Strike two smells like moldy fruit

[migo]

I made the first beer about 3 weeks ago. A coopers wheat. First one I used the yeast that came with the can that after 3 days didnt seem to work so I put new yeast on top gave it a shake and 4 hours later had many many bubbles which sent all kinds of stuff out of the air lock. After reading advice here I just kind of left it alone in the plastic primary for two weeks only peeking once to check the gravity....when I popped the lid after two weeks the brown stuff had turned to black on the lid of the fermenter and it reeked of bad fruit. Thinking maybe this was normal I went ahead and bottled it anyway and a week later figured Id give it a crack and it pretty much tasted like it smelled. Like bad fruit.

The same day I bottled the first one i cleaned the primary with soap and water and then used one step to sanitize and there was no noticeable odor or flaws in the bucket. This is a brand new kit there are no scratches in the bucket. I then made a AHB Belgian Wit put it in the primary and while there was some confusion about how to use liquid yeast the whole process went fine. I did this on a Sunday I checked it on Wednesday did a hydrometer reading it was progressing and left it alone. tonight I popped the lid and there is that bad fruit smell again.....Am I screwing up or is the smell going to go away. Also there didnt appear to be much change in the gravity from wednesday to today other than the krausen has grown substantially.

Something I am a bit concerned about is that I didn't get all of the Orange peel out of the wort.

I know the whole 'relax' view of the forum but I'd like to do this right and think i just sent $60 down the tubes.

 

[EvilTOJ]

One-step is not a sanitizer, it is a cleaner. It's supposed to be rinsed out. Star-san or Idophor are good sanitizers to have on hand.

A week is also too soon to try beer. It still will have some odd flavors too it. If you added orange peel to the boil I wouldn't worry that that's the cause of your problems. Just give it some time, and see what happens with it.

Are you getting anything that looks like black fuzzy islands floating on top of the beer, or maybe oily icebergs?

 

[migo]

Im sorry its not one step its actually called "Easy Clean(no-rinse cleaner)" Says "wash surfaces with solution no rinsing required" made by LD Carlson. It came with the kit.

 

[Yooper]

Well, technically it's a cleaner. But it can be used as a sanitizer and I use it sometimes, especially for wine. It actually IS a sanitizer, but in order to labelled as a sanitizer, there are some EPA rules that have to be followed. See this link: http://www.undergrounddigital.com/cleanserinfo.htm

So, yes, actually, one step sanitizes just fine and I've used it without any problems at all. I NEVER use soap on my plastic, though. If it's really dirty, I'll use oxyclean to soak, if it's not too bad I'll use some one-step. If it's not dirty, I just rinse it with really hot water.

I'm not sure about the "bad fruit" smell. Could you describe it a bit more? Is it stale, rubber-y, etc? I just wonder if maybe there is some soap residue in there somewhere. I can't think of anything else right now, but there must be a reason you are having this issue. Maybe wild yeast? Where are you fermenting, and how long have your lag times been with the batches?

I think for the next batch, get new hoses and clean every piece of plastic thoroughly with some oxyclean or dilute bleach water. Then rinse, rinse, rinse. Then sanitize. Maybe use a package of dry nottingham yeast, and watch the fermenting temperatures closely and try to keep it at 67 degrees the entire time. I mean, pitch the yeast when it's 67, and then keep it there. See if that makes a difference.

 

[migo]

I don't know I think maybe I'm just paranoid....my OG on the wit was 1.056 a week ago/day one and today its only 1.028....the last one the FG according to the label was done in about a week. This one didn't really tell me what the FG should be but what I've read it should be in the 1.010 range.

I also freaked out about maybe i left the last one on the primary too long so I decided to do the 1-2-3 method this time but since this one the yeast seems to be slower maybe I put it in the secondary too early? or shouldn't have put it in the secondary at all? Too late now

I've turned into the panicked noob I swore I wouldn't be.