Sour Smell and No Gravity Drop

[tristanoneil]

I made an All Grain American IPA from Austin Homebrew Supply, this one, last Wednesday (5 days ago). I hit my mash temperature and my original gravity was spot on but upon checking on it today and taking a gravity reading it's still at its original gravity (1.060). On top of that the beer smells sour, a sort of vinegar smell. The airlock has been active since day one, so something's going on, I just don't think it's the right kind of something. I'm fine if the beer is a loss I just want to try and understand what went wrong so I can prevent this in the future.

 

[Yooper]

A sour smell and no gravity drop doesn't sound good at all! It makes me suspect lacto infection.

Did you add the yeast once the wort was cooled? And how much yeast/what kind?

 

[AmandaK]

I'm with Yooper.

Also, do you see any krausen or other signs of fermentation?

 

[tristanoneil]

Yes wort was around 75 degrees when I added my yeast. I used a vial of White Labs California Ale yeast in a starter. There is definitely krausen and the airlock is bubbling every 30 seconds or so still. Would a lacto infection inhibit fermentation or just cause contamination?

 

[AmandaK]

Lacto will not inhibit fermentation, it can sometimes take over if you pitched a vial of dead yeast. From the sound of it, I'm starting to suspect a faulty reading. Have you ever calibrated your hydrometer? (e.g. have you verified that it reads 1.000 in water at 60*F?

 

[tristanoneil]

Yes I recently calibrated my hydrometer. So it seems that maybe the lacto infection took over and that is what is producing the krausen and gas? I'll give it a few more days and take another hydrometer reading but this isn't looking good.

 

[tristanoneil]

This is what the beer looks like http://cl.ly/1z3l0I0d41461i3V2p1v I just had a taste and it is tasting sour. So peoples best guess is dead yeast and a lacto infection at the same time?

 

[tristanoneil]

So I checked it again today and the gravity dropped to 1.045. I guess I'll let it go to completion if it continues and taste it then. If it tastes a little sour once it's completed will this mellow out with time?

 

[Revvy]

The picture you posted looks like a normal fermenting beer to me.

I'm beginning to think that sour smell wasn't really an infection, but co2. Lots of folks who sniff their airlocks talk about a sour smell. And that is usually just the smell of the carbon dioxide.

We'll have to wait and see, but I think you may have pulled the panic button for nothing.

 

[Brek81]

i'm still fairly new, but from what i have read anything over 10 ibu should inhibit Lacto, certain pedio strains will survive though...

 

[Yooper]

i'm still fairly new, but from what i have read anything over 10 ibu should inhibit Lacto, certain pedio strains will survive though...

I've had a beer infected with lacto- and it was far higher than 10 IBUs!

 

[tristanoneil]

The gravity is now down to 1.028 and seems to be steadily dropping. It smells much better and tastes only slightly sour though I'm now starting to think that smell/taste might just be the taste of the young hops as it's more of a fruity smell/flavor than a purely sour smell/flavor.