Second beer kit failure

[mysterio]

Just to echo the others, you're definately picking up an infection somewhere along the way. I think it's acetobacter (acetic acid = vinegar) that's causing the flavour. Just make sure you're sanitising everything that might come into contact with the beer, no matter how trivial. Also make sure your not using old equipment and your buckets aren't scratched.

[CyberPaddy66]

Just a thought but do you clip your nails or wash your hands before brewing?

your problem could be something a simple as dirty fingernails or soap residue on your hands

Just trying to help.

[ni9e]

My hands spend most of the time prebrew in the solution cleaning all the bits so I don't think it could be that.

I'm off to HBS now to buy new kit will give wilko's a miss this time and will just use brewing sugar instead of BKE. Maybe I bought a bad batch of kits or BKE its got me stumped and i'm praying that this brew will turn out ok.

[Jim]

As a few people have said above, one thing is certain - a bug is getting into your beer somewhere along the line. You need to find out where.

It could be that bad luck caused the first infection, but that the bug remained in some nook or cranny of your brewing equipment. I would remove and take apart all taps and anything else that comes apart and sterilise the bits separately, preferably by boiling anything that's safe to boil.

Once you've had an infection like that, it's not enough to just go through your normal sterilising routine.

[Aleman]

I'm agreeing with Jim, once you have an infection they can be the biggest PITA to eradicate . . . I moved brewing operations to get rid of mine

Everything needs to come apart and be soaked in cleanser, then sanitised (I would do this by steaming but I have access to BIG boilers). Then once dried, put it all back together and use a no rinse sanitiser to sanitise it again prior to use.

If its a vinegar taste, then the likely culprit is acetobacter, which is an odd little chappie as it actually requires oxygen so should not be present in an actively fermenting wort, so somewhere oxygen must be getting to your beer.

[Horden Hillbilly]

There is nothing that can get in the lid is sealed and the airlock will keep creepy crawlies out

If its a vinegar taste, then the likely culprit is acetobacter, which is an odd little chappie as it actually requires oxygen so should not be present in an actively fermenting wort, so somewhere oxygen must be getting to your beer.

Is your fermenter standing somewhere where there is a variation in temperature, ie does it get cooler at night?

If this is the case, the airlock could work in reverse, ie the air will enter the sealed fermenter through the airlock rather than escape from it. This is more likely to happen during the later, slower stages of the fermentation.

[Madbrewer]

Sorry I know I should have chipped in sooner!

What are you sterilising with?

I was told to soak all my plastic-ware with bleach when I had an infection and to be fair it worked. Is there a possibility you have a scratch in your fermenting bin?

[fivetide]

Really bad luck.

For what it's worth, I now use the thin bleach solution when putting kit away but when starting a new brew I rinse everything hot and cold then use Iodophor which some of the experienced guys on here pointed me towards and which gives a lot of peace of mind.

I'm sure you've just got an infected FV or spoon or something and it's just one of those things - good idea to start again.

Why not try an all-malt 3Kg+ kit this time to eliminate the sugar side of things too? You could even avoid the boil entirely with a Woodforde, Munton etc... style kit.

Anyway, hope it works well next time and you get to talk to everyone on a happier thread.

There's always someone worse off -- remember that crazy alien looking infection someone had last year?

[ni9e]

Thanks for all your help guys Ive just ordered a Brupak Brewers Choice Old Ale kit so I'm gonna give that a go should be here next week so fingers crossed it'll be ok.

In the mean time I'm sterilising all my equipment for 24 hours at a time with VWP and boiling hot water and when I do make the brew I will hopefully have sourced some Star San to use after normal sterilising and just before the brew goes anywhere near.

So I might get a drink before Easter hopefully

[booldawg]

TBH I totally ignore any strange flavours/aromas whilst fermenting, the whole process can throw up some deceptive symptoms. I've made Ginger Beer a fair few times and it always goes through a rotten egg phase at day 3 or 4 which can stink the room out; it comes good in the end. The first time I was tempted to bin the lot but perserverance is the key.

Since going AG I've found that each time I've cracked open the FV lid I've been greeted with an amazingly pungent aroma, almost like the fumes from Sodium Meta that really takes your breath away. totally goes after a few days. AG1 has come good and I'm hoping the next one will!

I'd be tempted to bottle/barrel regardless as most the hard work has been done already and see what taste you get when the brew has fully matured. Then decide.

[ni9e]

If the brew never tasted like brown vinegar I would have kegged it to see how it turned out but I did not want to contaminate my keg.

I'm thinking of going to AG as there seem to be less problems with with boiling the wort for a length of time would kill any bugs. But the only thing putting me off is the steep learning curve.