moger777
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 1
Hello all,
A bit new to brewing but I successfully finished my first batch about 3 weeks ago. I kinda waited the minimum amount of time for carbonation before I cracked open the first beer. It tasted really good and me and my friends had a great time drinking it all rather quickly. I decided to leave a few beers in the fridge for later consumption. About half a week ago I cracked open one of them and the beer no longer was as good tasting as it was when we cracked open the first few bottles. It had a bit of a vinegary taste to it. Not enough to make it undrinkable but strong enough to be a bit disappointing. I tried another bottle and had the same problem. I should mention that this batch was almost entirely brewed with a big jug of bottled water I stole from work. None of the equipment came into contact with tap water except for sanitation (I've been using b-brite which is good but requires rinsing). I recently started to brew my second batch of beer. This time around I was a bit more careful with sanitation, especially since all the equipment I had used previously was no longer brand new and untouched. I cleaned both carboys very thoroughly with b-brite and anything else the beer/wort touched after the boil. Yesterday I went to bottle the beer after going through the primary and secondary fermentation. I noticed that the beer had a more sour smell than last time and when I tasted a bit it tasted sour, like vinegar (though still like beer). I decided to bottle it anyways since last time it was also a bit sour and cleared up after carbonation (though it got worse after being in the fridge for a week). The second batch was not exactly the same beer as the last one, it was a less hoppy beer so the sourness could be more noticeable. I'm going to keep them in the bottles for a week before giving up but I'm a bit less optimistic this time around (the last beer tasted good during bottling, flat yet good, this one is a tad more sour). So after that long story what it boils down too is that I suspect my water supply of being contaminated. The water on tap tastes good but considering this time around my equipment had more contact with the water (last time I did not sanitize the carboys since they were brand spankin new) I'm a tad bit suspicious. Maybe it's something else though, maybe I should use something other than b-brite. Any ideas out there?
A bit new to brewing but I successfully finished my first batch about 3 weeks ago. I kinda waited the minimum amount of time for carbonation before I cracked open the first beer. It tasted really good and me and my friends had a great time drinking it all rather quickly. I decided to leave a few beers in the fridge for later consumption. About half a week ago I cracked open one of them and the beer no longer was as good tasting as it was when we cracked open the first few bottles. It had a bit of a vinegary taste to it. Not enough to make it undrinkable but strong enough to be a bit disappointing. I tried another bottle and had the same problem. I should mention that this batch was almost entirely brewed with a big jug of bottled water I stole from work. None of the equipment came into contact with tap water except for sanitation (I've been using b-brite which is good but requires rinsing). I recently started to brew my second batch of beer. This time around I was a bit more careful with sanitation, especially since all the equipment I had used previously was no longer brand new and untouched. I cleaned both carboys very thoroughly with b-brite and anything else the beer/wort touched after the boil. Yesterday I went to bottle the beer after going through the primary and secondary fermentation. I noticed that the beer had a more sour smell than last time and when I tasted a bit it tasted sour, like vinegar (though still like beer). I decided to bottle it anyways since last time it was also a bit sour and cleared up after carbonation (though it got worse after being in the fridge for a week). The second batch was not exactly the same beer as the last one, it was a less hoppy beer so the sourness could be more noticeable. I'm going to keep them in the bottles for a week before giving up but I'm a bit less optimistic this time around (the last beer tasted good during bottling, flat yet good, this one is a tad more sour). So after that long story what it boils down too is that I suspect my water supply of being contaminated. The water on tap tastes good but considering this time around my equipment had more contact with the water (last time I did not sanitize the carboys since they were brand spankin new) I'm a tad bit suspicious. Maybe it's something else though, maybe I should use something other than b-brite. Any ideas out there?