I made something. I think.

[shoengine]

About a year ago I made a pilsner. I should say, I brewed a pilsner recipe. Something didn't go right though, from what I could tell. I opened it up at some point and sniffed it and it didn't smell right. Additionally it wasn't producing any bubbles, so I figured it was either stalled or infected. I haven't had any stalled beers before so I figured it got an infection.

I've had bad batches of beer before, but it has always been some stupid thing I've done. There were only two beers I wouldn't drink: a brown and a sour. The brown was basically without taste. The sour had mold floating in it and it spooked me. This one really made me wonder what was going on. I thought the starter had gone off. I talked to my LHBS owner and he told me I might a week play with it and gave me some expired Saison yeast vials.

I decided to get a bit wild and transferred the beer to a neutral barrel cleaned in an unusual manner. Note, I did not say "sanitized". This barrel had been used for one porter and two stouts, and then I filled it with water for a few months. I emptied it out and then filled it with the pilsner and dumped some expired yeast in it.

Fast forward to several weeks ago, I decided to to take a sample of it.

It was really clear, but had absolutely no taste and no tartness. Barrel, you failed to be inoculated with anything interesting. I took a pH reading and it confirmed what I thought.

So since I had no sour, no activity, and we are going in a year, I decided to dump some blackberry puree in it and see what happens.

 

[VikeMan]

About a year ago I made a pilsner. I should say, I brewed a pilsner recipe. Something didn't go right though, from what I could tell. I opened it up at some point and sniffed it and it didn't smell right. Additionally it wasn't producing any bubbles, so I figured it was either stalled or infected. I haven't had any stalled beers before so I figured it got an infection.

I know this was a while back, but just for future reference, infections (unwanted bactria or wild yeast) don't stop fermentation, i.e. the sypmtoms of an infection and the symptoms of a "stall" are not the same. You say it didn't smell right. What did it smell like?

 

[shoengine]

I know this was a while back, but just for future reference, infections (unwanted bactria or wild yeast) don't stop fermentation, i.e. the sypmtoms of an infection and the symptoms of a "stall" are not the same. You say it didn't smell right. What did it smell like?

Most sacc strains have a very recognizable smell, but this smelled off. Thinking back on it now I am fairly confident that there was something growing in the freezer I was using as my ferm chamber. It was an old unit and liquid would get in between the sides because they weren't seamed well. The pilsner didn't have any strong odors and so all I smelled was the freezer.

I convinced myself at the time it was infected and the starter was either bad or something wasn't cleaned correctly.

 

[hotbeer]

So it's been in a barrel for over a year? And you are just now trying to do something with it?

So I guess my questions are what temperature was the wort when you pitched?

Is this an all extract brew or did you use grain and mash?

It did absolutely nothing in the fermenter? Not a bubble? What did you ferment in?

 

[shoengine]

That's a lot of questions. The process isn't exactly why I made this post, it's more about the results, but I'll try to answer my best.

So it's been in a barrel for over a year? And you are just now trying to do something with it?

Barrel souring takes a long time, just in general. I had no idea what, if any, microbes existed in the barrel (if you click on the link I have a better explanation on my "cleaning" process for the barrel).
So yes, I waited for quite a while before deciding what to do with it. Heck, I waited almost a year to taste it. I was kind of afraid of it!

So I guess my questions are what temperature was the wort when you pitched?

Not sure, I didn't take good notes. Most likely it would have been pitched under 50F.

Is this an all extract brew or did you use grain and mash?

All grain

It did absolutely nothing in the fermenter? Not a bubble? What did you ferment in?

It did I believe, but it was apparently really fast because I don't remember it. Back then I was using a Ss brew bucket specifically.