Should I be worried?

[Sone]

Just finished bottling my 2nd brew (Coopers Australian Lager), this time I transferred to a bottling bucket with spigot as I want to batch prime next time so thought I'd give it a go. After filling and capping, what was left in the bottling bucket had a cider smell to it and tasted vinegary, how fast can this occur as I'm worried about the whole batch now! I opened one bottle to try it and it smelt and tasted ok :| What do you think?

 

[joe1002]

The vinegar taste wouldn't have manifested that quickly (I transferring from fv to bottling bucket. As your bottle tasted ok I would continue as normal. I would get another brew on quick just in case it has got an infection, if not you have double the amount of beer :thumb: :drink:

 

[Sone]

Thanks, you're right I will have to get another on sharpish! :) :

I tried some yesterday as I took my last hydrometer reading and it tasted great then, the primary fermenter had no cider/vinegar smells when taking the lid off today or just before cleaning it, it was only the remains in the bottling bucket! :wha:

Fingers crossed I guess!

 

[RobWalker]

that's precisely what syphoning avoids - vinegar taste happens when your cider's exposed to oxygen, just like when the last dregs of a pint can taste like vinegar. the bottled stuff hasn't been exposed at all as it's protected by co2 when fermenting/clearing, and then syphoned into a bottle - whereas pouring it or splashing it a lot would get oxygen in there.

it's all good, but the vinegary smell can transfer over to your next brew, not the taste but just the smell which can be offputting. make sure you give it a good clean and several rinses. oxyclean is great :thumb:

 

[Sone]

Good bit of info thanks, puts my mind at ease a bit and I'll be sure to give the bottling bucket a good clean :thumb:

 

[Sone]

Well curiosity got the better of me and I opened a bottle to see if it has a cider smell/taste and it has both

I will leave the rest of the bottles for a few weeks to see if anything changes but I'm not hopeful. Should I be expecting the worst or can things change? As this is only my 2nd brew it's a bit of a shame!

I'm still unsure where it went wrong (can a cider taste appear after 12-18hours?) as like I say it tasted fine the day before when taking a sample.

 

[Rwilts]

Random thought but what did you use to sanitise the bottling bucket ?

 

[Sone]

VWP, same as I used for everything that would come into contact with the beer

 

[Rwilts]

Did you rinse well as I have read it can give off flavours if not completely removed,

 

[Sone]

As far as I know I did, I only rinsed once though, maybe I should rinse twice to be sure although it's the same method I used with everything else so far. The only real thing I can imagine it could have been is the bottling bucket, I'm just surprised it all happened so fast, new to this so unsure how long it takes for things to go wrong etc.

 

[Sone]

Just an update as I wanted to see how the beer is progressing so I opened a bottle and the cider taste has mellowed a lot with only a slight apple taste now :thumb: A lot of worrying over nothing! :whistle:

 

[Markus]

Why are people worried about a vinegar smell? Ever had a look at what the main ingredient in Malt Vinegar actually is? I'll give you a hint...

It's malt.

All my brews have a vinegery smell if you stick your head in the fermenter :thumb:

 

[RobWalker]

Why are people worried about a vinegar smell? Ever had a look at what the main ingredient in Malt Vinegar actually is? I'll give you a hint...

It's malt.

All my brews have a vinegery smell if you stick your head in the fermenter :thumb:

because it's a sign of oxygen exposure resulting in another form of fermentation that doesn't taste good in beer.

 

[calumscott]

All my brews have a vinegery smell if you stick your head in the fermenter

Could you be confusing the smell of the malt + the CO2 forming carbonic acid on your nasal membranes for the smell of vinegar perhaps? Easily done, and I used to worry about it a lot until I realised that none of my beer ever went vinegary...

 

[Markus]

Could you be confusing the smell of the malt + the CO2 forming carbonic acid on your nasal membranes for the smell of vinegar perhaps? Easily done, and I used to worry about it a lot until I realised that none of my beer ever went vinegary...

Yeah, like I say a vinegery smell :) I'm pretty sure this is what 9 out of 10 people who ask about a vineger smells are also referring too. Haven't had any experience with the oxegen exposure Rob mentioned luckily. Or if I have they didn't affect my brews in any noticible way.