Vinegar Smell

[heggem]

Hi All,

I am new to the site and new to brewing.
So far I have made a batch of a Old Peculier clone which has turned out superbly.

Last Saturday I had a marathon day where I brewed a batch of a Felinfoel Double Dragon Clone and a batch of Ruddles County Clone.

Everything went well and fermentation started quickly, as with my Old Peculier batch I skimmed the yeast after the first day.

The head returned quite quickly but then dissapeared after half a day and had not returned.

I opened the lid yesterday and there was a really strong wine/vinegar smell and the consistency of the brew looked syrupy. I havent tasted it yet as I haven't had time but I think it may be spoiled, which is a shame as one batch was a Father's day gift which I made with him.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what may have caused this?

Cheers

heggem

[steve_flack]

Sounds like an infection and usually it's down to either poor sanitation or the environment the beers brewed in. Without knowing your methods/procedures it's hard to say where you're going wrong.

[tubby_shaw]

As steve_flack said you have got an infection by the sound of things
Infections are more common during the warmer months as the spoilage organisms will multiply much faster in the heat.
Another problem with summer brewing is the ever present vinegar/fruit fly which appear from nowhere and immediately commence kamikaze attacks on any open beer or wort
Hence the reason that the olde time brewers only brewed in the cooler months of the year.

[BarryNL]

It could be an infection, but taste it - a highly acidic smell might also just be carbon dioxide - this stuff will really sting your sinuses if you take a good whiff of it.

[Dirty Davey]

I'm with BarryNL, I've had this before but still barrelled the beer, matured it and it came out fine.

[steve_flack]

Taste it. If it tastes vinegary you're wasting your time.

[heggem]

I thoroughly sterilised all of my equipment before I started. I'll admit I didn't re-sterilise my spoon after i used it to stir the mash contents, the boiler and before i stirred the yeast in. I'm not sure whether this is an issue.

I did sterilise my skimming spoon however.

I allowed the cooled wort to drop through a tube from height into my feremtation vessel to aerate it, again not sure if this is an issue.

I'll give it a taste this weekend and see how things are.

[oblivious]

Acetic acid is a very distinctive smell and taste, you would pick it out over carbonic acid (CO2)

[steve_flack]

I'll admit I didn't re-sterilise my spoon after i used it to stir the mash contents, the boiler and before i stirred the yeast in. I'm not sure whether this is an issue.
.

Grain is loaded with lactic acid bacteria and hence so is the mash but the boil should have killed them on the spoon if you were lucky. Do you open ferment?

[mysterio]

I agree, give it a taste before you decide.

[heggem]

Well I gave it a taste and it seemed fine. So i'm going to barrel and see what I get. It seems I may have got away with it.

steve_flack, I left the lid of the bin loosely on during fermentation.

[mysterio]

You may just have been smelling the yeast which can have a sharp smell during/after fermentation.