .
Make BBQ sauce or something out of this batch, sanitize well and do it again!?

That would be a lot of BBQ sauce !!

 

[jrobnz]

Your question just solved what went wrong. I thought I was using a sanitizer, but in fact, it was a cleaner! I knew I should have just used the StarSan I used before. Doh, what a dufus.

What I used was LD Carlson Easy Clean. The instructions that came with it said to mix 1 tbsp with a gallon of water to clean and sanitize but, I guess that wasn't the case.

Oh well, problem solved.

I'm going to join this forum, very useful information and very helpful people.

Thanks everyone!

I went to the brewers supply store to gather goods for my next batch. One of the guys there said that Easy Clean was a sanitizer too. From what I've read, it's nothing more than OxyClean. Now I'm confused.

How do I make BBQ sauce from my bad batch?

 

[H-ost]

Just make your life easier and use a wet contact sanitizer like starsan, you will never again have to ask if you what you are using works.

 

[RM-MN]

I think there are 2 possibilities with greatly different outcomes. The first is an infection of acetobacter, which will turn the alcohol into acetic acid, in other words, vinegar. The other possibility is acetaldehyde which will make your beer taste like cider. If it is acetobacter it will get worse, if it is acetaldehyde it will get better. Right now you need to just RDWHAHB and wait it out. Check on it in 2 weeks and see if it is better or worse.

 

[Bishop916]

All of my beers had an apple cidery taste to them, nothing too strong just an under-flavor hint of cider. That all changed when I started using a brita on my tap to clarify my water source. No more cidery taste.

Something to consider...
- B916