Some of my brews turning sour

[LacriV]

Wow, that's a lot of work! Maybe I'll stick to mead in the future. Beer I can get in the shop as well, though homemade it would be massively cheaper.

As an update to my beer:
It now stood over night by the door but got a little too cold, so now the fermentation slowed down a lot. However, the sour smell is now also noticably weaker! The sugar wine now smells like sima, which it technically is, just without lemons.

I now set the fermenters a little further away from the door, let's hope I can find a sweet spot where the yeast thrives but the infection doesn't.

 

[Larse]

It's not really a lot of work. Since you've had a couple of infections, you can't trust your equipment, especially fermenters, siphons etc. So the first time, a proper intense cleaning regime is needed. After that, if you just do an immediate clean out (water and scrubbing brush), you don't need to do the intense clean and just add sanitiser and seal up.

The brew day stuff is pretty easy. Especially with the spray bottle. Just requires a bit of thought.

I've been brewing since my late teens. Never had an infection.

 

[LacriV]

It's not really a lot of work. Since you've had a couple of infections, you can't trust your equipment, especially fermenters, siphons etc. So the first time, a proper intense cleaning regime is needed. After that, if you just do an immediate clean out (water and scrubbing brush), you don't need to do the intense clean and just add sanitiser and seal up.

The brew day stuff is pretty easy. Especially with the spray bottle. Just requires a bit of thought.

I've been brewing since my late teens. Never had an infection.

Still, if you compare it to my meadmaking process where the only thing I sanitize is the bottles, it's a lot more effort.

 

[Larse]

Still, if you compare it to my meadmaking process where the only thing I sanitize is the bottles, it's a lot more effort.

I'm sure it is. Your decision as to whether it's worth it or not. But if you want to avoid the heartbreak of throwing out your beer, the work has to be done.

 

[LacriV]

I'm sure it is. Your decision as to whether it's worth it or not. But if you want to avoid the heartbreak of throwing out your beer, the work has to be done.

Yeah, I guess I'll have to see. At the moment I feel a bit demotivated, but maybe after a while I try it again.

Since I created an account now, I thought I might share some mead recipes on here. Do you think people would be interested?

 

[LacriV]

Update:
The fermentation is finally done and I bottled the beer! There was still a sour smell to it when I opened the fermenter, but the flavor seems unaffected. I guess it was some kind of fermentation smell after all, though definitly not one I'm used to.

There is a thin layer of white flaky stuff at the top, but it just smells and tastes like yeast so I think it's fine. The liquid itself was almost totally clear.

The temperature was very inconsistent and sometimes dropped below 8 degrees and the fermentation died down. Then once I moved it to a slightly warmer spot it started up again. The whole brewing process was very imprefect, so I guess I'll see if it turns out drinkable.

 

[MashBag]

I have come to this topic late.
I am a wine maker and win awards for mead. Beer is not massively different.

Here's some thoughts....

Your kit is most likely infected. Steam it. You don't need a cupboard full of chemicals to clean stuff but you do need to be "Eat off it" not "brain surgery" clean.

If you know what beer you like to drink from the shop, make that.
I doubt its kveik. It's most likely to be made with
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - Brewers yeast.
Humour me give it a go.
Temperature control is important to all fermentations. Yeast don't like going hot and cold, in any situation, just like you and me
Finally if you are using ANYTHING wooden .. Bowls, spoons or stirrers. Replace them. These carry infections sooo well and are very hard to cure.

You can make beer. Easily.. you just need to find your way. Mead is actually harder.

Ps. I this larse probably bleaches the entire house before he starts.. If that's your thing great, but it isn't mandatory and please don't be put off.

 

[LacriV]

Thanks for the advice!

I think I was already sanitizing my equipment at the level of "eat off it", so maybe I should go for a bit more than that. The main 5l fermenter will go in the dishwasher and most of the other stuff I washed with soap and hot water, so I'm hoping this takes care of any current infections.

I'm actually still not sure if it is an infection, could just be a weird yeast. The last beer which actually took on a sour flavour was definitely infected, but this one tastes fine now. Interestingly though, the sugar wine which I made with the same yeast did turn a little sour, so maybe it is an infection after all, and the cold fermentation successfully reduced it? I really don't know. I do know that I won't be using this yeast anymore, especially for beer.

The standard Kveik (not the one I used for this batch of beer) is in my experience actually really good for mead. It has a lower alcohol tolerance than most wine yeasts, so it's easy to get a sweet mead without any backsweetening or lactose. This special variant I originally also bought for mead, but then thought it might work well for an approximation of a lager because of it's large temperature range. Next time I'll stick to the correct style of yeast!

I'm sure beermaking gets easier once you get used to it, but isn't meadmaking a lot easier still? There's fewer variables to perfect and no mashing involved, you don't even need to heat up anything. The only downside is that it needs to be racked more often than beer.

As to the hot and cold, here in Finland we actually really like to sit in a sauna and then jump out into the snow to cool off, so maybe I've just made really Finnish beer!