What happened to my beer?!? (With pictures)

[psu12288]

I think our beer got contaminated.

My friends and I were trying to do a simple BIAB IPA since we haven’t been having luck with our own recipes. We found a simple one online. The only thing different about it was that it called for 1 ounce of Irish moss.

Our only issue during brewing was that our thermometer was off and we mashed too high so we didn’t think we’d get great fermentation. We pitched with Safale US-05 at a consistent 68 degrees and it took off! Our 5 gallon carboy was almost full when we initially transferred so we stuck an air tight sanitized hose (supplied by northern brewer) into the top right off the bat and stuck the other end into a bucket with sanitizer.

We checked it daily but it was wrapped in a blanket so all we could see was the krausen and the fact that it was still green from the hops. When we uncovered it this morning we saw what was in the pictures and it smelled like a really bad sour.

The only thing we did different was setting outside while stirring it occasionally to help cool it quicker (it was 30 degrees out). We made sure EVERYTHING that touched the beer after the boil was sanitized. How could this happen? And even more importantly..why didn’t all the hop debris from the boil drop out? Why is it half green? It sat for 10 days undisturbed.

I appreciated any input. This is our fourth beer and we’ve had issues with each one. None like this though

 

[seatazzz]

When exactly did you brew this? I'm betting what you're smelling is just sulfurous smell from yeast still working. That doesn't look like an infection to me, it looks like you caught it when the krausen is in the process of dropping. Leave it the hell alone for at least 5 more days and check it again, I bet it will look a LOT different and smell better into the bargain. AND DON'T REMOVE THE AIRLOCK. All that will do is allow nasties to get in and REALLY screw it up. Any beer recipe should have, as the first ingredient, PATIENCE!!!!!

 

[psu12288]

It was definitely like a sour, sickening smell. We brewed it March 21st. It stopped actively fermenting two days before this. The last IPA smelled amazing..this made me want to puke

 

[WBB]

That is a crap load of trub. What was the recipe?

 

[waldoar15]

I've never seen that much trub in a fermenter before.

 

[psu12288]

Yea my thoughts exactly! I’ll send screen shots of the recipe

 

[psu12288]

 

[psu12288]

Sorry they’re out of ordwr

 

[waldoar15]

I think it should have been 1 tsp of Irish Moss, not 1 oz.

 

[psu12288]

Yea it definitely didn’t seem to do what it was supposed to

 

[hunter306]

So, did you use one whole bottle of irish moss in this batch? That seems like a ton of trub for the primary, like the others have said.

(Bottle example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OEB4M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 )

 

[psu12288]

It came in a pouch but yes I used the whole ounce like the recipe called for. I’m assuming that was inaccurate?

 

[waldoar15]

It came in a pouch but yes I used the whole ounce like the recipe called for. I’m assuming that was inaccurate?

I've got a lb of the pellets and I've been using the same bag for YEARS, so yeah that's a lot.

 

[psu12288]

Well I’m sure that had something to do with this then too. Thanks for everyone’s input

 

[Transamguy77]

You said that you havent had any luck with all the beers you have made, what was wrong with them? Maybe its all tied together. Where in your house are you fermenting?

 

[jrgtr42]

It came in a pouch but yes I used the whole ounce like the recipe called for. I’m assuming that was inaccurate?

MOst recipes I see call for something 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of Irish Moss. A 1-oz pouch for me lasts 20+ brews.
Where did you find that recipe calling for an oz of Irish?

 

[mongoose33]

MOst recipes I see call for something 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of Irish Moss. A 1-oz pouch for me lasts 20+ brews.
Where did you find that recipe calling for an oz of Irish?

It's in the recipe above.

 

[psu12288]

You said that you havent had any luck with all the beers you have made, what was wrong with them? Maybe its all tied together. Where in your house are you fermenting?

Our first one was extract and we scorched the DME...our second we should’ve used a yeast starter but didn’t...our third was fermented too cold and also didn’t have enough fermentable sugars due to a high mash temp, which also happened here and we now know that our thermometer was off. We’ve also since moved our fermenting location to a warmer one.

 

[psu12288]

MOst recipes I see call for something 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon of Irish Moss. A 1-oz pouch for me lasts 20+ brews.
Where did you find that recipe calling for an oz of Irish?

brewersfriend.com

 

[day_trippr]

So...aside from the near criminal recipe error leading to Mount Trub, I'm not seeing anything suspicious in the pics that suggests infection.
I have no idea what an ounce of seaweed might taste like in a 5 gallon batch, though.
Hopefully that thing will drop bright and turn into a tasty beer...

