Hey Guys,
I'm a new brewer, I got an extract kit for Christmas and started with that, which turned out pretty good. I've since started trying to do all grain 5 gallon batches and have not had any success. I would really appreciate it if you guys could follow the process that I've been through and tell me what I've done wrong or what you guys think my issue might be.
My equipment is as follows:
-Bayou Classic 10 gallon kettle with valve and thermometer
-Turkey fryer burner
-Fermenting fridge/keezer side by side (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...rmentation-chamber-build.646701/#post-8251320)
-25' copper wort chiller
-2 ale pails with spigots
-1 fermenter with spigot
-refractometer and hydrometer
Brew 1
I brewed Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde first, but made a lot of mistakes. I used tap water from my house. I only did the mash, not the boil - rookie mistake. I also fermented it in my pantry that I thought was a suitable temp, but was actually getting up to 78F or so degrees. Anyways I let it go through fermentation and throughout the whole fermentation it had a sour smell to it. I kegged it and it ended up not being good at all and still had that sourish smell, obviously because I only did half of the process in the mash, or so I thought. I took a sample to my LHBS and they said it wasn't infected to the best of their knowledge.
Brew 2
I brewed Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde again on 2/25. This time I made sure to do a full mash and boil, but still used tap water. I hadn't finished the fermenting fridge yet, so I fermented in the pantry again which again got up to around 78F. I checked it the day after putting it in the fermenter and immediately smelled the same smell that the first batch had. I didn't have a hydro or refracto when I brewed it, so I didn't check OG, but I have since got both and checked it today and it is at 1.020. It still has that off smell though. This was put in the same fermenter as the first brew.
Brew 3
I brewed EdWort's Bee Cave Kolsch on 3/16. This time I bought spring water and used it for the brew. I have had a few people tell me it may be DME since it has a vegetable like smell to it, so I made sure to boil this one HARD. The OG was right at 1.052, so I nailed the target OG, which gave me a lot of hope. The brew went fine and I put it in a brand new Fermonster fermenter (after giving it an initial clean) and put it in my fermenting fridge at 67F. I checked it the next morning and it was fermenting away nicely - I took a small sample and it had a yeasty smell to it, which I was happy with because it didn't have any kind of sour smell to it and the gravity was at 1.032. I checked it this morning (3/18) and it had a similar sourish smell to it and the same gravity as the last reading, so I am feeling really disheartened right now.
I honestly don't know what to do and hell this last brew may come out ok, but at the same time I'm getting that sourish smell and it really has me feeling down. That will be 3 separate brews now that I have failed.
I have done all of this so far since that first failed brew:
-Used spring water instead of tap
-Built a fermenting fridge to keep my temps constant and at whatever I want
-Used a new fermenting vessel
-Made sure to get a HARD boil going
The best way I can think to describe the smell is almost like souring or decaying vegetables or fruit.
I really don't know what to try now and am at a complete loss. I am honestly ready to just give up brewing. It makes me sad, this is something that I was really enjoying and really wanted to be a part of this hobby, but brewing these failed beers is just wearing me down and giving me 0 confidence going forward.
I'm a new brewer, I got an extract kit for Christmas and started with that, which turned out pretty good. I've since started trying to do all grain 5 gallon batches and have not had any success. I would really appreciate it if you guys could follow the process that I've been through and tell me what I've done wrong or what you guys think my issue might be.
My equipment is as follows:
-Bayou Classic 10 gallon kettle with valve and thermometer
-Turkey fryer burner
-Fermenting fridge/keezer side by side (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...rmentation-chamber-build.646701/#post-8251320)
-25' copper wort chiller
-2 ale pails with spigots
-1 fermenter with spigot
-refractometer and hydrometer
Brew 1
I brewed Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde first, but made a lot of mistakes. I used tap water from my house. I only did the mash, not the boil - rookie mistake. I also fermented it in my pantry that I thought was a suitable temp, but was actually getting up to 78F or so degrees. Anyways I let it go through fermentation and throughout the whole fermentation it had a sour smell to it. I kegged it and it ended up not being good at all and still had that sourish smell, obviously because I only did half of the process in the mash, or so I thought. I took a sample to my LHBS and they said it wasn't infected to the best of their knowledge.
Brew 2
I brewed Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde again on 2/25. This time I made sure to do a full mash and boil, but still used tap water. I hadn't finished the fermenting fridge yet, so I fermented in the pantry again which again got up to around 78F. I checked it the day after putting it in the fermenter and immediately smelled the same smell that the first batch had. I didn't have a hydro or refracto when I brewed it, so I didn't check OG, but I have since got both and checked it today and it is at 1.020. It still has that off smell though. This was put in the same fermenter as the first brew.
Brew 3
I brewed EdWort's Bee Cave Kolsch on 3/16. This time I bought spring water and used it for the brew. I have had a few people tell me it may be DME since it has a vegetable like smell to it, so I made sure to boil this one HARD. The OG was right at 1.052, so I nailed the target OG, which gave me a lot of hope. The brew went fine and I put it in a brand new Fermonster fermenter (after giving it an initial clean) and put it in my fermenting fridge at 67F. I checked it the next morning and it was fermenting away nicely - I took a small sample and it had a yeasty smell to it, which I was happy with because it didn't have any kind of sour smell to it and the gravity was at 1.032. I checked it this morning (3/18) and it had a similar sourish smell to it and the same gravity as the last reading, so I am feeling really disheartened right now.
I honestly don't know what to do and hell this last brew may come out ok, but at the same time I'm getting that sourish smell and it really has me feeling down. That will be 3 separate brews now that I have failed.
I have done all of this so far since that first failed brew:
-Used spring water instead of tap
-Built a fermenting fridge to keep my temps constant and at whatever I want
-Used a new fermenting vessel
-Made sure to get a HARD boil going
The best way I can think to describe the smell is almost like souring or decaying vegetables or fruit.
I really don't know what to try now and am at a complete loss. I am honestly ready to just give up brewing. It makes me sad, this is something that I was really enjoying and really wanted to be a part of this hobby, but brewing these failed beers is just wearing me down and giving me 0 confidence going forward.