Frustrated, disappointed and stumped

[GABob]

I've been brewing for nearly 2 years and have done so consistently. A few months ago, I had a batch to languish in the fermentor for the standard 2 week period. It never really got going the way I wanted, but I reasoned that it was likely good enough. Not so. seriously sour and the bottles gushed like a fire hose. I could easily look back and see there was a problem (after the fact).

I just moved a dme wheat (my first all dme) from the primary to the secondary and pulled a small sample...sour. Seriously so. This batch was pretty much picture perfect. 1.10+/- OG. I haven't taken a FG. During fermentation, it hammered like crazy for a hard week (more than I have previously seen) and only slightly less during the second week. I got busy and left it in the primary for an extra week. I would guess that this beer is pushing 8%+ ABV so the extra week being a problem never crossed my mind. I'm stumped. This should not been possible in the high gravity environment that it started with, especially with the stellar performance of the yeast. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[GABob]

Sorry. Not sure how this got in the recipes section.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Same fermenter(s) used between the 2 beers? Did those beers turn sour? If not used between, there may be a cleaning/sanitizing issue with the fermenter(s). Without more information it is difficult for any of us to offer much more help.

 

[kh54s10]

Sorry, but it sounds like infections to me. The stellar performance could be due to whatever it is, taking it's slow time and probably going to a lower FG than the yeast would have.

The usual advice is to replace anything plastic that was used for both batches. At a minimum a strong bleach soak for all the plastic parts. And seriously clean anything else.

 

[kh54s10]

Sorry. Not sure how this got in the recipes section.

I am seeing it in the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum.

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

Sourness and gushing bottles are clear signs of infection.

I guess we can rule out issues with your process since you've brewed consistently for 2 years.

So, something must have changed recently to cause these infections and it seems the issue occurs somewhere during the chilling to fermentation stages. Here are some considerations:

-Brewed a sour beer with the same equipment recently?
-Using very old plastic fermenters, tubing, plastic siphons, etc that could now harbor stubborn bacteria?
-New brewing environment that could have more airborne wild yeast? Got a pet recently, carpeted your kitchen recently etc? From the moment I start chilling, I always keep a large and clear plastic sheet loosely covering my brew pot and everything is performed underneath it.

 

[GABob]

The two sours were in two different fermenters and were 3-ish months and 3 batches apart. Little if any of the same gear was even used. I'm diligent on sanitation, but I too think this it is likely in this case. As I said, the first one made sense looking back, this one, not so much.

Thank you so much for the rapid replies.

 

[GABob]

I read in one of the forums that wheat can sometime have a sour twang. I have not had this experience on the wheats I have done. Have any of you heard such a thing?

 

[kh54s10]

Sour alone might be from wheat, though I haven't heard that before. Or bad extract. But with gushing = infection.

Unless, a coincidence of bad brew and way over priming.

 

[standpoint]

Did it taste sour prior to bottling?