Where did it all go wrong - ditch it or keep it?

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  • I brewed my AG#12 User Upper Bitter some weeks ago using a starter grown from WY1275 harvested in Jan 2019 (so the yeast is 2nd or 3rd generation)
  • I then reused the yeast cake for my AG#13 Pale Ale - there was no break, I bottled one as I brewed the other (although I did swish out the yeast cake and transfer it to a different FV)

I left AG#12 in the bottle for 4 weeks at room temp - at bottling I'm sure it tasted fine, malty and bitter (though I'm now doubting this). When I came to try it I found I had a box full of gushers - every single one of 20 bottles. In the pic below you can see I released all the caps to let them vent before resealing them some hours later. 1 week later I tried another one - pretty flat but really not tasting great. If I was being positive I'd say at best it had a bit of a Belgian ale twang.

After fretting that all my subsequent brews would now be infected from bottling or something, last night I finally caved and tried a bottle of AG#13 which has been in the bottle 3 weeks at room temp. Well it wasn't a gusher - quite fizzy in the glass but nothing more. The taste was not foul as such but it didn't taste right - I've brewed this before (AG#1) and it just didn't taste at all like an EKG/Fuggles plae ale. Again I got a sense of a Belgian ale twang - I find it really hard to describe but there's a certain characteristic taste to Belgian ales that I'm not keen on.

(Happy ending, I also tried 2 bottles of my AG#14.1 & .2 American Wheat beers 2 weeks since bottling and they tasted great - so at least that suggests I haven't totally lost my mojo!)

So:
  1. Can anyone suggest might have gone wrong with AG#12 & 13? My best guess is some sort of mutation in the yeast giving me at best an undesired flavour. Is that possible? Is that a reasonable explanation? I used the same process as always at bottling so it's hard to believe I messed up at bottling with 2 totally different brews.
  2. What do I do with it? Seems hard to believe it could come right if I leave it in the bottle. I'm thinking keep maybe 5 of each just to see in the future and ditch the rest - painful, but what's more painful for me is I really don't understand what caused it.

Over to you guys!

Cheers,

Matt athumb..

20190512_093102.jpg
 
These things can be hard to track down. Keep some bottles though, and open one every 2 or 3 weeks - if they continue to get fizzier then that confirms you have an infection.

It took me 18 month to stop a previous infection which transferred between FVs and kegs.
 
If in doubt always try shandy.

17p of lidl pop turns 2 litres of drain treats into 4 litres of "OOooh, tell you what, Jean, that ain't half a bad drop, it isn't. Goes down nice, it does. Wake your mum up and see what she thinks. Put her teeth back in first because she always dribbles it down her top otherwise."
 
If in doubt always try shandy.

17p of lidl pop turns 2 litres of drain treats into 4 litres of "OOooh, tell you what, Jean, that ain't half a bad drop, it isn't. Goes down nice, it does. Wake your mum up and see what she thinks. Put her teeth back in first because she always dribbles it down her top otherwise."
Hahaha - brilliant clapa
 
Don't ditch it.
I checked down the sink the majority of ag#5 (I think) as it tasted like TCP. Bloody awful it was.
Bit left a few bottle and tried them 4 months later....amazing pint
Absolutely gutted I chucked the rest.
 
Yeah, I hear you @Nicks90 , I saw you mention that the other day - I'm just struggling to believe it would improve.

Mind you, I've got plenty of empties that need filling yet. So now i think about it i guess i don't need to hurry to ditch anything, I've got quite a bit of space left for now.
 
Interesting tip to keep the 'fails' for six months and see what happens....thanks!
A question for the smart peeps out there.
I have done a brew with maris otter barley. it tastes thin and wheaty. the wort was pale white. I think I need to mill the barley?? is that right? I thought the barley was ready to use into the mash tun straight from the bag but .... i dont know,. Do i have to grind it before the mash. Sorry if thats a stupid question... I am new to brewing. Thanks for your tips, Mark
 
Yes it looks like it has not had full conversion without being milled to expose more of the grain in the mash. As a beginner you may be better buying your grain already crushed especially if you have not got a proper milling machine. What was your OG, what should it have been and temp of mash and how long? lots off questions but it will help the forum members to give you a better diagnosis and what to do to correct any errors
 
Don't ditch it.
I checked down the sink the majority of ag#5 (I think) as it tasted like TCP. Bloody awful it was.
Bit left a few bottle and tried them 4 months later....amazing pint
Absolutely gutted I chucked the rest.
Do you know what @Nicks90 , you might be on to something here fella -

Just tried another one, just to see - it's carbed up again (not sure that's a good sign actually) and for sure the funny taste is still there but it does seem to have mellowed a bit. So what's left could still come good yet.....
 

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