How do you know if your batch is ruined?

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meatman

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How do you know if your batch is ruined? What are key indicators? When do you know its bad? Is it obvious due to smell?

I used bleach to santize for my first batch and did not have any problems.

I thought I was doing good on my 2nd batch by using Iodophor for sanitizing instead of bleach, but I read last night that you aren't supposed to rinse with water from your faucet, which I did. Hopefully, it will be okay.

Thanks,

meatman
 
I wouldn't worry about the faucet rinse. People do it all the time with no problems. If it is bad, it could be many things, but you should definately be able to tell.
 
What McKBREW said and.....GIVE IT TIME!Thought i had infected brews on many occasions because of bad tastes but the 1,2,3 rule is MINIMUM weeks.Some beers are just bad beers but give em a chance to mellow.I'm enjoying holiday spice beer i made a year ago and its just now any good.
Cheers:mug:
 
I've had a few beers that fermented sulphurous, made the house smell like Taco Bell aftermath, but they came out very tasty. Smell isn't a good indicator, now seeing mold, that's not a good thing. Iodophor doesn't even need a rinse if you've used it in the right concentrations, it's my agent of choice.

RS
 
Haha this thread could have been written for me personally. All I have been able to do today is think about everything I did and if I did any of it wrong!
 
Wierd smells I've convinced myself I've noticed from airlocks:
Cider
Vinegar
Spoiled OJ
Rotting eggs
Fresh eggs
Sharp cheese
Bleach
Popcorn

Yeast create, in the course of regular fermentations, all sorts of strange and exciting odours. My overactive imagination probably creates even more. 99.8% of the time, it means nothing.
 
If rinsing the bleach last time didn't cause an infection, rinsing after iodiphor shouldn't either.
 
Second to Edwort. Through my very limited expeeriance, I have questioned many times weather or not somthing is ruined, and nothing ever has been. Yeast do funky stuff, so if possible, just reserve any panic for your first bottle that has been correctlly conditioned, and take all the tastes and smells in the meantime as part of the learning experiance.
 
Real simple. If after three months, you pour a bottle, take a whiff and dump it - it's ruined. (Also, if it looks really gross while pouring or won't pour at all.:eek: )

Read Chapter 21 for Palmer's book (www.howtobrew.com) for the merely bad.
 
When you have drak the last bottle, your batch is officially ruined.

Seriously, If you don't like it, then it is ruined. What else matters?
 
:mug: If it looks like a monkey brain floating in it and then rack off the liquid,and after 3 months you still can't get it past your nose to taste,you could go ahead and give it to people you don't like so they won't hang around bumming good beer from you. Make sure to label plainly.:D
 
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