What has happened to me erdinger?

[fbsf]

This was a clone of Aleman's Effin Erdinger. I'm sure it isn't meant to look like this (after 10 days fermentation and 3 days crash cooling at 2C).

It also has a bit of a funky, nutty taste that I wasn't quite expecting. Now the yeast hasn't completely dropped out yet (it is still cloudy), but I'm a bit concerned that during the time it was cooling to 12C so I could pitch the WB-06, something else has got it.

Have I managed to get an infection? If so, I'm going to have to work out a plan B (probably using a no-chill cube) if I do another, as obviously leaving it in the FV to cool overnight in the fridge hasn't worked.

Any ideas lads/lasses?

 

[RobWalker]

Bathtub cooling gets it to pitching temp in 2-3 hours. The steam and hot wort also sterilize the bucket...i just cover the airlock hole with kitchen roll until I pitch. It's an idea, but I may too be moving to no chill soon to avoid some hot side aeration, implement cold side aeration, and well...free up the bathtub when I brew on a friday.

An infection I think you would really know about. I mean really know about. It looks pretty healthy to me and all yeasts look different when they ferment. Anything different in your way of working? Any old ingredients...

Maybe you're just judging it too early too. Wheat beers are full of flavour and that may not be good flavour until a month or two :lol:

 

[jonnymorris]

It looks pretty healthy to me and all yeasts look different when they ferment.

I'm with Rob on this. Does it smell OK?

 

[fbsf]

*very* clovey. Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid...

The erdinger I drank was a lot more subtle in nose whereas this is very clovey, almost TCP ish in phenols.

 

[zgoda]

Weizens easily get infected. Sad look.

 

[graysalchemy]

If you are worried drain it from the bottom into a clean FV leaving behind a few inches and the infected head. Thats what I have done with my stout which was in far worse condition than that see here

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[MacKiwi]

I've just finished brewing the same recipe (bottled a week ago), using the same WB06 yeast, and there is certainly no nutty, funky flavors. In fact it is pretty clean, aside from the expected banana/clove. So it's possible something else has got in on the act in your brew!

 

[fbsf]

Did you start it off cold and then bring it up to temp as per Aleman's instructions, or pitch warm? I'm just wondering if what I am tasting is a big concentration of the clove flavour due to pitching cold.

 

[MacKiwi]

I did start cold, but not as cold as yours. I didn't make a note, but I imagine I took it down as far as my immersion chiller would manage (given the temperature of the mains water), which is probably ~14-15 degrees. I then let it come up to 18 degrees over two days. I think once it was almost done a bumped the temperature up a little to finish it off. It ended up more on the banana/not-so-much-clove side of things.

 

[fbsf]

Maybe it's just very clovey and needs to mature out in the bottle. As it's been chilling at 2ish degrees for 3 days, I don't think the infection (if that's what it is) will move too quickly, so I'll try and get it bottled either tonight or tomorrow and see what happens.

I suppose if the worst comes to the worst and it's still undrinkable after a couple of months, I've wasted nothing more than a bit of time bottling.

 

[RobWalker]

if it is an infection, most of them will grow, so it should present itself to you properly in time if that's the case.

looks like your pitching temp may be to blame;

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/safbre ... on-200801/

someone mentions 6 months before it's drinkable when fermented at low temps...but then if you're conservative like me, you could potentially blend it with something in the glass. I do that a lot with stout and pale ale to make a porter :lol:

if you don't want to waste the time - bottle it in 10x 2 litre bottles and put it away for ages. you have to pour out 3.5 pints at a time into pitchers, but it makes life easy. they are great for harvesting the yeast too.

 

[fbsf]

Thanks Rob. So it looks like I have a "clove bomb"

That's ok - I can cope with a clove bomb and don't mind bottling if that's the case. I was just worried about the infection.

 

[RobWalker]

you could called it Cloverdose and have a picture of the monster from Cloverfield with some whole cloves in his hands as the label.

just an idea

 

[fbsf]

Hahaha, loving it. Cloverdose. :lol:

I bottled it last night, and unless my taste buds are playing up, it seems to have mellowed a little bit already. It's certainly getting closer to the point of being drinkable, and the crud on the top of the brew hadn't got any worse.

It's now in my brew fridge at 20° for a week to carbonate and then I'll drop it to 13° to condition for a couple of weeks. It already seems to be clearing in the bottle, so I might end up with a crystal weizen!