Fourth Brew and first infection. What went wrong?

[FiercelyFuzzy]

Hi Guys

Well it's happened. I've had my first infected brew. I started a Brewferm Abdij on Friday night. The yeast was going crazy on Saturday (huge head of foam, airlock bubbling away, smelled divine). By Sunday the airlock had stopped bubbling & the brew smelt sour, almost vinegary. By the evening it was really stinking. So the lot was dumped. And this was a double batch of Abdij! Two tins!

I'm not sure what I did wrong. Everything was sterilised as usual. The only thing I can think was that I added brewing sugar direct to the bin, rather than boiling it in water first. The sugar was an open bag from the last brew.... Could this be the cause?

Anyway, the brewing bin is soaking in a bleach solution. I plan on setting up a Kirkburton ale on Wednesday to cheer me up.

[Dill]

Dumped too early

[Reg]

Dill's more than probably right. Brew's can smell pretty rangy on the way through to completion. The thing to do is to hold your nose and taste it before reaching for the drain cover.

When you say brewing sugar - what exactly do you mean? (The term is much abused - even by experienced brewers sometimes). Plain sugar if kept dry is in fact a pretty inimical environment for unwanted microbial beasties. Glucose behaves similarly, I believe. However, more complex sugars like maltodextrin are naturally quite hygroscopic, so require a little bit more care to keep them dry.

Reg

[FiercelyFuzzy]

Aargh! Don't say that! It did smell really manky... acrid, sour. Perhaps if anyone else has done the Brewferm Abdij they could advise on how it smelt...?

I used Ritchies Glucose for the sugar. If I have been a bit hasty I'll just have to mark it down to experience. Roll on the next brew! Thanks for the advice though.

[stevezx7r]

You'd be surprised by the amount of different/horrid smells which emanate from fermenting beer due to yeast activity.

I think you were a bit hasty in throwing it away, sorry for your loss

[brysie]

R I P abdij

gone but not forgotten.

its scary to think that something so smelly can produce something so good.