First dud brew

[Macca]

As I am new to the Home brew world and loving it I might add, I have experienced my first dud brew after successfully completing five others from which one was a Larger. It was my latest Coopers Larger that sopmething went wrong. It was very light in colour in the fermenter with no indication of smelling off. I thought bottle any way and see. After opening not good. Still light colour good creamy head but taste like flyspray. When yeast added temp was 27deg. During fermentation 25deg. OG 1036 FG 1012.

Any ideas what may have gone wrong?

Cheers Macca.

[johng12]

Hi there, im assuming after you had successfully brewed a few batches before sanitation isn't an issue? Were the bottles scrubbed out?

As you had stated the brew didn't smell off so maybe contamintation happened while bottling. Your Brew temp maybe be on the high side which can effect final taste, but ive never heard of one tasting like flyspray.

With these temps did the fermentation finish pretty quickly?

 

 

[Matty A]

How long has it been in the bottle?

 

I would be inclined to leave it in the bottle for another few months and then seeing what it tastes like.

[DennisM4]

Iam almost positive that your brew is infected, even though u are more experienced than me, but i read a post from another forum where he explained how the taste of different infections are, and one rare he compared the taste to chemical liquids such as cleaning substanses and so on so i think he ment sort of like what u experience with bug spray taste, and what he had to say about that bacteria was just to pour it out, personally i dont think its good for you

[Matty A]

You might be right (I havent heard of an infection tasting like flyspray).

 

Does it smell bad or is it only the taste that is bad. Also was it a gusher or not much carbonation at all.

[DennisM4]

Nevermind that, found the article, it was the smell that was chemical, a bacteria that Converting the alcohol to aceton, though a rare bacteria

[Matty A]

Still something to think about. If they are bottled into PETs and are not overpressured, I think I would be leaving them a little longer in the bottle.

 

Although if they have been in the bottle for a fair (over a month or so) while I would be starting to think about dumping it. Plants seem to like infected beer.

[DennisM4]

Yeah cause if u do have that infection in your brew u got poisoned beer, aceton is dangerous, but i would go for the ageing tip, to make sure

[PB2]

Macca, do you have more details about how you clean and what sanitising chemical you use for the FV, equipment and bottles? Do you remove the tap and clean around the threads

 

Also other ingredients in the recipe and any deviation, however subtle, from the instructions we supply.

 

What does the water, you used, taste and smell like?

 

Also, how long has it been in bottle, what did it taste like prior to bottling. Do you experience the taste as soon as you take a mouthful does it happen slightly after and linger once you swallow the beer?

 

Yeah cause if u do have that infection in your brew u got poisoned beer, aceton is dangerous, but i would go for the ageing tip, to make sure

Relax, this is not going to happen. The fermenting process does not make anything toxic - excluding ethanol, which is poisonous in large qtys [pinched]

[Macca]

Have not scrubed bottles out. Just rinsed and sanitised every time I empty one to drink and again before I bottle the next brew.

From start to the FG of 1012 was 9days. Waited another 3 to make sure the reading were the same at 1012 than bottled. They do not smell bad at all.They have more carbonation then the previous batches I have made. Been in bottle for 26 days. My Nepthew had a similar thing happen once and he put it down to a bad packet of yeast.

 

[Macca]

using Coopers sanitiser for cleaning.Tap and filter aremoved for claening and threads cleaned. If it's one thing that I was told about doing this is take extra car in cleaning and sanitising. Used tap water which smells and taste like good old Sydney water. Not from the desal plant. Used BE1.

Did mot taste prior to bottling. You do get the taste in the first mouthfull. The taste lingers.

[PB2]

For your nephew's benefit, the yeast, supplied with the kit, did not caused this fault. [rightful]

Descibe your method for using the Sanitiser.

How long has it been bottled?

[Macca]

To sanitise the fermenter using one capfull of Coopers sanitiser and filling to top and soaking overnight as recomended on bottle. For the PET bottles just adding a very small pinch of sanitiser to the bottle and filling with water and leaving for about 1 hour. Then rinsing with cold water. Its 26 days since bottling. I thing I will dump and use to bottle the next batch.

[Trusty1]

was it original series Lager, Euro lager or the Thomas Cooper Selection Lager?

 

How many bottles have you sampled? Were they all distasteful?

 

I think the Coopers Sanitiser (Sodium Percarbonate) says to use 40mg per fermenter (I may be wrong though[sideways] ). If I am correct you need to add more of it for it to sanitise your gear instead of just cleaning it.

 

Are they in PET? If yes, I wouldn't be tossing it. If no, well, I still wouldn't toss it just yet.

[PB2]

You are not using sufficient Sanitiser to knock back the microbial load - the instructions say to use 4 capfuls, which is equal to approx 40g.

 

Make sure to add a litre of hot water first, give it a swirl to help the Sodium Percabonate dissolve and promote the production of Hydrogen Peroxide (this is resposnible for the oxy-bleaching action) then top up with cold tap water to the brim.

[Macca]

Sorry guys. I am using the capfull of sanitiser x4(40G)with hot water to dilute and then fill. It was the origingal Coopers larger. Have sampled 4 bottles now and all no good. Will dump remaining.

Thanks for advice.

Cheers

[PB2]

As an experiment, you could keep a couple aside and taste them in about 3mths.

[Matty A]

Im thinking the same Paul, this could be one of those cases where an aweful beer turns awesome.

[johng12]

To throw a spanner in the works, i have always just used one cap of coopers sanitiser in the fermentor to sanitise, and ive just reached my 100th brew. Boiled the water, i have been doing wrong all along but has never seem to make a difference to my beer.

 

But never had a spoiled brew.

 

Does this mean the thread starter may have another problem?

[JohnS12]

A couple of years ago I saved some nice bottles that i drank unwashed about 50 of in the garage with all my home brew gear, yeah you guessed two brews in row not real good, down the drain that bad. Got rid of the empties and the problem went away. Simple mistake.