And the Sarson's award goes to...

[Mr Fro]

Me!

I popped the lid of the FV on Wednesday to check the gravity prior to cold crash and the sample had a bit of a vinegary whiff to it.

The taste test was a bit iffy too...

Now I know my cleanliness/sterility was top banana so all I can think I must have dropped some arm hairs in there when I checked the gravity at the end of week one (tasted/smelled fine then).

Lesson learnt; leave the bloody thing alone!

Just trying to decide to bottle it or bin it...

I brewed this batch short so the ABV is coming out >6% so I wonder if that could be lending to the iffy smell/taste.

 

[Clint]

I remember a brew a while back I had concerns about but left it another week or so and it turned out fine...

 

[Mr Fro]

Oh right, how long do you reckon you left it in total?

 

[Clint]

Three weeks or so...I recall a sharp almost acidic smell but was told C02 can be like this.

 

[Mr Fro]

Hmm... Maybe I'll give it another week then - it's already had two.

Plus it's down at 4 degrees at the mo...

 

[Slid]

I was watching "Eat well for less" or something like that 8-9pm on BBC last night, the WC being over.

There was a short clip of the Sarsons brewery. Malt vinegar is made like beer, except without the hops, until fermentation is complete and then it sits in very large wooden casks filled with "wood wool" which contains the bacteria that turn ethyl alcohol to vinegar. They require a high temperature for this process to be effective.
I found it very interesting, although it was too short to be fully informative.

 

[ITMA]

I would be absolutely astonished if a bit of arm hair would have such an effect. Despite all of the "sanitise, sanitise" mantras, it's very much harder to sour a brew than you realise - if you were *trying* to make an infected batch you'd struggle. Fermentation is a much more tolerant process than we think.

As clint says, probably it's the co2, it has a sharp flavour.

 

[Mr Fro]

Oh, I dunno, I have really quite hairy arms!

I just had another little taster - not as bad as Wednesday now that it's chilled so there's hope.

@Slid - I saw the same programme. The oak vats were quite impressive. The rest of the programme was utter guff though.

 

[Slid]

Oh, I dunno, I have really quite hairy arms!

I just had another little taster - not as bad as Wednesday now that it's chilled so there's hope.

@Slid - I saw the same programme. The oak vats were quite impressive. The rest of the programme was utter guff though.

The point that cooking at home is cheaper than phoning for a takeaway was laboured somewhat.
I was doing my daily stretching downstairs and this was all that was on - or the least guff of the ~ 70 channels on offer without subscription.

 

[Mr Fro]

It was just background noise for us but it was so bad and the presenter so irritating that I simply had to watch it to be annoyed in true Daily Mail fashion. ;-)

 

[mgrds]

If you get a slight vinegary whiff - but has not turned to vinegar (no acid on the taste buds) - you can try restarting fermentation with a bit of malt extract or sugar . The fermentation will drive off the vinegary smelling esters and suppress vinegar production . Always worth a go. Not much to lose and you can chuck it out if it doesn't work!

 

[ITMA]

One day I'll run an experiment on this - no sanitisation, no airlocks, and I'll tip a dustpan into the wort, and see what the end result is. I'll call the resulting brew "True Grit" (or something that rhymes). Perhaps it would be a good way to start a youtube channel! Seriously I reckon it would still turn out ok.

 

[mgrds]

Well remember kitchen brewers and ale wives did like that it for years before we understood micro biology. And mostly it worked as an active yeast fermentation suppresses other microbiological activity , and alcohol preserves! But we have improved our skill and success rates. So now we don't have to blame a witch hexing our brews on those few occasions it turns bad! And i think we got a bit more fussy about which off- flavours we tolerate too!

 

[Oneiroi]

One day I'll run an experiment on this - no sanitisation, no airlocks, and I'll tip a dustpan into the wort, and see what the end result is. I'll call the resulting brew "True Grit" (or something that rhymes). Perhaps it would be a good way to start a youtube channel! Seriously I reckon it would still turn out ok.

Haha I would watch that.

I once used my (unsanitised) finger to push a dry hop bag under the surface. Only time I've done something like that and only time my beer got an infection. I think in the end was a wild yeast strain, a pellicle formed and no sour/vinegar tastes but a very noticeable musty/funky aroma/flavour.

Of course it might have just been chance and nothing at all to do with my finger!

 

[Slid]

One day I'll run an experiment on this - no sanitisation, no airlocks, and I'll tip a dustpan into the wort, and see what the end result is. I'll call the resulting brew "True Grit" (or something that rhymes). Perhaps it would be a good way to start a youtube channel! Seriously I reckon it would still turn out ok.

Once you get the yeast going and away, the alcohol level gets up and it matters a lot less what happens.
The crucial part is keeping it all fairly safe in the initial stages, which is not so big a deal for a kit brewing approach.
Below is a link to my previous ramblings on how resilient a beer is after a degree of fermentation.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/resilience-of-a-brewed-beer.53862/

The gist of it is, that once it has fermented past a certain point, it is pretty fixed and robust to attack.

 

[Slid]

I also notice that I used to post a lot whilst obviously very drunk in 2015 as well as now.

 

[BeerisGOD]

I can remember not rinsing out an fv of oxi with no ill effects
As for the hair thing I doubt there's many brewers that haven't malted one or two in the wort before the lid went on

Does anyone remember seeing a Ben foggle documentary where he re visited an old Australian chap who had decided to live out near the sea in a make shift house?
Anyhow, he made beer for some young fishermen who in exchange would give him fish each week or so
Now it was plain as day his cleaning and sanitation practices were non existent and I doubt they would keep coming back if it was liquid filth

I have developed a less vigilant approach to my practices over the Last few months because ive previously cleansed and rinsed all equipment straight after use

If anyone does try this no cleaning/sanitation I'd be interested to see how it turns out

 

[divrack]

thats my catchphrase

 

[ITMA]

Below is a link to my previous ramblings on how resilient a beer is after a degree of fermentation.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/resilience-of-a-brewed-beer.53862/

The gist of it is, that once it has fermented past a certain point, it is pretty fixed and robust to attack.

That is a brilliant post Slid, and it led to a fascinating and insightful discussion!

 

[divrack]

Once you get the yeast going and away, the alcohol level gets up and it matters a lot less what happens.
The crucial part is keeping it all fairly safe in the initial stages, which is not so big a deal for a kit brewing approach.
Below is a link to my previous ramblings on how resilient a beer is after a degree of fermentation.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/resilience-of-a-brewed-beer.53862/

The gist of it is, that once it has fermented past a certain point, it is pretty fixed and robust to attack.

that was always my thinking until the evil bug of death visited my abode.
this fooker will spring up out of nowhere and kill even a fully fermented barley wine with no o2.
honestly, with brewing everything is super cool until it isn't