Riddle me this (sour beer content)

[Evan B]

I actually get all my ingredients from a local brewery. I get a "buddy" deal where he orders bags of base malt just for me, and I get them at his price. I get my hops from our very own Niko. So given the bad-assness of the brews that come out of said brewery, not sure that's the case either :-\

Maybe I have Justin's curse where I do nothing wrong, but for whatever reason, things just never turn out right.

[brewinhard]

Have you given a beer to your "brewhouse" buddy and see what he thinks? He might be able to help you figure it out one way or another. That would be my next step...

[Evan B]

Have you given a beer to your "brewhouse" buddy and see what he thinks? He might be able to help you figure it out one way or another. That would be my next step...

actually had the brewers at the brewery i discussed, plus the owner of our local bottle shop all taste one with me this last summer. none of us could quite figure it out, but all leaned towards lacto

[cosmo]

Just curious. What is your aeration scheme? Pure oxygen, air pump, shaking, etc? How much time do you aerate for?

[Evan B]

Just curious. What is your aeration scheme? Pure oxygen, air pump, shaking, etc? How much time do you aerate for?

I've tried both shaking and pure oxygen with no noticeable differences as far as the off flavor goes.

[seanhagerty]

Not sure if I missed it or not, but, what do you ferment in? If its buckets, replace them.

I know one guy who was fermenting in his bottling bucket and had issues with infection. He had never cleaned his valve on the bucket and couldnt figure out where his infections were coming from.

The valve on your boil kettle is another culprit to look at. If you take that apart I bet you find some real nasties in there. Recircing boiling water with a pump helps, but you need to take it apart periodically and clean the insides out.

Just some random thoughts.

[Evan B]

I'm fermenting in glass. And I actually don't have a valve on my kettle, I siphon out with an autosphon. I've suspected that as a culprit and changed it out three times now, but it doesn't appear to be the problem.

I actually just did a brew with all my equipment in my buddy's garage over a month ago. We brewed up my holiday ale recipe (the same one I brewed a month prior, and suspect is showing early signs of infection), and it came out flawlessly clean. Everything used was the same stuff that I use at home, he just wanted to learn how to brew, and have beer to give as a gift at Christmas. It's things like this that keep making me come back to the whole "ambient funk" theory. I brewed 4yrs prior to moving in to here with 0 infections. Then in one year, I have over 10 of 21 batches go tits up.

[Mylo]

I'm fermenting in glass. And I actually don't have a valve on my kettle, I siphon out with an autosphon. I've suspected that as a culprit and changed it out three times now, but it doesn't appear to be the problem.

I actually just did a brew with all my equipment in my buddy's garage over a month ago. We brewed up my holiday ale recipe (the same one I brewed a month prior, and suspect is showing early signs of infection), and it came out flawlessly clean. Everything used was the same stuff that I use at home, he just wanted to learn how to brew, and have beer to give as a gift at Christmas. It's things like this that keep making me come back to the whole "ambient funk" theory. I brewed 4yrs prior to moving in to here with 0 infections. Then in one year, I have over 10 of 21 batches go tits up.

Embrace the funk, brotha. Spend the next couple of years cranking out some barrel aged goodness. No need to fight the power.


Mylo