preventing another bad batch

[old rock & roll brewer]

Hey, I haven't checked in for a while. Some here may recall a couple of months ago I was looking for advice about a holiday brew I was making using ginger as a spice..."ginger ale", if you will. I've made it before & it turned out well but this time it didn't. Right from the get-go it was a "strange brew", taking quite a long time (almost two days) for the yeast to activate and the action was very brief, overnight spanning about 8 hrs. & ending abruptly. I tried a few helpful suggestions from folks here to try & save it but to no avail. It turned out to be a really bad batch! Smelled bad & tasted bad. My first real failure, in fact.

I brew infrequently & I've made some really good ones & some that are just OK but this is the first time it was undrinkable. So I'm looking for advice to prevent this from happening again. I'm going to start a batch "ginger ale" again this weekend. Any help appreciated

 

[El Pistolero]

I don't recall from your original post whether you used liquid or dry yeast, but if you used liquid and didn't make a starter, then make one next time...it will cut your lag time by probably 3/4, and your fermentation will go much better with plenty of healthy yeast.

 

[pigpen]

From what little info I gathered, sounds like your yeast did nothing but allow other bacterias to develop and take over your precious batch.May I suggest a simple yeast starter,with a SANITIZED growler and a burper.Boil a quart of water ,add 3/4 cup light malt extract boil for about 15 minuites let cool completely,add your room tempeture yeast(I assume you use liquid yeast)Shake it up gently and keep it out of direct sunlight.Do this at least 2 days before brew day.Should be nice thick head on top before pitching.Gently shake and pour in cooled aerated wort.This is one big important step to ensure yourself that your yeast will do its job as fast as possible.Nobody likes pouring precious beer down the drain. Good luck! and remember CLEAN,CLEAN,CLEAN.....:cross:

 

[old rock & roll brewer]

Yeah, this isn't rocket science, I should be able to turn out decent brew without too much effort. I guess I must have let something into this last batch that caused it to go bad. As you say, Pig Pen (contrary to your name!), "clean clean clean". Didn't get a chance to cook up a batch this weekend, will try for next weekend.

 

[Genghis77]

If you think you made a bad batch, go to the store and get some Megaswill beer. If yours tastes worse, then maybe you did make a bad lot. But in all probability yours is still going to taste better.