sour beer

[GoodOleDave]

I have searched through the forum, and contacted my local home brew store, but I cannot find an answer for this question. My first 3 batches (kits), were fine, but my last 4 batches have had a sour taste. I compare it to how tea tastes when it spoils. I took 2 different brews to my home brew store, and they told me it was the cascade hops giving the sour flavor. My og and fg are all on target. My beer is carbonated well using dme instead of corn sugar. My last batch, using fuggles, tasted great at 1 week, but at 2 weeks, I detect the sour note. Caps, oxidation, improperly sanitized bottles? Help!

 

[kaconga]

First off I would like to say it is definitely not the cascade hops or the fuggles. They aren't sour per se, even though they have acids and what not. What you are describing sounds like an infection to me. So now you have to pin down the equipment infected. Check over everything and try to remember when the sour flavor starts for each batch. I would be willing to bet it is either your bottling bucket or racking equipment. Maybe your filler even. Something at bottling time though.

 

[GoodOleDave]

I tend to agree. Basic equipment is cheap enough, I just hate to buy all new. I am getting new racking tubing for my next batch. What I do not understand is why my wines are not having similar issues as I use the same equipment.

 

[kaconga]

I am betting your wines are higher alcohol and therefore are less susceptible. Also if you sulfate your wines then that acts as a preservative.

 

[GoodOleDave]

Thanks. I bet you are right.

 

[WileECoyote]

I tend to agree. Basic equipment is cheap enough, I just hate to buy all new. I am getting new racking tubing for my next batch. What I do not understand is why my wines are not having similar issues as I use the same equipment.

Hello, You can use a 50/50 mix of Hydrogen Peroxide and water, soak your hoses and equipment in it for 3 days, Infection will be gone if thats what you have going on !

$1 store is where I get mine, that way its cheap.

Cheers

 

[GoodOleDave]

That sounds a lot cheaper than re-purchasing equipment. I am getting ready to start my 1st all grain, so I will give that a try. I also bought some longer brushes for cleaning. Spent a couple of hours today deep cleaning all my equipment. What a pain.

 

[Beergnomes]

And, it may not be infected at all. Some yeast strains have fruitier finishes and sometimes the beer just needs more time in the bottle. Most of my ales taste better after 8 weeks than they do at 6. Are you perhaps drinking them too young? How "sour" was it? Were there other indications of an infection? Seems your homebrew store crew would have been able to tell if it was infected.

 

[WileECoyote]

And, it may not be infected at all. Some yeast strains have fruitier finishes and sometimes the beer just needs more time in the bottle. Most of my ales taste better after 8 weeks than they do at 6. Are you perhaps drinking them too young? How "sour" was it? Were there other indications of an infection? Seems your homebrew store crew would have been able to tell if it was infected.

+1 on this too!

Cheers

 

[GoodOleDave]

I took two of my beers in to my local home brew store. The first thing I found out is there are a lot more people working there than I thought. People were coming out of the woodwork to try free beer. Second, I was told it was cascade hops making the beer have a grapefruit taste. I was fine with that until my irish stout with fuggles has the same sour note after 4 weeks. It did not taste sour when I tested it at one week. I have been using safale us 05 because it has a temperature range that fits my basement. I do not have any other signs of infection. No bottles blowing up, no hyper-fermentation. Everything seems to ferment on schedule and end at an appropriate sg. Should I look to a different yeast?

 

[WileECoyote]

Hello, a stout after only 4 weeks?, maybe you should try it after a few more months, personally I would not even try a stout after only 4 weeks, I age my stouts a minimum of 3 months before even trying.

If you let it age, it just might become really good !

I don't think the 05 is not the problem, its a neutral yeast.

Please explain what your doing so we can better help.

How long are you fermenting in primary and at what temp? secondary and how long and temp ? aging/conditioning and temp ? carbing with and how long ?

I guessing that you are drink very young/green beer (can taste sourish) from reading your posts.

Cheers

 

[GoodOleDave]

I fermented this one in the primary 9 days, at 72 degrees (ambient temp), until sg 1.012. Secondary at 56 degrees for 1 month. I carbed with 1 1/4 cups amber dme (boiled for 10"). bottle aged for 2 weeks at 72 degrees. My last 3 beers were an ipa, 4 months old, a summer ale that I aged 2 months, and a pale ale aged for 3-6 months prior to drinking. I suppose it is possible I am drinking the beer too green, but my local home brew shop did not think that was the problem. I have been reading a different home brew book and wonder if I am fermenting too hot.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hello, after reading how long your aging your beers, I don't think your drink them to young/green.

72 is definitely warm for most yeast, if you are reading the ambient temp at 72, the fermenting beer temp can be 5 to 7+ degrees hotter than ambient and that could be causing a lot of off flavors.

I would try fermenting your next brew in a swamp cooler at the low end of the recommended temp for the yeast you are using and see if that helps, you will only need to do this for active primary fermentation, about 5 days 7 days to be safe.

Hope this helps !

Cheers

 

[GoodOleDave]

Thanks. I plan to put that plan to action tomorrow. I am going to brew my first all grain. Wish me luck.

 

[WileECoyote]

Good Luck !

 

[GoodOleDave]

Well, so far the beer tastes good. I used well water instead of soft tap water and used a swamp cooler to keep it under 72 degrees. I added a little lime zest to the boil and that may be a bad idea, but I am not getting a "sour tea" taste. I also boiled my corn sugar for bottling too long (probably a topic for another thread). It was almost corn syrup. Hope my carbonation holds. Anyway, thanks to everyone for their input.