Would high temps make my beer sour?

[the_Sliver]

Hi guys,

My last batch of beer was particularly sour. Not completely undrinkable, but enough so that my friends have gone on to call it my "bad batch". It's a Canadian Export LME that I bought at my local beer store.

I'm hesitant to say that it was due to infection since the only unusual thing I noticed when bottling the beer was an abundance of little yeast clumps floating throughout the beer.

However, temperatures were pretty high throughout the whole process. I live in an apartment so putting the primary/secondary in a closet is the best I can do to lower the temperature. We're talking like 28 degrees Celsius (82 F).

So my question is: would fermenting at that temperature cause my beer to become that sour or is it more likely that I had a mini infection going on?

 

[Revvy]

So my question is: would fermenting at that temperature cause my beer to become that sour or is it more likely that I had a mini infection going on?

Infection.

High temps may cause off flavors...But sour comes from acetobactor.

 

[seabass07]

How long has it been? It could be the start of an infection, or it could be weird esters from the high fermentation temp. Only time will tell. If it's an infection, the off flavors will get worse. If it's esters, they will stay but probably mellow a little over time. At 82F, I'm betting it's esters. But "sour" includes a broad range of flavors, so it's impossible to diagnose over the internet.

 

[the_Sliver]

It's been about 2 months since bottling and I think I noticed the sourness becoming less of an issue. However, that could be wishful thinking since it's still pretty sour.

Like I said, it's not undrinkable. Wouldn't an infection continue to get worse even in the bottle?

 

[seabass07]

I'm pretty sure lacto would keep going until it runs out of stuff to eat or until the temp is too low for it to be active. You'd probably get a bit of a pellicle at the top of the bottle. You mentioned floating bits of yeast. That could have been the pellicle. After 2 months, any yeast should have been settled on the bottom.