Three and a half weeks ago, I brewed my second-ever batch; a Bavarian Hefeweizen extract kit (True Brew brand). Was religious about cleaning/sanitation, more so than in my first batch. Everything seemed to go well in the brew, OG was right in the range indicated in the kit -- 1.045. Checked gravity again after a week in the primary, and was at 1.010. Decided to leave it for another week, and the following weekend it was still at 1.010, so I went ahead and bottled. Tasted the last little bit out of the bottling bucket, and it seemed to have a bit of a sour/metallic taste. Didn't think much of it - RDWHAHB and all, figured it was something that would mellow out/go away in conditioning.
They've been bottled for a week and a half now, and I decided to test one. Put it in the fridge Monday night, and opened it tonight after work. Color-wise, looked good. Poured with a beautiful head. Aroma was...not what I was expecting for a hefe. Strong. Uh-oh. Taste... I'm not really even sure how to describe. Sour/bitter, like nothing I've ever tasted in a beer before. Definitely not a hefe taste profile. Almost had an oily feel on the finish - and after the head dissipated, it did appear to have a 'film' on the surface of the beer.
I've got three thoughts as to what may have caused this, but need to pick the collective brain here:
1) When I opened the bucket to do my final FG check, immediately prior to bottling, most of the krausen had settled out or clung to the sides of the fermenter. However, there was a small (2" diameter) raft of a brownish "foam" (for lack of better terms - it looked like a brown krausen, when everything else in this batch had been greenish). I didn't think to grab a photo of it. Is it possible this was an infection? About the only time I can think it may have been introduced was during the gravity check at the end of the first week. I loosened the bucket lid, went upstairs to get the hydrometer (which was in a bucket of C-Brite) (I know, I know... StarSan. Haven't gotten there yet.), came back downstairs and while I was checking the reading, my A/C kicked in..which is 3' from the bucket. Possible forced air leak into the open bucket, and my basement is in the middle of a complete renovation so not exactly the cleanest environment on earth.
2) When I bottled, I placed bottles 24 at a time in a rubbermade tote full of C-brite solution (see StarSan note above), and drained each bottle immediately before filling. Could this have negatively affected the beer?
3) Temperatures. I should know better, but I followed the directions in my kit, which said to get wort temperatures down to below 90° before pitching the yeast. I knew I was going to be adding at least 3 gallons of 70° water to the fermenter, so I cooled my wort to 115° before siphoning it to the primary and topping off to the 5 gal mark. I don't remember if I took a final temp reading before pitching the yeast, but I would guess I was probably around 80-85°. Fermenter was immediately carried downstairs, where temperatures hovered right around 70° - probably no more than 5° variance either direction - for the entire two weeks. Once filled, bottles were placed in a rubbermade tote and stored in the same location as the fermenter had been.
4) Residues. The bottle I sampled tonight was one of the last three bottles filled, and got some of the crud floating in the bottling bucket (that got siphoned over from the fermenter as I was trying to get that last little bit).
Considering it's been almost two hours now, and I can still taste that 'off' taste in my mouth, I'm a little concerned about this. Did something go wrong along the way - my fault or not, or is this something that might yet mellow out and turn into a decent beer? As it sits right now, I can't see drinking this stuff.
Edit: To test theory #4, I think I'm going to grab a random bottle out of the mix (the final 3 I have marked as 'test' bottles), and see if an earlier filled bottle has the same problem.
They've been bottled for a week and a half now, and I decided to test one. Put it in the fridge Monday night, and opened it tonight after work. Color-wise, looked good. Poured with a beautiful head. Aroma was...not what I was expecting for a hefe. Strong. Uh-oh. Taste... I'm not really even sure how to describe. Sour/bitter, like nothing I've ever tasted in a beer before. Definitely not a hefe taste profile. Almost had an oily feel on the finish - and after the head dissipated, it did appear to have a 'film' on the surface of the beer.
I've got three thoughts as to what may have caused this, but need to pick the collective brain here:
1) When I opened the bucket to do my final FG check, immediately prior to bottling, most of the krausen had settled out or clung to the sides of the fermenter. However, there was a small (2" diameter) raft of a brownish "foam" (for lack of better terms - it looked like a brown krausen, when everything else in this batch had been greenish). I didn't think to grab a photo of it. Is it possible this was an infection? About the only time I can think it may have been introduced was during the gravity check at the end of the first week. I loosened the bucket lid, went upstairs to get the hydrometer (which was in a bucket of C-Brite) (I know, I know... StarSan. Haven't gotten there yet.), came back downstairs and while I was checking the reading, my A/C kicked in..which is 3' from the bucket. Possible forced air leak into the open bucket, and my basement is in the middle of a complete renovation so not exactly the cleanest environment on earth.
2) When I bottled, I placed bottles 24 at a time in a rubbermade tote full of C-brite solution (see StarSan note above), and drained each bottle immediately before filling. Could this have negatively affected the beer?
3) Temperatures. I should know better, but I followed the directions in my kit, which said to get wort temperatures down to below 90° before pitching the yeast. I knew I was going to be adding at least 3 gallons of 70° water to the fermenter, so I cooled my wort to 115° before siphoning it to the primary and topping off to the 5 gal mark. I don't remember if I took a final temp reading before pitching the yeast, but I would guess I was probably around 80-85°. Fermenter was immediately carried downstairs, where temperatures hovered right around 70° - probably no more than 5° variance either direction - for the entire two weeks. Once filled, bottles were placed in a rubbermade tote and stored in the same location as the fermenter had been.
4) Residues. The bottle I sampled tonight was one of the last three bottles filled, and got some of the crud floating in the bottling bucket (that got siphoned over from the fermenter as I was trying to get that last little bit).
Considering it's been almost two hours now, and I can still taste that 'off' taste in my mouth, I'm a little concerned about this. Did something go wrong along the way - my fault or not, or is this something that might yet mellow out and turn into a decent beer? As it sits right now, I can't see drinking this stuff.
Edit: To test theory #4, I think I'm going to grab a random bottle out of the mix (the final 3 I have marked as 'test' bottles), and see if an earlier filled bottle has the same problem.
