Today I dumped my first infected brew

[wilson42203]

After 40-or-so beers and ciders, today I dumped my first infected batch. I did a nice AG milk stout and a couple porters just after Christmas. Life got busy, and I just never found time to bottle the stout (the two porters turned out great).

Today was finally set aside to bottle. I started sanitizing equipment and thought, "Maybe I should check it first," since I had never waited that long to bottle. Lo and behold, it reeked of vinegar and was as tart as can be. It also had the stringy pellicle floating around on top.

I waited for about five minutes, trying to decide if it was worth making my first sour out of. Then I tasted it again, and down the drain it went. Too bad, because the flavor and aroma were nice before it went bad.

 

[--Dom--]

u think it was lacto?

 

[flars]

Could the beer have become a cooking condiment? Sorry to hear you lost a brew.

 

[brewbama]

That sux. Maybe malt vinegar (mit hopfen).

 

[Calder]

I'm trying to understand what practices lead to acetobacter infection (vinegar). I had a couple many years ago;; I sympathize with you.

Did you leave them in primary all the time, or rack to secondary? If you racked to secondary, how much headspace did you leave? If you racked to secondary, did you add any fermentables to the secondary?

 

[wilson42203]

Dom-- I think it was maybe lacto, but with being my first, I can only speak for what I have seen in other posts. Of course, I didn't get a pic before I dumped it.

Flars-- I think it was even too tart for a cooking addition (I do like to use my homebrew in beer batter).

Calder-- It was in primary the whole time, and I only opened it three times to check gravity. It was all the same equipment (thief, hydro, etc) that I used in the other beers, so I was pretty surprised to see this one infected and the others not. I added nothing to this one after the boil.

Oh well. 1 infection in roughly 40 fermentations is a pretty good ratio for someone who started with zero knowledge or background.

Maybe now I will scratch the sour itch and try one intentionally.

 

[catdaddy66]

I feel ya! Had to dump a batch of blonde ale after finding it infected. I found the lid unseated after ten days and re sealed it for ten more. It didn't pan out though[emoji20]

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Welcome to the club. We'll teach you the secret handshake. I discovered amy first infection (acetobacter) just last month. Major gushers. Made for a nice photo, though.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/sad-sad-sight-515944/

 

[daksin]

You are opening your bucket way too much! I learned my lesson the hard way early on. After a while, you'll know how long beers take to finish, and just check your FG in the bottling bucket.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

You are opening your bucket way too much! I learned my lesson the hard way early on. After a while, you'll know how long beers take to finish, and just check your FG in the bottling bucket.

Wait three weeks and while racking to bottle bucket check fg and bottle. Or trash the hydrometer and wait three weeks bottle wait two and devour.