Brewing Master

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi Y’all; I’m new to brewing (three batches so far), and I have had a bad experience on the last two. I’d like some opinions/pointers on how to avoid this effect in the future. I believe that I followed good, hygenic brewing practices (I washed my buckets thoroughly, rinsed with bleach, rinsed well with clean, hot water, the works). I added my boiled and hopped wort to boiled, cooled water in my primary fermenter, pitched well-started dry yeast (started in boiled water/malt solution) at the proper temp (~80 degrees, I didn’t have a thermometer then. I do now), and let it ferment. I think part of the problem was that I began brewing just as a heat wave hit the Willamette valley. It was ~90 degrees all week, and I have no cellar or cool place to store my fermenting beer. I kept it in the aprox. center of my house, out of the sun and as cool as I could get it. The fermentation started well (40-50 gpm within 12 hours), fermented like crazy for 2 days, then finished (or so it seemed). Total ferment in 2 days seemed a little quick for me, but I waited another day or so (to be truly sure, and to let the trub settle), then bottled. It’s been 2 weeks now, and periodic checking (== drinking) of the resulting porter reveals a *marked* skunky, cabbagy smell/taste. I can drink it (hell, if they’d but a beer label on Draino, I’d drink it), but it seems excessively nasty even for me. Could the overly-vigorous ferment have induced autolysis in my beer? I really don’t think that it was an infection, although it may have been. Could the higher temperature of fermenting have caused a higher degree of bacteria production? Any and all suggestions will be carefully weighed and implemented. I intend to try brewing a Weissen in the next week or so, and I’d really like to have something pleasant to pass around at the end of it. Now, I have 10 gallons of beer all for me, since I would feel bad about sharing Spencer’s Skunk’s Ass Porter with my friends. Thanks! — #include <stddisclaimer.h "One must stalk, then overrun, Before devouring anyone."               -Hobbs

Spencer, My question is that if you bottled shortely after primary ferment is did you allow for full fermentation, maybe a secondary fermentation would do some good, how about a gravity reading? second of all if I brew a beer that is so nasty I throw it out! I don’t like to drink bad beer period!(          know it is hard to throw out the fruits of your own labor but come on now.) Store a couple of bottles to see what age does and toss the rest.         Good luck and keep on Brewing         Dan

Response:

Hi Y’all; I’m new to brewing (three batches so far), and I have had a bad experience on the last two. I’d like some opinions/pointers on how to avoid this effect in the future. I believe that I followed good, hygenic brewing practices (I washed my buckets thoroughly, rinsed with bleach, rinsed well with clean, hot water, the works). I added my boiled and hopped wort to boiled, cooled water in my primary fermenter, pitched well-started dry yeast (started in boiled water/malt solution) at the proper temp (~80 degrees, I didn’t have a thermometer then. I do now), and let it ferment.

You say you RINSE with bleach! You need to let the bleach (1tsp/gal) remain in contact with the item being santized for at least 10min. You should also be force cooling your wort. Put the lid on your pot and place it in the sink. Run cold tap H2O around it, drain when hot and repeat to cool. Also, if you place the top off water in the frig the day before you brew it will help cool the wort as well.  As for how you are starting you dry yeast, you should be simple rehydrating in < 75F. It is actually harder on the dry yeast to start it in any type sugar solution. The osmotic pressure on the yeast cell wall is greater with a sugar solution than with plan water. Therefore, you will have fewer yeast fatalities with water. You will also notice that some yeasts foam up during rehydration. This is caused by air trapped with the yeast during the manufacturing process and is not an indication of yeast activity. I think part of the problem was that I began brewing just as a heat wave hit the Willamette valley. It was ~90 degrees all week, and I have no cellar or cool place to store my fermenting beer. I kept it in the aprox. center of my house, out of the sun and as cool as I could get it. The fermentation started well (40-50 gpm within 12 hours), fermented like crazy for 2 days, then finished (or so it seemed). Total ferment in 2 days seemed a little quick for me, but I waited another day or so (to be truly sure, and to let the trub settle), then bottled. It’s been 2 weeks now, and periodic checking (== drinking) of the resulting porter reveals a *marked* skunky, cabbagy smell/taste. I can drink it (hell, if they’d but a beer label on Draino, I’d drink it), but it seems excessively nasty even for me.

