Possible acetaldehyde: Bottle or rack to secondary?

[BeerDoctor5]

I took my first gravity reading of a brown ale I made on April 14th last night. Upon smelling and tasting I noticed a distinct sour smell/flavor. My carboy did not look infected and after further research I'm assuming it's acetaldehyde. I couldn't discern any green apple flavors but it wasn't a stomach turning sourness just a noticeable tartness that I wasn't expecting. The SG was 1.015. I was expecting it to finish at 1.013. I will check the gravity again tomorrow to determine if it is done fermenting (2 same readings in 3 days).

The issue that I am having is that I'm planning on brewing this weekend and need my 6.5 gal fermentor. I was planning on bottling Friday (20 total days in primary) if the SG remained the same. However, due to the unforeseen acetaldehyde production I know I should leave it with the yeasties so they can turn it into ethanol.

Background
Yeast: Nottingham (resuspended per instructions)

Fermentator was placed in water bath. Temp started at 64F and went to 66 for one day and then was at 64-62F the remainder.

Fermentation was vigorous very quickly and krausen came down after a few days.

The OG was 1.062.

I used 10 oz of flaked oats (13lb total)

My question is: Would the acetaldehyde flavor go away quicker in a bottle or a secondary fermentor?

 

[duboman]

If you feel as though there is an issue with the beer then you are best to leave it on the yeast for a longer time and give it time to try and clean itself up and hopefully take care of the off flavors, like another two weeks and then sample.

Easiest thing to do is pick up another bucket, they're cheap and you know you want one anyways!

 

[BeerDoctor5]

Thanks for the reply Dub! I know the optimal situation would be for me to leave the beer on the yeast for a few more weeks. I hadn't considered getting another fermentor. I have never used a bucket before but I don't know if I want to buy one...or another carboy for that matter.

I'm sure there are some other well established HBTers that have some other input?!?!? Any help for a noob?

Which method would reduce the acetaldehyde flavor quicker: bottle conditioning or secondary?

Thanks in advance to anyone who chimes in!

 

[duboman]

Carboy or bucket? Doesn't matter, whatever you like. As for conditioning time to reduce the problem I would leave it on the yeast as stated and if necessary still put it in a Carboy and let it bulk condition for some time.

I'd probably same it every few weeks to see how it's doing

 

[Pie_Man]

Are you sure it's Acetaldehyde? There are other causes of sourness, http://morebeer.com/content/homebrew-off-flavors.

It could also just be a young beer. As already mentioned, more time in the primary should clear things up if that's the case.

Also, missing the gravity by .002 is not that big of a deal. 1.015 is a good FG for many beer styles.

 

[BeerDoctor5]

Are you sure it's Acetaldehyde? There are other causes of sourness, http://morebeer.com/content/homebrew-off-flavors.

Definitely not 100% sure as I am very new to home brewing. However, there doesn't appear to be any visual signs of infection. I was also able to take multiple samplings of the gravity sample. It wasn't a horrible flavor (e.g. sour milk) just prominently tart/sour.

It could also just be a young beer. As already mentioned, more time in the primary should clear things up if that's the case.

So far that seems to be the consensus I was hoping I could bottle or rack to secondary and still have the yeast convert the acetaldehyde back to ethanol. I want to brew this weekend and not buy a new carboy/bucket or use a 5gal carboy.

Also, missing the gravity by .002 is not that big of a deal. 1.015 is a good FG for many beer styles.

I figured as much but thanks for the affirmation Thanks for the reply!