Sour taste = Lost batch?

[Scarthingmoor]

Just bottled a batch of oatmeal stout. The stuff is crazy sour. I'm thinking it's infected, as it is extremely off tasting (undrinkable as it is now). It's already bottled so I'll probably keep it around for a few months before dumping, just in case it comes around.

Question is this....Is a really awful sour taste typical of infected beer?

Any chance it will get better, or am I totally effed?

 

[Borisbbadd]

I would keep it around for a while, might get better with age......It's worth a shot.

 

[JasonToews]

revvy once put up a thread about this. Said he made a beer that he thought got infected, couldn't even drink it. He let it sit for a year a think, dont recall, said the beer turned out awesome! I'd wait

 

[Scarthingmoor]

The work is done, so I'll just give it time.

But does anyone know if the sour taste is typical of infected beer?

 

[kh54s10]

My first kit was an Irish Red Ale extract from Northern Brewer. I let the temp get too warm for the first day and a half. I tasted it then and I described the taste as sour. I left it in primary for 2 weeks and secondary for 4 weeks at bottling it was a lot better but I still tasted the off flavor. 2 weeks in bottles and it was still a bit flat but much better. After another week it was quite good. I did not compare it with a commercial so I cannot say whether it was to "style" or not but they are all gone now!

So I would say wait.

Any other signs of infection? Like a spiderweb growth?

I have an oatmeal stout ready for bottling next week. Got my fingers crossed!

 

[acuenca]

The sour/vinegar taste is typical of some types of infection (lactobacillus/ pectinatus) but not necessarily all... I got a lacto infection probably while checking the SG at one point... The sour was there as a hint on bottling day and was pretty potent after about 3 weeks... If I had the reserves to experiment (I think this was one of my first 5 beers) I woulda left it for a while... but I chucked a good percentage and kept a couple bottles for aging...You could also cook with it... and this is pretty much the way they make malt vinegar...except it's intentional

 

[mikebowman]

Does it taste vinegary? That's a sign of an acetobacter infection, which I believe will eventually turn your beer into vinegar, and I believe is unsalvageable. But, I'd probably let it sit and see if it ages out

 

[Scarthingmoor]

Does it taste vinegary? That's a sign of an acetobacter infection, which I believe will eventually turn your beer into vinegar, and I believe is unsalvageable. But, I'd probably let it sit and see if it ages out

vinegary is probably about right. Very sour vinegar would be about the right description. Almost no beer flavour at all.

I might keep a few bottles as testers to see where it goes over the next 6 months or so, but I'll likely toss as soon as I need the bottles for a new batch.

 

[TotemWolf]

+1 the let it set advise.

You might even wait and then blend it with something like a poter to get a old cask style sour beer.

 

[Yooper]

The work is done, so I'll just give it time.

But does anyone know if the sour taste is typical of infected beer?

Yes. Sour is usually typical of lactobacillus infection, but if it's a "vinegar" sour, it could be aceterobacter infection. If it's an infection, it should get worse with time. Keep an eye on the bottles for bottle bombs, as both lacto and acterobacter can ferment more than ale yeast can, and won't stop.

 

[Scarthingmoor]

Yes. Sour is usually typical of lactobacillus infection, but if it's a "vinegar" sour, it could be aceterobacter infection. If it's an infection, it should get worse with time. Keep an eye on the bottles for bottle bombs, as both lacto and acterobacter can ferment more than ale yeast can, and won't stop.

Yikes. Thanks for the heads up. Will putting the cases in plastic garbage bags work to keep the mess down if I do have one blow?

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

I've got an oatmeal stout with the same problem, seems to be getting better over time though. There was a "crust", very thin on top when I bottled. I think the flavour is sickly sweet, kind of like sweet and sour chicken. I'm thinking maybe it wasn't an infection because I have zero carbonation after a month or more in bottle

Yooper, I've seen in other threads that you keep your house pretty cool. My house is 62-65, would that slow bottle carbing significantly enough to have nearly zero carb after a month?

 

[Yooper]

I've got an oatmeal stout with the same problem, seems to be getting better over time though. There was a "crust", very thin on top when I bottled. I think the flavour is sickly sweet, kind of like sweet and sour chicken. I'm thinking maybe it wasn't an infection because I have zero carbonation after a month or more in bottle

Yooper, I've seen in other threads that you keep your house pretty cool. My house is 62-65, would that slow bottle carbing significantly enough to have nearly zero carb after a month?

Yes, I've had some bottles that never wanted to carb up until I put them in front of a little space heater. But I have heard others say that they do eventually get carbonation at cool temperatures.

 

[eastoak]

dump it. chances are it's going to be worse later than it is now.

 

[seabass07]

Don't dump it. Just keep opening a bottle a week to check for extreme carbonation. When I had a scotch ale infected, it started getting a citrusy sourness to it. Then it lost pretty much all of the malty flavor. After a month in the bottle, opening it at room temperature led to a 3 foot high stream of foam shooting out until there was only maybe an inch of beer left in the 22 oz bottle. When cold, it was maybe a couple inches of foam shooting out of the bottle. If you don't check it, there's a good chance of bottle bombs! Fortunately, I caught it soon enough to put them all in the fridge and prevent glass shrapnel. If it gets to that point and it's still not drinkable, then dump it. Otherwise let it age as long as you have patience.

 

[eastoak]

Don't dump it. Just keep opening a bottle a week to check for extreme carbonation. When I had a scotch ale infected, it started getting a citrusy sourness to it. Then it lost pretty much all of the malty flavor. After a month in the bottle, opening it at room temperature led to a 3 foot high stream of foam shooting out until there was only maybe an inch of beer left in the 22 oz bottle. When cold, it was maybe a couple inches of foam shooting out of the bottle. If you don't check it, there's a good chance of bottle bombs! Fortunately, I caught it soon enough to put them all in the fridge and prevent glass shrapnel.

then what? did you drink whatever was left in the bottle?

 

[seabass07]

then what? did you drink whatever was left in the bottle?

Yes. If it was chilled, I could salvage most of the bottle by pouring off the foam into a couple of glasses. I drank them quickly since I didn't even feel comfortable having them in the fridge. It wasn't too bad and my friends wished I had been able to let it fully sour. If I could have aged it in a carboy for a few months then bottled, I think it would have been a good sour beer. It started getting a bit of funk towards the end, so I wonder if it could have been bret. IMO, it's best to ride it out as long as it's safe to see what it turns into. It could turn into a great learning experience.

 

[LarryC]

Interesting... I have an oatmeal stout that I just brewed last Saturday. Since the Kroisen dropped after the second day I decided to take a SG today to see what was going on. The SG is 1.020 which is spot on for the recipe so I was surprised. I rewarded myself by tasting the hydro sample. That's when I noticed a slight sour taste and did a search that brought me to this thread.

I've never had an infection before and don't really know what I would have done to get one for this batch. Also, there is no indication in the fermentor that there is any issues - nothing floating on top looking nasty.

I guess I'll know more in a few weeks when it's ready to go in the keg.