Camberwell Canary
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2013
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 1
Recently bottled my second all-grain brew. Looking for clues as to why the primary fermenter smelt so vinegary.
Don't have logbook with me so forgive lack of detail.
Brewed Burton Bridge Bitter in a standard plastic setup with fermenting fridge set to 20C. Everything went as expected. All values matched BeerSmith's estimated values. No surprises.
Took a gravity reading after day 6. Smelt fine. Was within 0.001 of the expected FG. Tasted pretty good, but v yeasty (like a Belgian).
Took a further gravity reading at day 11. Had hit expected FG. Fermenter smelt vinegary. Tasted a little vinegary, but not as bad as it smelt.
Transferred to another bucket to batch prime. Smelt less vinegary. Tasted less vinegary. Still a significant whiff though. The gunk left in primary was so vinegary it singed my nostrils and eyeballs!
Have bottled and three days later no explosions!
Any tips? Is it possible to over-aerate or leave in primary too long? I used a sterilised paint stirrer on a power drill to aerate just before putting the fermenter in the fridge (but no more aeration or fiddling after that).
Many thanks
Don't have logbook with me so forgive lack of detail.
Brewed Burton Bridge Bitter in a standard plastic setup with fermenting fridge set to 20C. Everything went as expected. All values matched BeerSmith's estimated values. No surprises.
Took a gravity reading after day 6. Smelt fine. Was within 0.001 of the expected FG. Tasted pretty good, but v yeasty (like a Belgian).
Took a further gravity reading at day 11. Had hit expected FG. Fermenter smelt vinegary. Tasted a little vinegary, but not as bad as it smelt.
Transferred to another bucket to batch prime. Smelt less vinegary. Tasted less vinegary. Still a significant whiff though. The gunk left in primary was so vinegary it singed my nostrils and eyeballs!
Have bottled and three days later no explosions!
Any tips? Is it possible to over-aerate or leave in primary too long? I used a sterilised paint stirrer on a power drill to aerate just before putting the fermenter in the fridge (but no more aeration or fiddling after that).
Many thanks