Belgian Strong Ale got infected...pitch bugs and fruit?

[cptnthompson]

So for my homebrew club, we all picked a year of the stone vertical epic to brew. I got 06-06-06 which is a Belgian Strong Ale (which i'm not so crazy about to begin with). After a couple months of sitting in my basement, I took a gravity reading today, only to find out that it had fermented down to 1.010 instead of the 1.017-1.020 it was supposed to be. Sure enough, the sucker is infected. It tasted kind of like sour cough medicine, lol.

Since it's already infected, do you think I should just put it into secondary with some fruit and pitch some more bugs (like a Belgian sour mix)? I was pretty close to dumping it today, but thought it might be fun to play around with it.

If the fruit and bug thing is a good idea,let me know. I'd hate to buy everything and have it turn out worse.

 

[Malintent]

If it's infected, it ain't getting any better.

 

[cptnthompson]

Not even with more bugs to sour it on purpose?

 

[emjay]

Not even with more bugs to sour it on purpose?

The reason lambics are really only made traditionally (as in, spontaneously fermented) in and around the very small region of the Senne Valley of Belgium is because it's really unique in terms of its local microflora that not only produces an appealing beer, but also remains incredibly consistent.

The same can very likely NOT be said for the particular microflora in your area. When blending lambic into gueuze, the proper method is to do it by taste; it's almost always highly recommended to dump your working sample if it doesn't taste good. Because it's really just not possible to take a bad sour/wild beer and make it a good one, just like it's impossible to take a crappy beer and make it into a good one.

The whole concept of wild bugs/spontaneous fermentation has led to some serious misconceptions - namely, that since traditional sours brewers obviously intend to brew infected beer but don't technically control precisely which bugs infect the brew, that intent alone is somehow sufficient to make the difference between infected homebrew suitable only for the drain, and a fine example of one of the most deliciously complex family of beer styles ever made, worthy of aging (for possibly several years before it ever even touches your lips) in, ideally, a barrel made of the highest quality French oak, previously used countless times over several decades for maturing some very fine wines.

Sure, that last part was a bit of hyperbole, but there's sadly just way more truth to it than there really ought to be.

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

If it's infected, it ain't getting any better.

Yes, this is correct.

Not even with more bugs to sour it on purpose?

Unfortunately, no. It'll just be bad, infected fruit beer...

 

[cptnthompson]

MY heart....is broken.

 

[EricCSU]

Sounds like a dumper to me. Re-examine your sanitization process and move on.

Eric

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Is there a pellicle or anything on the top of the beer? I'm not necessarily convinced it is infected at 1.01.

It could be too estery depending on how warm you fermented it, it may not taste "right" because it's uncarbed, etc.

You may want to have somebody else in the group taste it before you dump.

 

[ghpeel]

I was gonna big ol' sanctimonious "RDWHAHB," and quote Revy's oft-repeated advice about giving a bad beer time, but then I read this line:

After a couple months of sitting in my basement...

So yeah, if it was me, I'd dump it. Whatever nasty flavor byproducts have been produced by the rogue yeasts aren't going to go away. All you'll be doing is covering up bad flavors with strong and hopefully better ones. Kinda like pouring on the cologne instead of taking a shower.

 

[cptnthompson]

I do all my fermentation in my basement. This is the first bad one to happen so far.

 

[jtakacs]

assuming you have the worst (infection) there are a million cats here who will (and have) told you that you're doomed. the problem is, they're probably right. the other problem here is, you'll be told that sour brewers control their sour (agree) but somehow yours is doomed without knowing what is truly going on. frankly, without a microscope, etc., we don't. and neither do you.

you could have wild yeast, pedio, brett, etc., and all sorts of things that can turn a golden strong into a drinkable beer. you could have crap - you don't know.

you don't necessarily need to add fruit (i agree with everyone here, it won't fix a bad beer) but it might mask some "off" flavors... if it were me, i'd embrace it and do what you want. no need to dump yet imo (could be this is beyond saving)

if i had an infected golden strong, i'd immediately drop the temp, toss in brett (any would do), pitch some sort of stone fruit (peaches, apricots, pluots, etc.) and let it ride for six months. let it form its "i have an infection pellicle" (gasp! lol) and let it sit... keep the fruit for a few months, rack it off, sample it and if its garbage, great, you're out 10 bucks more. if not, you could have a decent "infected" beer...

we don't all make "clean" ales.. take this thread to the lambic area and you'll get a muuuuuuch different response.

as always, ymmv.

 

[Nightbiker]

I'd pitch it. No way are you going to salvage this -no part of it even sounds like a good idea to me

 

[finley]

Alot of sour beers are blended. Granted this is from a known batch that's probably not all that bad to start with, but it's something you could use. Now, not knowing how bad whatever it is you have has gotten, I have saved an infected beer from dumping by innculating it and blending it with another beer to make a more complex overall. Try mixing it in various quantities and tasting with what you have around and see what you get. The worst thing that could happen is you waste some good beer in the process.

 

[sonetlumiere85]

This isn't a sour beer, though, it's an infection. They are not the same thing!

OP - what was your sanitation technique? I'd imagine that's where the problem lies.

 

[cptnthompson]

I don't think there is much of an issue with my sanitation technique, seeing as this is my first batch to get infected. My girlfriend knocked over my blow off tube jar a while back. That's where i'm guessing the infection happened.

Sigh, I've never had to dump before ;( I may just let it sit for a year at its current state just to see what happens. It's not like I want to use that plastic carboy anymore at this point.

 

[Nightbiker]

Like he said, this isn't like a sour beer (though I'd argue that sour beer IS an infected beer -its a much more CONTROLLED infection.) I'd worry that since you don't know what got ahold of the brew, you may just 'feed' the infection by adding other things -and I'd be hard pressed to think of any good thats going to come from THAT.
Bad batches happen.