Skunky semi sour beer.

[jdpaauwe]

Having no ideas what I skunk smells like ..... NZ dont have no skunks...

I think I just had a failure on the second batch of beer I made.....

The first beer I had I fermented in the laundry which seemed fine but there is a reasonable amount of light in there. I had no major issues but it didn't seem to clear that much in the fermenter when I added finings and left if about 2 weeks in the primary, cleared in the bottle fine and it tastes OK and getting better now its been a month in the bottle but still needs a bit more time.

As for the second beer I brewed its a Black rock Kit IPA with a Kg of brew enhancer and it was given a hop tea infusion (8min boiling hops in 1L of water with some cascade hops). Initial grav was 1.046+ (i broke my hydrometer and got a new one) seemed to ferment fine and final grav was 1.006. It was left it in the same place in the laundry and I didn't cover it with anything so was in light but not direct light.

I had some issues when i came to time to bottle. I left it a good week and when checking it to see if finished fermenting. everytime i checked the gravity it was fizzy and cloudy... checked a few more times and and it was always fizzy. i thought it was because I kept on moving it and opening it to see if it was clear and when i took a gravity reading so the Equilibrium was shifted and CO2 would be released.

bottled after two weeks but it didn't really taste like beer, a touch sour . it was a bit funny but though it was just still young and it would fix itself. been in the bottle 2 weeks now and its not clear and still tastes the same, not really like beer and a bit watery. Being at work i cant tell you exactly what its like but will edit this post when i get home and retry it

So Ive been doing a lot or reading and figured out a few new practices
moved my beer to the shed and is in a cupboard totally in the dark, im pretty sure my sanitisation was OK but now I'm just leaving the star say for a good 15 minutes instead of 5 which i did before.

Any theories on what when wrong??
Could the light have messed with the extra hops and why was it fizzy?

The first beer i did was fine and i moved that to check the gravity.Im doing a apple/pear cider now with the same sanitization method as the IPA, its been week and not fizzy anymore just a bit yeasty. Admittedly its in the dark and i haven't moved it to check the gravity.

Ok sorry bout the long post but still learning and am just a touch obsessed with brewing right now.

Cheers
JD

 

[cmj141]

Having no ideas what I skunk smells like ..... NZ dont have no skunks...

I think I just had a failure on the second batch of beer I made.....

The first beer I had I fermented in the laundry which seemed fine but there is a reasonable amount of light in there. I had no major issues but it didn't seem to clear that much in the fermenter when I added finings and left if about 2 weeks in the primary, cleared in the bottle fine and it tastes OK and getting better now its been a month in the bottle but still needs a bit more time.

As for the second beer I brewed its a Black rock Kit IPA with a Kg of brew enhancer and it was given a hop tea infusion (8min boiling hops in 1L of water with some cascade hops). Initial grav was 1.046+ (i broke my hydrometer and got a new one) seemed to ferment fine and final grav was 1.006. It was left it in the same place in the laundry and I didn't cover it with anything so was in light but not direct light.

I had some issues when i came to time to bottle. I left it a good week and when checking it to see if finished fermenting. everytime i checked the gravity it was fizzy and cloudy... checked a few more times and and it was always fizzy. i thought it was because I kept on moving it and opening it to see if it was clear and when i took a gravity reading so the Equilibrium was shifted and CO2 would be released.

bottled after two weeks but it didn't really taste like beer, a touch sour . it was a bit funny but though it was just still young and it would fix itself. been in the bottle 2 weeks now and its not clear and still tastes the same, not really like beer and a bit watery. Being at work i cant tell you exactly what its like but will edit this post when i get home and retry it

So Ive been doing a lot or reading and figured out a few new practices
moved my beer to the shed and is in a cupboard totally in the dark, im pretty sure my sanitisation was OK but now I'm just leaving the star say for a good 15 minutes instead of 5 which i did before.

Any theories on what when wrong??
Could the light have messed with the extra hops and why was it fizzy?

The first beer i did was fine and i moved that to check the gravity.Im doing a apple/pear cider now with the same sanitization method as the IPA, its been week and not fizzy anymore just a bit yeasty. Admittedly its in the dark and i haven't moved it to check the gravity.

Ok sorry bout the long post but still learning and am just a touch obsessed with brewing right now.

Cheers
JD

Did you happen to check your Ph before fermentation ? Also your beer may have been still fermenting when u bottled it and basically just needed more time. Also you want your fermenter in a dark spot. They sell carboy covers that blanket the whole bottle to keep it nice and dark. Light messes with fermentation. I ferment in a stainless steel keg to avoid the light issue.

 

[jdpaauwe]

Hey thanks for the reply.

I did check the gravity before it was bottling and it was consistent for at least three days before bottling but still fizzing. I didnt check pH but I'll invest in some strips next time i go to my LHBS. I shouldn't have a problem with light now I have moved my fermentor.

So flavor/smell wise, its sour and it tastes sorta like plastic its real hard to describe as I really never have tasted anything like it. certainly not like a beer at all.

 

[cmj141]

Only thing u can do now is check the ph, wait and post your results. Maybe itll clean itself up a lil more. The reason I say that is because my brother made wine this one time where the same happened to him. Basically his wine took extra longer to finish completely fermenting before he could rack it. He thought His wine went sour and basically was vinegar. I think he added more sugar to it too.

I used to work at a big winery as a vintner and one thing I can tell you we do all day and everyday is constantly sample the wines thru out the entire process to know the different taste variations as the wine/beer progresses thru its primary and secondary fermentation cycles.