Porter tastes sour after bottling

[mikegmi2]

I made a porter, which tasted exactly as I wanted after the primary was finished. Sanitized everything, bottled, waited 2 weeks, cracked one open, and the beer tastes completely different than before I bottled. It has a sour/cidery taste.

I used Wyeast 1187. Is this just due to the yeast? Or did I get an infection via my bottling equipment? I hadn't brewed in around 2 years so maybe some wild yeast or bacteria got into the bottling bucket spigot or racking cane?

I tried a bottle 1 week after bottling, the beer was still kinda flat, but the sour flavor was already there. Tried another bottle after 2 weeks, and it was carbonated perfectly, but same sour flavor was present. It isn't unpleasant, reminds me of a sour cider or lambic, but not what I wanted with this porter at all...I was going for a traditional porter. Only thing I added was some Frangelico during bottling to add some hazelnut flavor to the beer. I've done this before and never had an issue.

Infection?

 

[microbusbrewery]

I'd say infection. It's possible to get a little bit of tartness from yeast, but not at levels that would remind you of a lambic.

 

[mikegmi2]

I'd say infection. It's possible to get a little bit of tartness from yeast, but not at levels that would remind you of a lambic.

Thanks for the reply. I am new so I don't know if this will get better with age or if I should dump it out.

It actually tastes good to me, and my wife. Just completely not what we wanted. We got a sour brown ale, and wanted a malty hazelnut porter...

I will give it a few weeks and try another bottle. Bummer.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I love sours myself, so I definitely wouldn't dump it unless you hate it. It may not be what you intended but that doesn't mean it won't be a great beer. It may get more sour over time, and depending on what bacteria is there it could start developing some off flavors...time will tell. Understand that's a "could", not a "will".

 

[Calder]

If you like it, drink it. Nothing harmful can survive in beer ...... well, apart from alcohol!

That is prety fast for something to infect a beer that has alcohol in it. Alcohol acts as a pretty good preservative, slowing most bacteria down.

Could it just be something to do with the carbonation, that may mellow out in a couple of weeks? Not sure what.

 

[mfgann]

I'd agree it sounds like an infection. If it is, and you don't mind the taste right now I'd drink it soon. I had an infection like this that hit in primary, but I hoped would mellow. After a week in the bottle it was like cider vinager. Not drinkable.

 

[FatDragon]

Thanks for the reply. I am new so I don't know if this will get better with age or if I should dump it out.

It actually tastes good to me, and my wife. Just completely not what we wanted. We got a sour brown ale, and wanted a malty hazelnut porter...

I will give it a few weeks and try another bottle. Bummer.

Try another bottle sooner rather than later. If it soured in the bottle it might just have been a dirty bottle. If the next one is also sour, it means you probably have an infected beer (barring the possibility that you're misdiagnosing the flavors in the carbonated beer), which could mean they're still fermenting in the bottles, which would mean you're taking a big risk of getting bottle bombs or having the beer become undrinkable as the souring bacteria or yeast continue to dry it out and produce off flavors. If the next bottle is sour, refrigerate or pasteurize the rest of the batch immediately, or at least put the bottles in some kind of tub or cooler and cover them to prevent damage or a mess in the even of bottle bombs.

 

[cjbalough]

Try it again in 2 weeks then again in 2 weeks.....may be that it just needs more time for bottle conditioning.

 

[mikegmi2]

Thanks very much for the replies. I'll try another when I get home from work today. I tried the beer before I bottled and it was perfect, exactly as I hoped this recipe would turn out. Tried a bottle after 1 week and it was too early, barely carbonated, and had the odd cidery/sour flavor. Tried another after 2 weeks and carbonation was perfect, but cidery flavor was still there...didn't get any worse as far as I could remember. This Wednesday will mark 3 weeks in the bottles.

I am hoping this off flavor is perhaps due to this yeast strain (Wyeast 1187) producing some fruity byproducts, or still green beer and yeast needs to do some cleanup still. After 2 weeks in the bottles it shouldn't be green though, but I am no expert and have never worked with this specific yeast before.

 

[mikegmi2]

So I opened a bottle today and thus stuff tastes like an acidic sour porter/lambic. I love sour beers so in a way this is a nice accident. It has cleared up, has a nice small bubble fizz to it, no head retention at all. Smells like you would expect, porter/cider/acid mix.

What I'm trying to figure out is what got into this....Brett, lacto, aceto, a mix?

Raw coconut was used in this recipe, but was baked first which I would think would kill any bacteria present on the coconut. Which leaves the bottling bucket or bottles themselves...do any of these live in dry buckets or bottles?

In the end I enjoy what this accident turned out to be...but I still would love to know exactly how it happened...which probably isn't possible and will remain a mystery.

 

[A2HB]

Thanks for the update

 

[microbusbrewery]

Brett won't sour on its own. It can produce some acidity but not enough to really be considered sour. If it's acetobactor it should be apparent because it'll taste like vinegar. Brett will produce acetic acid too if it's exposed to too much oxygen. If you're not getting vinegar character, I'd put my money on a lactobacillus strain. Could be pedio, but pedio will also produce quite a bit of diacetyl resulting in buttered popcorn character. Brett can clean up diacetyl over time, but I'd bet you have a lactobacillus strain or two in there. Hard to say exactly unless you looked at it under a microscope.

 

[ChucknBeer]

Something similar happened to me, if you want to check my thread.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=523315

The acidic/sour flavor went away after a little more than 1 week though, but it was so strong I thought the beer was infected.

Now, after almost 2 months in the bottle, the stout is tasty, but a bit on the strong flavor side. Of course, I didn't add anything to the recipe, like the coconut you mention.

Wait 2 more weeks!

 

[Axelvilhelm]

I don't know what happened to your beer, but the same happened to a pumpkin ale i brewed abt 6 months ago: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=508008

When bottling, the beer tasted just like expected, but when I tasted a bottle abt two weeks later, the taste was like from another planet. There was a really nasty taste from nutmeg, and a strange sour flavour. It tasted horrible. Now, the harsh nutmeg flavour has mellowed out, but the sourness remains, and it has actually evolved into a really nice sour beer.

So, in my opinion, it's always worth giving the beer a little time, instead of pouring it all out. You never know how it'll evolve!