Stainless Steel conical frementer

[kevi080]

I bought a stainless steel conical fermenter this past June, I have made 3 beers in it so far and all 3 have turned out awful they all have a very bad sour alcohol like after taste, has anyone else had this problem.
(I have made these same beers before in carboys and they were delicious)

 

[bruhaha]

I bought a stainless steel conical fermenter this past June, I have made 3 beers in it so far and all 3 have turned out awful they all have a very bad sour alcohol like after taste, has anyone else had this problem.
(I have made these same beers before in carboys and they were delicious)

Stainless is quite inert so hearing this is surprising. Sounds like you may be producing fusel alcohols somehow but this is just a guess. Are you temp controlling your vessel? I use SS and I see no differences over plastic pails or glass carboys...except durability and ease of cleaning.

 

[Morrey]

@bruhaha may be on to something. You bought your SS conical in June-right about the time fermentation temp control becomes critical. If you are using a ferm chamber or a chiller of some sort, that fact removes improper fermentation temps from the equation provided they are set correctly. If not, temp controls may be a topic to review as it sounds like this would be my starting point.

 

[Mirilis]

I will gladly pick it up from you if you dont like it

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Was it new or used? Even if used and someone was brewing sours a good cleaning, sanitizing and perhaps new gaskets should eliminate any clingy bugs.

 

[tmendick]

Did you passivate the Stainless?

 

[pvpeacock]

I did not have temp. control with my first Stainless conical fermenter and made great beer until the weather got warm. Those beers were all fermented around 65 to 68 degrees. I then fermented a red ale in the summer at around 75 degrees (internal temp.) and it tasted aweful. Tasted like rocket fuel. I let it sit in the keg for months hoping it would get better, but it did not, so I tossed it. After that, I bought 2 SS Chronicals with FTS temperature control systems. Since then, I generally ferment between 62 and 68 degrees for ales and IPA's have not had another rocket fuel batch.

 

[Morrey]

I did not have temp. control with my first Stainless conical fermenter and made great beer until the weather got warm. Those beers were all fermented around 65 to 68 degrees. I then fermented a red ale in the summer at around 75 degrees (internal temp.) and it tasted aweful. Tasted like rocket fuel. I let it sit in the keg for months hoping it would get better, but it did not, so I tossed it. After that, I bought 2 SS Chronicals with FTS temperature control systems. Since then, I generally ferment between 62 and 68 degrees for ales and IPA's have not had another rocket fuel batch.

Like your results show temp controls are critical during the summer months, it may be more than ironic that the OP's fermenter produced off flavored beer in the summer. Exothermic heat from the yeast's activity can drive the wort temp up 8 or more degrees above ambient as you pointed out. If the OP is temp controlling the fermenter, something else is going on but it sure sounds like fusel w/o more info.

My brother in law was producing some beers that screamed fusel...just as described. Skanky was my word for it. We got him a used freezer on CL, an Inkbird on sale from Amazon, and for $125 he was in the temp control business. Problem solved.