Dunkle failure?

[scottbrews]

Hi everyone,

About 2 weeks and change ago I brewed a dunkle and when I was pushing the airlock into the lid the plastic ring fell into the brew. I freaked, thinking I may have contaminated it but my buddy said it would be fine, so we made a makeshift sanitized plastic shield and covered it with a sanitized plastic bag. A day later I checked on it and it was bubbling quite nicely so I assumed all was good.

We just kegged it today. It had a bit of a strong smell to it, and we took some sips about an hour in. It tastes much sweeter than it should with a very off after taste. Questions:

* Should I let it continue to carbonate in the keg, and hope that this fixes the taste?

* It's currently in my fridge cooling off. Should I remove it from the fridge and just leave it to continue doing its thing for a few weeks? And if so, should I get rid of the gas in there?

* Should I just assume I contaminated it and its a lost cause?

Help please!

- Noob brewer

 

[dbrewski]

What ferment temp did you have? Maybe it's not done yet. Did you take specific gravity readings at the end of the ferment?

 

[scottbrews]

...no (bashful) I guess I just assumed it was done, since the recipe called for 7 days and it's been sitting there for 18 days or so.

I didn't track the ferment temperatures. I left the bucket in my basement which tends not to fluctuate too much; the previous IPA I brewed did fine down there, although we have been having some weird temperature ups and downs so it's definitely possible that there were fluctuations.

If the temperature did it in, is that something where I can just give it time? And, now that it's in the keg, is it too late to take a final gravity reading?

 

[kaconga]

It is never too late to take a final gravity reading. Sometimes I even take gravity readings of my wife's beers that she doesn't finish. I know, who can't finish 1 beer right?

 

[scottbrews]

It is never too late to take a final gravity reading. Sometimes I even take gravity readings of my wife's beers that she doesn't finish. I know, who can't finish 1 beer right?

Haha that is hilarious.

Ok, I'll go take a FG and report back my findings. Potentially stupid question: Do I need to drain out the gas from the keg and take a sample directly from the keg? Or can I pour a beer the normal way then take a reading from that?

 

[dbrewski]

No you can tap the keg and do it. Just make the temperature adjustments to get the right reading.

 

[kaconga]

Haha that is hilarious.

Ok, I'll go take a FG and report back my findings. Potentially stupid question: Do I need to drain out the gas from the keg and take a sample directly from the keg? Or can I pour a beer the normal way then take a reading from that?

Just pour a beer and let it go flat. The bubbles will pull the hydrometer up with them if it is very carbonated.

 

[scottbrews]

ok, thanks guys! It's sitting out slowly going flat, will report my findings shortly.

 

[scottbrews]

1.023 is the gravity. The recipe calls for a FG of 1.012-1.015. So, lesson learned: always take an FG!

What would you guys recommend now? Should I get it out of the keg and into a secondary fermenter for another couple weeks? Can I just leave the keg in my basement and let it continue in there?

Hopefully this thing is not screwed up!

 

[kaconga]

Sounds like a stalled fermentation. Try racking it to a new fermentation vessel and warming it up. Check the gravity after a couple days and if it hasn't changed then you can try pitching a couple packs of dry yeast.

Or you can drink it as is and try for a better batch next time. Sometimes fixing a beer is more effort than it is worth.

Edit: you can relieve the pressure till it is just enough to hold a seal and let it warm up in the keg instead of racking again. Just remember to burp it if it does start back up.

 

[scottbrews]

I took the keg out of the fridge and released some pressure. I'll take a gravity reading in a few days and see if anything changes.

Another question: if I do throw in some more yeast, I assume I should strive for the same strain I used during the original brew, yes? Will adding a different yeast strain at this point in the process negatively impact the taste of the brew?

Thanks to you both for your help!

 

[kaconga]

I would pitch dry yeast so you get lots of cells. Is the flavor ok besides being too sweet?

 

[scottbrews]

Ok, thanks. The flavor is ok, nothing exceptional but there is a very off aftertaste.

 

[scottbrews]

One more question. Is there any danger in overpitching yeast? That is, if I were to pitch another packet of dry yeast into this beer, would there be a danger of affecting the flavor if there are still yeast present and alive currently?

 

[dbrewski]

So as of right now it's too sweet and has an off-aftertaste? I don't think adding yeast will hurt it any, and it should help continued fermentation IF the problem is unfermented sugars and not a way-too-high mash temp.

 

[scottbrews]

Ok cool. I'm still going to let it sit for a while longer before I take a gravity reading to determine whether it's changed from last time, I was just curious. So there's no danger generally of too much yeast in beer?

 

[dbrewski]

Well there is such a thing as overpitching before fermentation, but for a stuck fermentation I see people doing it all the time here. Go to Mrmalty.com to read more about yeast pitching in general.

 

[kaconga]

If you racked it off the yeast to put it in the keg then you are just getting back to a reasonable sized yeast pitch by adding more.