Hot is not good. Based on you discription of the smell/taste it sounds like an infected batch. If you follow my above suggestions that will help. You can put you fermenter in a water bath to help keep it cool. If you blow on the surface of the water with a small fan that will keep it even cooler. Could the overly-vigorous ferment have induced autolysis in my beer? I really don’t think that it was an infection, although it may have been. Could the higher temperature of fermenting have caused a higher degree of bacteria production?

Yes. Sounds like an infection to me. YES Any and all suggestions will be carefully weighed and implemented. I intend to try brewing a Weissen in the next week or so, and I’d really like to have something pleasant to pass around at the end of it. Now, I have 10 gallons of beer all for me, since I would feel bad about sharing Spencer’s Skunk’s Ass Porter with my friends.

I would dump the beer and move on. Good Luck LH

Response:

Protect your carboy from UV light – put a towel or paper bag over it.   And do not use green, clear, or light brown bottles since they allow UV light to pass through and cause those hop oils to react. — Mark LaGrange "Its okay to let yourself go, as long as you know how to get yourself back" – Mick Jagger

Response:

Since no one else mentioned it, I’m in L.A. so getting good temparature in my apartment is nearly impossible most of the year.  I use a cold water bath for ales.  Put your bucket/carboy in a big tub of water.  At 90 degrees outside the water will stay near 70.  If you need colder, fill some 2 liter soda bottles with water and freeze. I can stay pretty near 60 by putting one in before leaving for work, right after getting home, and right before bed.  You get some fluctuation in temperature but I’m convinced it’s better than room temp. which for me is usually 75-80. "May I mambo dogface the Banana patch?"

Response:

| I’m pretty sure that I picked up an infection, either while bottling or | siphoning. I felt that I cleaned the bottles sufficiently, but I don’t | have a hot water jet carboy/bottle washer (yet!), and my brush didn’t | quite reach the bottom of the bottles. I thought that the sanitizing | rinse would do the trick, but I was perhaps wrong. Just *rinising* with sanitizer is probably not enough. You need to *soak* for at least a few minutes, longer if the bottles are actually dirty. And if you use bleach, you need to rinse the sanitizer off before bottling. Using a bottle brush to clean bottles is a major PITA, and probably doesn’t *really* get them clean anyway. I never scrub my bottles anymore. I just soak ‘em in a dilute bleach solution (1/4 cup bleach in 5 gallons of water) for a few days (I use an old kitchen trashcan for this). They come out sparkling clean. After soaking, I just drain them and store them in the closet (or wherever) until bottling day. On bottling day, I give them a quick soak (5 minutes) in sanitizer, a short blast from a jet spray bottle rinser, and I’m ready to bottle. I’ve been using this method for close to 20 batches now, and haven’t had an infection yet. — Mike Uchima

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi Y’all; I’m new to brewing (three batches so far), and I have had a bad experience on the last two. I’d like some opinions/pointers on how to avoid this effect in the future. I believe that I followed good, hygenic brewing practices (I washed my buckets thoroughly, rinsed with bleach, rinsed well with clean, hot water, the works). I added my boiled and hopped wort to boiled, cooled water in my primary fermenter, pitched well-started dry yeast (started in boiled water/malt solution) at the proper temp (~80 degrees, I didn’t have a thermometer then. I do now), and let it ferment. I think part of the problem was that I began brewing just as a heat wave hit the Willamette valley. It was ~90 degrees all week, and I have no cellar or cool place to store my fermenting beer. I kept it in the aprox. center of my house, out of the sun and as cool as I could get it.

