brewdaytoday
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2020
- Messages
- 25
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- 5
I'm having a hard time telling whether I have an infection or it's all in my head.
I kegged a batch of NEIPA on Thursday while I was brewing my next batch (also NEIPA). I put the grains from this second batch on the compost pile but by Saturday they were smelling foul and I spent some time bagging them to eliminate the smell. Saturday night I poured a pint of batch #1 and the taste kept reminding me of the repulsive smell of the grains from batch #2. I had been tasting batch #1 for several days out of my sample port and really liked it. One possibility is that batch #1 got infected in the keg between Friday night and Saturday night. The other possibility is that I was so repulsed by the smell of the fermenting/composting grains that it has mentally tainted my impression of the similar-recipe first batch.
Relevant facts:
I am fermenting under pressure in a Fermzilla and did a closed transfer to a purged keg. For several days before kegging I had been tasting samples poured under pressure from the Fermzilla through a picnic tap. Each sample of batch #1 tasted great. Not much infection opportunity here. On top of that, the kegging and brewing were done in separate rooms.
Both batches had the same grain bill which was notable only in that both have twice my normal amount of oats (14% vs. 7%).
I've tasted several other commercial canned NEIPAs since Saturday and none evoke the bad taste/smell I remember from the compost.
The keg was just emptied of its previous batch a couple of days before I transferred batch #1 into it. The keg was always refrigerated, never opened between batches, and rinsed with hot water through in and out ports. I don't think I ran sanitizer through it. Previous batch tasted great thru the end.
This new batch has fermented down to a gravity of 14 and samples tasted for the last few days show no off flavors. Remember, this is the one derived from the grains that ultimately smelled funky.
I've been harvesting yeast from the previous batch's starter. The bad batch is the 2nd generation and the batch just ending fermentation is the 3rd gen.
If it's mental I would expect to get the same reaction from batch #2, but I don't. That leaves the keg as the culprit but the previous batch (i.e. previous to batch #1) tasted great. And isn't it unlikely that 4 gallons of 6.4% ABV NEIPA would become infected in a couple of days, especially at 38deg? A third possibility is the batch was infected early (as early as the fermenter) but I didn't register the flavor as bad until my exposure to the foul composting grains.
Thoughts? Am I missing any other possibilities?
I kegged a batch of NEIPA on Thursday while I was brewing my next batch (also NEIPA). I put the grains from this second batch on the compost pile but by Saturday they were smelling foul and I spent some time bagging them to eliminate the smell. Saturday night I poured a pint of batch #1 and the taste kept reminding me of the repulsive smell of the grains from batch #2. I had been tasting batch #1 for several days out of my sample port and really liked it. One possibility is that batch #1 got infected in the keg between Friday night and Saturday night. The other possibility is that I was so repulsed by the smell of the fermenting/composting grains that it has mentally tainted my impression of the similar-recipe first batch.
Relevant facts:
I am fermenting under pressure in a Fermzilla and did a closed transfer to a purged keg. For several days before kegging I had been tasting samples poured under pressure from the Fermzilla through a picnic tap. Each sample of batch #1 tasted great. Not much infection opportunity here. On top of that, the kegging and brewing were done in separate rooms.
Both batches had the same grain bill which was notable only in that both have twice my normal amount of oats (14% vs. 7%).
I've tasted several other commercial canned NEIPAs since Saturday and none evoke the bad taste/smell I remember from the compost.
The keg was just emptied of its previous batch a couple of days before I transferred batch #1 into it. The keg was always refrigerated, never opened between batches, and rinsed with hot water through in and out ports. I don't think I ran sanitizer through it. Previous batch tasted great thru the end.
This new batch has fermented down to a gravity of 14 and samples tasted for the last few days show no off flavors. Remember, this is the one derived from the grains that ultimately smelled funky.
I've been harvesting yeast from the previous batch's starter. The bad batch is the 2nd generation and the batch just ending fermentation is the 3rd gen.
If it's mental I would expect to get the same reaction from batch #2, but I don't. That leaves the keg as the culprit but the previous batch (i.e. previous to batch #1) tasted great. And isn't it unlikely that 4 gallons of 6.4% ABV NEIPA would become infected in a couple of days, especially at 38deg? A third possibility is the batch was infected early (as early as the fermenter) but I didn't register the flavor as bad until my exposure to the foul composting grains.
Thoughts? Am I missing any other possibilities?
Less acute of a problem in the cooler months - they might make it two days in the garage before announcing they're ready. Which is not to say you don't have a problem with your beer - but just fyi, spent grains stink eventually.
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