Vinegar?

[GrantD6]

My first attempt at brewing, brought the coopers DIY kit and followed the instruction ...All was looking good and smelled and tasted like beer up till day 6 noticed a faint vinegar smell.

 

Trying to work out where I went wrong now..

a) Did I not get the yeast in quick enough and the contamination started then? (might have been 5 mins before i got the lid on)

b) Did I take SG samples to often? (sampled day 4,5,6,7) from the tap into the hydrometer tube.

 

Should I bother bottling it or just tip it down the sink? Is there any harm in drinking it? (if its drinkable)

Are the new kits as good as the old kits with air locks?

I want to avoid this happening again, was hoping to have some homebrew ready for drinking by Christmas

[Biermoasta]

From memory a vinegar smell is generally caused by an infection. I think it can also be caused by oxidation. If it is only a faint vinegar smell, maybe you should let it finish brewing (if is hasn't already) and let it sit in the fermenter a few more days and see if the smell clears up. Maybe then you can decide whether to bottle or not.

 

If it does have to go down the sink, don't worry about it. Just sanitise the fermenter REALLY well and get another brew on straight away.

 

I put down an Australian Pale Ale for Christmas drinking just yesterday. If you get a kit down within the next week, you should have something drinkable (not in its prime, but certainly drinkable) by Christmas.

[PB2]

Would you say it's vinegar or green apple, cider-like character?

 

Very strange that your first brew in the DIY Beer kit fermenting vessel picked up an acetobacter infection - this is where the alcohol is turned into vinegar. However, if it is vinegar, and you bottle it, it won't hurt you - humans consume vinegar on a regular basis with no ill effect. [biggrin]

 

I think the DIY BEER fermenting vessel is an excellent invention [whistling

[Guest]

I agree with Paul... the DIY kits are very good and easier to work with than the old ones.

 

What was your FG?... was it near 1000 or less?

 

I stand to be corrected but I am pretty sure there is nothing that spoils your beer that can hurt a Human. Granted it may taste terrible etc but you can't damage yourself by drinking it.

 

Also I wouldn't be tipping the whole lot down the sink if you are bottling as you may find you could very well have a few that are not infected. It really depends at what stage the infection took hold.