[snip snip] Spencer, I have had a lot of brews in fairly high temperatures that while they are not perfect, are definately not as bad as you describe! However, I have had a few go as ‘off’ as you say and I am willing to bet it is the one thing you’re not taking into account when leaving it in the middle of the house! LIGHT!  And not necessarily sunlight!  I used to let my beer ferment in a room where a regular light bulb was on occasionally.  It took me a while to figure out, but any light during fermentation is a disaster.  Now I ferment in a dark, dark closet, and the beer is all the better! I am actually shocked at how much light spoils a batch! (I left a light bulb near a batch to keep it warm once! ugh!) Peter – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – #include <stddisclaimer.h "One must stalk, then overrun, Before devouring anyone."               -Hobbs

Response:

Thanks, Pete. I’ll give it a try. Perhaps it would help to say that I was brewing in a opaque plastic bucket, in a room never (or rarely) used. I don’t think that it was light that did the nasty to it. . . nasty anyway, might as well learn from my mistakes), and when I opened the cap, large bubbles formed in the 1/4" layer of trub in the bottom of the bottle. These bubbles propelled trub to the top of the bottle, where they collected and dispersed, clouding an originally clear porter. When poured, volumes of really kinda cool head form, and last a long time (a lot more head than I really like, but definitely in the right direction.) I’m pretty sure that I picked up an infection, either while bottling or siphoning. I felt that I cleaned the bottles sufficiently, but I don’t have a hot water jet carboy/bottle washer (yet!), and my brush didn’t quite reach the bottom of the bottles. I thought that the sanitizing rinse would do the trick, but I was perhaps wrong. <sigh The next beer I make, I’m going to boil the entire *house*, then wash with bleach, then rinse with Perrier (no lemon, bad acids), then boil the wart under black lights (to prevent light bruising the beer), pitch the yeast after starting in a sterile, clean-room style culture, then hermetically seal the whole batch in a stainless steel sphere, with just a hole for the airlock, then bury the whole mess in the Oregon Ice Caves to avoid light while fermenting. When through, I will bottle into bottles that have been heated orange hot, then sealed. That’ll larn ‘em. By the way, I used a dry yeast (generic, I think it was American Ale). I made a starter with boiled water, and gave it what I thought was the royal treatment. Again, in my next batch, royalty will give way to godliness.

Response:

Hi Y’all; I’m new to brewing (three batches so far), and I have had a bad experience on the last two. I’d like some opinions/pointers on how to avoid this effect in the future. I believe that I followed good, hygenic brewing practices (I washed my buckets thoroughly, rinsed with bleach, rinsed well with clean, hot water, the works). I added my boiled and hopped wort to boiled, cooled water in my primary fermenter, pitched well-started dry yeast (started in boiled water/malt solution) at the proper temp (~80 degrees, I didn’t have a thermometer then. I do now), and let it ferment. I think part of the problem was that I began brewing just as a heat wave hit the Willamette valley. It was ~90 degrees all week, and I have no cellar or cool place to store my fermenting beer. I kept it in the aprox. center of my house, out of the sun and as cool as I could get it. The fermentation started well (40-50 gpm within 12 hours), fermented like crazy for 2 days, then finished (or so it seemed). Total ferment in 2 days seemed a little quick for me, but I waited another day or so (to be truly sure, and to let the trub settle), then bottled. It’s been 2 weeks now, and periodic checking (== drinking) of the resulting porter reveals a *marked* skunky, cabbagy smell/taste. I can drink it (hell, if they’d but a beer label on Draino, I’d drink it), but it seems excessively nasty even for me. Could the overly-vigorous ferment have induced autolysis in my beer? I really don’t think that it was an infection, although it may have been. Could the higher temperature of fermenting have caused a higher degree of bacteria production? Any and all suggestions will be carefully weighed and implemented. I intend to try brewing a Weissen in the next week or so, and I’d really like to have something pleasant to pass around at the end of it. Now, I have 10 gallons of beer all for me, since I would feel bad about sharing Spencer’s Skunk’s Ass Porter with my friends. Thanks! — #include <stddisclaimer.h "One must stalk, then overrun, Before devouring anyone."               -Hobbs

Response: