Sourness after 3 weeks in Fermenter? help?

[Ansys]

Hello everyone! I'm a bit new to this whole brewing thing. My first "kit and kilo" type batch came out alright, so I thought I'd give it another go...

I brewed up a wheat beer.
It bubbled away nicely and after 8 days in the fermenter, I took a gravity reading. It read about 1.010, so fermentation was pretty much finished. I tasted the sample and it tasted good enough and tasted like a wheat beer should. It wasn't going to win any awards but it was on target.

Everything I've read before said that leaving it longer in the fermenter would only help things like clarity, taste, etc... so I left the beer in the primary fermenter for a total of 3 weeks. Same like I did with my first batch that turned out OK.

When I went to bottle after these 3 weeks, I took another gravity reading. Again about 1.010, but this time the sample had a very noticeable "sour"? taste (my palette is probably not subtle enough to distinguish it much more finely than that). I could no longer notice the "wheat" flavors of a wheat beer! After having cleaned and sterilized all those bottles, I went ahead and bottled it anyway hoping that some time in the bottles would bring it right again but.... what happened?!

Is it an infection? The brew didn't look like it had anything nasty on top like the images you can find on google.

Does it just need more time for the yeast to "clean up" after itself and get rid of the sourness? If so, why did it taste fine after 8 days in the fermenter?? Is that "normal"?

They've only been in the bottles for a bit less than a week now, so haven't sampled any since bottling.
Every other thread I've found online, where people had a similar issue, hasn't been followed up, so I never got to find out if they came right after some time in the bottles...

Thanks in advance for your insights!

 

[Leon103]

What kit is it.

Doubt it's an infection.

Wheat beer is an exception where you want to be drinking it fresh. They tend to lose their flavours pretty quickly.

 

[jceg316]

I've had beers go sour on me without any noticeable pellicles. Did you sterilise whatever you used to take the gravity reading? Has this happened to you before?

I find the times my beers go sour are times when I've tried to cut corners, e.g. it won't matter if I sanitise differently to save time, or I'll use an older questionable fermenter as it's closer to me than the newer less scratched one etc. Mistakes can happen as well, I've forgotten to sanitise a Syphon or something. Most the time I get away with it but a handful of times I've not been so lucky.

I'm really into sour beers so when they've gone sour I'm not too upset.

 

[Ansys]

I actually did two batches around the same time.

The first is the Morgan's Wheat kit. This is the one that seems to have gotten most 'sour'

The second was the Brewferm Gallia kit. I think I noticed a similar 'sour' effect going on, but to a much lesser extent. It again tasted different to how it did at day 8 though.

I've only done one batch before, and that one turned out fine with the same equipment, process, etc.

Yes, I sterilized (or at least tried to) everything. When I take the gravity readings, I use the tap to pour into a tube that I put the hydrometer in. I don't just drop the hydrometer in the fermenter.

Will see how it goes I guess. Typically how long do the sour flavors take to settle into a beer in the fermenter?

 

[divrack]

If it is an infection it won't settle in exactly. Chances are it'll develop in the bottles unless it's aceto which tastes like vinegar. If it tastes more like sourkraut it will progress, but on the plus side a wheat would be a great base for a sour, only thing is you could get bottle bombs. I would periodically open one and check pressure isn't getting too high.