Cheers!

 

[jrgtr42]

Also, did you strain out the hop debris when you poured into the fermenter? Or just dump the whole thing in?
Usually you want to leave that debris and the break material behind going into fermenter.

 

[Kealia]

It's hard to tell from a picture but yeah, I've never seen that much trub in a csrboy. It looks like half the volume is trub!
What temp did you ferment at?
And if you cooled outside and stirred that means the lid was off so it's possible you picked up a wild yeast or something else that went to town on your wort but it doesn't really like pellicle from that shot.

 

[snowtires]

That can happen sometimes. Your beer will be fine. Probably a nose full of co2

 

[S-Met]

I don't think that's trub. Dunno about the effects of the flavor, but the result might be ipa jello. Just guessing, but a tsp is maybe 1-2 grams at most. 1oz is 28.5 grams. I think you over-administered the moss by 20-30x.

Irish moss is a source of agar-agar which can make a gelatin like consistency only more firm.

 

[eetu]

Never judge a beer by the smell before it's the glass. I had a farmhouse ale with an abbey yeast strain smell so bad I thought we had eggs rotting somewhere. The fact is that you're not actuallu smelling the beer but the gasses it produces during the fermentation.

That crazy amount of Moss could cause all sorts of unexpected things. Stressed yeast maybe? That could cause off odours during the fermentation.

Anyways, I'd stick with it and most likely it will turn out to be a drinkable beer.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Looks like a ton of hops mixed with seaweed snot to me. Find some of those wierdo's that eat tide pods and snort condoms. Have them try it first

Just kidding... Let it play out. You will probably be pleasantly surprised. Smelling beer before it's done rarely ends well. Nothing really looks abnormal, except the large quantity of that bottom guacamole layer, which I'm quite sure is the 16th of a pound dose of seaweed.

 

[ESBrewer]

Not necessarily contaminated, but the amount of moss is way too high in your recipe. The internet is full of bad recipes (and good recipes). Next time, cut down the amount of Irish moss and try to leave the trub in the boil kettle, no use dumping it in the fermenter.

 

[HomeBrewMike91]

You pitched the moss into the boil the last 15 minutes right? Unsanatized Irish moss could definitely cause infection

 

[S-Met]

Damn it! Now i want beer jello.

 

[kh54s10]

I've also never seen that much trub in a fermenter. That looks like a couple pounds of hops not 4.5 ounces.

The Irish Moss in the recipe was probably a typo.

I would let it sit for another week or three and hope is settles.

You say you are moving your fermentation to a warmer area. How warm are you fermenting? Mid sixties is best for most ale yeasts. Also above 70 or so is bad for most ale yeasts.

Control of your fermentation temperatures is one of the best ways to make your beers better.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

The Irish moss I have states 1teaspoon for 5 gallons and the last 10 -15 minutes of boiling is usual as well. That is a ton of trub!

 

[psu12288]

Yes we did a 15 minute boil. This is all starting to make sense now. And those are good points about the hop debris..we’ve always just let it sit in a bath of ice, this is the first time we’ve ever stirred it. So stirring it obviously got all that debris into suspension so it wasn’t settled out when we poured.

Lessons learned!

 

[canehdianman]

Man, I want to see a picture of how clear that beer ends up.

You might be able to see into the future through it.

 

[Kealia]

Stirring itself isn't a problem. You did the right thing sanitizing your spoon. If you want it to be clear you just let it settle again before transferring to your carboy.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Well, the stirring is not actually bad, however it is good to let things settle prior to transfer. The chunks on the bottom and top appear to be the moss covered in yeast... At least in the image it is the color of yeast and gas could be lifting them to the surface. Have you tasted a small sample? When it is time to check your gravity, taste the sample. The smell you're noticing now may be a stage.

 

[psu12288]

Sounds good. Thanks everyone!

 

[Jwood]

I would crash cool the fermentor at the end, if you can, and then let us know how the one bottle you get from this tastes. Lol

You may have set the trub world record.

 

[kh54s10]

Even when I pour all the sludge from my boil pot into the fermenter I only get an inch or so of trub toward the end of fermentation. After a few days that packs down to 1/2 inch or less. When I bag my hops I get less than half that.

 

[psu12288]

Yea I really can’t understand how we got that much..it blows my mind

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Looks like you got yourself into some trooble.

...I'll see myself out.