Fermentation Starting to Smell Sour/Bitter

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CHflyfish

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Good morning,

So its been about 10 days of fermenting for an IPA and it just now started to smell sour/bitter. I checked it Sunday, and it smelled fine. I would like to be optimistic and think the beer isn't contaminated, but I am not sure. Any thoughts?
 
Fermentation can give off some pretty strange smells. I've had some that smelled good and some that smelled not so good. Do you have a picture of what the beer looks like? If it's in a glass fermenter, does it look funny? If it's in a bucket, peek under the lid and see what it looks like.

Chances are your fine, but hard to tell off of your description.
 
If you used good cleaning and proper sanitation practices your beer should be fine.
Don't open fermentors, don't raise the lid!

If you can't see the beer (bucket), sanitize around the airlock and remove it. Then peek down that hole. Shine a flashlight through the lid or sides to see better. Replace airlock.
 
Fermentation can give off some pretty strange smells. I've had some that smelled good and some that smelled not so good. Do you have a picture of what the beer looks like? If it's in a glass fermenter, does it look funny? If it's in a bucket, peek under the lid and see what it looks like.

Chances are your fine, but hard to tell off of your description.

It's in a glass carboy and looks normal to me. Like all others I've brewed.
 

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Sweet, so just completely ignore the smell? And yes! Plan to dry hop with mosaic and amarillo

Yup, as @Rob2010SS said, ignore weird smells during fermentation.

When you're ready to dry hop, before you do, take a sample and get a gravity reading with your hydrometer. It should be at or near your expected FG. If so, proceed, otherwise she may need more time. In case you were planning one, do not secondary!

Just drop those hops in loose, and give them a quick but gentle stir with the back end of your long brew spoon to submerge them. Don't whip air into your beer.
Then replace cap ASAP. If you have CO2 available, you should flush the headspace with it.

Package 3-5 days after dry hopping.
 
Yup, as @Rob2010SS said, ignore weird smells during fermentation.

When you're ready to dry hop, before you do, take a sample and get a gravity reading with your hydrometer. It should be at or near your expected FG. If so, proceed, otherwise she may need more time. In case you were planning one, do not secondary!

Just drop those hops in loose, and give them a quick but gentle stir with the back end of your long brew spoon to submerge them. Don't whip air into your beer.
Then replace cap ASAP. If you have CO2 available, you should flush the headspace with it.

Package 3-5 days after dry hopping.


Great, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
 
I've had one fermentation that smelled nasty, another one that smelled like bananas. The former burnt my eyes and almost knocked me out when i leaned in to take a whiff. Both ended up being my best tasting beers with none of those flavors or smells when it was completed.

RDWAHAHB :D
 
Hello all, just thought I would fill you guys in on the beer. It was fine, and fermentation went well, about 80% attenuation. Just need to tweak the recipe a bit to make it more dry and hop forward. I am going to test out a hop stand as well for the first time.
 
Hello all, just thought I would fill you guys in on the beer. It was fine, and fermentation went well, about 80% attenuation. Just need to tweak the recipe a bit to make it more dry and hop forward. I am going to test out a hop stand as well for the first time.
Thanks for the feedback!
Was this from a kit? Those are notoriously skimpy on hops. I guess they don't want to offend anyone. :tank:
Hop stands/whirlpool hops are not just the domain of IPAs, but they surely help pack in a lot of hop flavor. And generous dry hops for flavor/aroma.
 
Thanks for the feedback!
Was this from a kit? Those are notoriously skimpy on hops. I guess they don't want to offend anyone. :tank:
Hop stands/whirlpool hops are not just the domain of IPAs, but they surely help pack in a lot of hop flavor. And generous dry hops for flavor/aroma.

No it wasn’t. I used a little too much Crystal I think which threw it off. Yes I plan on a hop stand at 180-190 for 20 minutes and a dry hop addition as well.
 
Whirlpool at 160-175. Anything above that and you're getting isomerization, or more bitterness, which means you're also driving off volatile hop oils and aromas, which kinda defeats the purpose. Get all your IBU's in the boil, and maximize flavor and aroma with the whirlpool. Also, I'd go for at least 30 minutes on the whirlpool. Dump 'em in, stir for a minute or two, then cover and let sit.
 
Whirlpool at 160-175. Anything above that and you're getting isomerization, or more bitterness, which means you're also driving off volatile hop oils and aromas, which kinda defeats the purpose. Get all your IBU's in the boil, and maximize flavor and aroma with the whirlpool. Also, I'd go for at least 30 minutes on the whirlpool. Dump 'em in, stir for a minute or two, then cover and let sit.

Alright thanks for the tip. I will hit whirlpool around 170.
 
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