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1st BIAB: Off flavour and sediment floating

Post #1 made 10 years ago
by TheFrozenDegu
Hello everyone,

I need your guys help. I brewed my first BIAB (English style IPA) two weeks ago. Mashing temps were according to recipe but I made a rookie mistake: Boiled with the lid on. That is the only thing I can think of went wrong. In addition fermentation was moderate, no big bubbling. But gravity went from 1,057 to 1,016 in 13 days at 20°C. So I suppose that is fine. Gravity didnt change for the last two days.

But the flavor. The beer tastes kind of sour (wife says like cleaning fluid). I also have a lot of sediment in the beer. I am not sure if that comes from dry hopping from 6 days ago (meaning after primary fermentation was done and all the krausen was gone). I wonder if the flavour goes away when bottling after priming? And is it even worth bottling it?

Maybe you can help me out here?

Thank you!

Recipe used:
English IPA Recipe

Fermentation Period
14 Days

Recipe Volume
15 litres

Start Volume (Brew in a Bag)
21 litres

Malts
Pale Ale: 4 kg
Crystal 30L: 0.20kg
Munich: 0.20kg

Mash Time
70 mins

Mash Target Temperature
67°C

Hops
Nugget (12%): 10g for 60 mins
Kent Goldings (5.3%): 40g for 15 mins
Kent Goldings (5.3%): 20g for 5 mins

Yeast
Danstar Nottingham Ale Rehydrated in 200ml water at 35°C for 30mins
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Post #2 made 10 years ago
by onkeltuka
hmm, it does look a bit weird. In my limited experience that's what it looks like after boil, with the hot break floating around. And as you mention a sour taste, it brings to mind contamination by some microbe X, something like pediococcus, acetobacter, etc.
"The rules for making hop additions during the boil are about as well defined as those for a knife fight." -Stan Hieronymus

Post #3 made 10 years ago
by Rick
Looks normal to me, but then again I'm colorblind, so ... take that with a grain of salt.

My beer always tastes funny while in primary, always very yeasty (and sometimes a sharper alcohol flavor early on) and generally nothing like the final product. So, if you're on the fence in wondering if something is off ... it's probably fine. I say bottle it.
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Post #4 made 10 years ago
by mally
Is it still at 1.016 now?

Normally an infection from bacteria or wild yeasts can reduce the gravity a lot more than that, but it is by no means an accurate indicator, more an observation.

I would agree with Rick that packaging it would be worthwhile, as beer can make dramatic improvements when conditioned (poperly). Besides, you have nothing to lose other than a little time. :think:

One thing I noticed was that you fermented with Nottingham. I think this is a "love it" or "hate it" yeast. I have used it once and will never again as it reduced a fantastic all grain wort of mine to something worse than you'd get from a kit :?
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
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Post #5 made 10 years ago
by Lumpy5oh
Have you tried cold crashing it? Some of the solids may drop out and can be left behind. Unfortunately I can't be any help with the sour taste; I don't know where it could have come from or what to do with it.
Some people are like slinkies. Not good for much, but bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

Weehoosebrewing.ga
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Post #7 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
Yah, looks pretty normal to me too, bottle it and leave it alone for a couple weeks, then fridge it for a couple days and try it, bet it will be a totally different beer. Then try and leave it alone for another week or 2 and it will probably get better still... Good Luck!
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Post #8 made 10 years ago
by PistolPatch
Lots of excellent answers above and each and every one deserves consideration at this stage.

My only worry is that your wife mentioned cleaning fluid so you might well have an infection. As mally mentioned above, not all infections lower your final gravity. In fact, many don't.

For now, don't brew another batch until you investigate this batch fully. Bottle it and taste test it a few weeks from now.

If you can't wait that long, make sure you search this site for early posts on 'nostril'. That will help you check your equipment before you brew again.
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Post #9 made 10 years ago
by TheFrozenDegu
So after cold crashing it for 24hrs the sediment settled on the ground. "Nostrile test" was negative. It was new equipment anyways... I bottled it now and hope it will turn out allright. Will let you guys know when its ready :-)

Thank you for your help again!

Update 19FEB: So after 2 weekss in the bottle and a few days in the fridge I tasted the first beer. The taste was fine and I couldnt find any off flavors. I am just a little bit disappointed with the carbonation. I used around 65g of brown sugar for 17L. I think about 120g would have been right for an IPA. :dunno:
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