Wild Yeast?

[ben.mathews1]

Cheers fellow home brewers. I've been brewing for 5+ years, and came across something new. I was hoping to leverage the experience of this forum to get some answers.

I brewed a Red Ale all-grain kit from a reputable HBS. I followed my usual process and am certain nothing contaminated the beer during brewing or transfer to the fermenter. The OG was 1060ish (according to a TILT I use). I used DRY Danstar Nottingham yeast. I fermented in a temp-controlled (stainless) conical fermenter @68 degrees for 10 days. I did not do a cold crash like I normally would due to time constraints.

Oddity number one was the FG. My tilt said 1.003... That's damn-near water. I thought maybe it was an oddity of the Tilt.

When I tasted the beer on transfer, it wasn't as roasty as I was hoping for, but it was a Red nonetheless. I didn't notice anything (off flavor) at the time.

I transferred it to a sanitized (iodine) keg, burped it a few times to make sure I didn't have oxidation, and I let it age for 2-3 weeks.

Oddity number TWO: when I tried to purge the keg to force carbonate, I noticed when I shook the keg to disperse the CO2, I didn't hear any sloshing (like normal). I tried to purge, and foam came out. I kept purging and eventually got the top of the keg, and foam literally rose out of the opening in a column. I scooped as much foam as I could out of there and used a sanitized straw to siphon some beer off the top. Again, I feel it tasted fine.

I then force-carbonated and tapped the beer. It was TERRIBLE. It didn't taste like a red at all. It was darker than expected, but it was almost like an X-mas "spiced" beer. It was NOT "peppery," but it was spiced - the closest spice I feel is cinnamon. It's also clearly VERY boozy, and I am thinking the 1.003 was not a fluke.

So I am wondering:
1) Is this a contamination issue in my keg?
OR
2) Did it "over ferment" due to "wild" yeast?
OR
3) Deny the illusion of choice and give me a third possibility

Cheers
Ben Mathews

 

[IslandLizard]

Oddity number one was the FG. My tilt said 1.003...

Have you verified the FG with a regular (calibrated) hydrometer? That's what I would do when a gravity reading looks odd.

I then force-carbonated and tapped the beer. It was TERRIBLE. It didn't taste like a red at all. It was darker than expected, but it was almost like an X-mas "spiced" beer. It was NOT "peppery," but it was spiced - the closest spice I feel is cinnamon. It's also clearly VERY boozy, and I am thinking the 1.003 was not a fluke.

That all points to an infection of some sort. Any noticeable sourness?

Given the low FG, it was probably incurred during transfer from your kettle (dirty chiller, exit valve, hoses), or something harboring in your fermenter. Could be Brett or some wild yeast.
Then aging it at room temps for 2-3 weeks in the keg gave it ample time to give you the off-flavors.