My beer has a sour taste and very strong abv

[Jordan303]

Ok so my batch of beer after a few weeks in the bottle seams to have a sour taste to it. Aswell after just 1 beer you can really feel it in your head. Im wondering if this is still safe to drink?

[barleyburps]

sounds like one of those batches you just put away and forget about. then pull one out to try every couple months to check for improvement.

[dparsons]

In other words, let it age a bit.

Tell us more about the batch. Recipe, OG, brewing process, how long for the various stages up to present, etc.

[Dextolen]

I did a pretty strong xmas ale that tasted like lemonade. Waited until April and it was still real sour. Dumped it, only batch so far. It can't hurt to sit on it, just keep brewing.

[markaberrant]

Is this your Coopers Real Ale? The one you added 4.5 cups of sugar to?

You may indeed have an infection due to sanitation (which is common for first time brewers), but all that sugar ain't gonna give you anything very drinkable anyways... so it might just be the copious amounts of sugar that you are tasting. The headaches are likely from fusel alcohols, meaning your fermentation was too warm... try to find a way to cool things down.

For your next batch, leave out the sugar and use 2 cans of Real Ale.

[Jordan303]

ya this is the real ale. Im a college student and i even tried to offer it for free not to waste it. After everyone tried 1 beer it was hard to get anyone to try another...don't enjoy this stuff at all and found myself going out and just buying some tankhouse by mill st. So should i chuck it?

also i heard instead of using 2 cans i could use light unhopped malt extract. which is better? They cost the same so it dosnt matter.

As for the sanitation issue im using potassium metabisulphite. Is that bad? should i change? i really want star san but its expensive to get it shipped where i am. I was thinking of using bleach or oxy clean to sanitize but dont know the method.

thanks for the quick reply guys

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by Jordan303
So should i chuck it?

also i heard instead of using 2 cans i could use light unhopped malt extract. which is better? They cost the same so it dosnt matter.

As for the sanitation issue im using potassium metabisulphite. Is that bad? should i change? i really want star san but its expensive to get it shipped where i am. I was thinking of using bleach or oxy clean to sanitize but dont know the method.

I wouldn't chuck it, you never know what a beer will be like in a couple months.

I recommend 2 cans of the pre-hopped extract because it will have more hop flavour. You could go with 1 can of each, which of course will be less hoppy. You can even mix and match cans (say 1 can of Real Ale, and 1 can of Bitter or IPA). It depends on your taste; you'll have to experiment to find what you are looking for.

I really can't offer you any help in terms of sanitation, other than to be thorough with whatever product you use. Star San is far and away the easiest to work with, and lasts a heck of a long time, so the cost is well worth it to me. I'm not sure where you are in Ontario, but someone has to sell it locally. You could ask over on the Bar Towel Forum: http://www.bartowel.com/board/index.php

[BrewDog]

Sorry, I disagree with you on this one Mark (one of the very, very few times I disagree with you - I respect your opinions a lot)

The hopped kits have enough hops in them to be bittered properly for a batch using sugar. I did try using 2 hopped kits together in my very early brewing days, but I would only recommend it when you do things like take 2 Pale Ale extract cans and make an IPA out of them. Otherwise, everything comes out too bitter for them.

Use the pale/gold/light unhopped malt extract to replace the sugar with great tasting maltos and malt flavors. Try them that way first. You'll be surprised how good a beer you can make with hopped kits using only all-malt extract. Then, put your imagination on to how good the unhopped kits can get, then the extract with grains kits, then the mini-mashes, then All Grain........

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by BrewDog
Sorry, I disagree with you on this one Mark (one of the very, very few times I disagree with you - I respect your opinions a lot)

I know what you are saying, I think it depends on the kit. You are right in this instance, the Real Ale probably does have enough hops as is, I think one web site puts it at 32 IBUs. A can of unhopped light extract should complement it quite well.

I guess I'm thinking along the lines of the typical hopped extracts that are only around 10-15 IBUs... I think a person would definitely want 2 of those... depending on the style they are going for of course. The Coopers IPA is rated at only 23 IBUs!!!

[BrewDog]

Originally posted by markaberrant
I know what you are saying, I think it depends on the kit. You are right in this instance, the Real Ale probably does have enough hops as is, I think one web site puts it at 32 IBUs. A can of unhopped light extract should complement it quite well.

I guess I'm thinking along the lines of the typical hopped extracts that are only around 10-15 IBUs... I think a person would definitely want 2 of those... depending on the style they are going for of course. The Coopers IPA is rated at only 23 IBUs!!!

Yep, I could definately go along with that for a 10/15 IBU kit. It's the 30 IBU kits that drive ya crazy.

It definitely goes with the kit in question. In those 15 IBU cases, cases, you are abosolutely right. In the 30 IBU cases, I guess I am.

[markaberrant]

For those who are wondering, I got the Coopers specs here:

http://www.greatsoda.com/cooperskits.html

I have no idea if they are accurate or not...

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by Jordan303
As for the sanitation issue im using potassium metabisulphite. Is that bad? should i change? i really want star san but its expensive to get it shipped where i am. I was thinking of using bleach or oxy clean to sanitize but dont know the method.

thanks for the quick reply guys

So, are you swiping the potassium metabisulphite out of a college lab....hmm?

At any rate, I am not familair with using that for sanitizing. I would recommend some type of no-rinse sani, star san being the preferred. While it is expensive to get shipped to you, one bottle will last you for a long time--buy a five galloon plastic water jug, and keep it mixed, that way you do not have to keep mixing it. A 16 ounce bottle of star san lasts me about a year, and this is with regular brewing.

And about the price...check ebay, austinhomebrew, morebeer, etc....I bought mine from ebay, and got a price that could not be beat.

[Jordan303]

hahaha no i am not swiping it from any lab. Theres a wine making place near by and i got it from them. Im in sault ste marie at the moment for school. I got into brewing when i heard about it. Although this first batch is undrinkable i wont dump it and will leave it for a little while. Its not like i need the bottles at the moment either way.

As for my next batch i am going to do a coopers draught, instead of using 2 cans of coopers can i use a pack of dry malt extract if i cant get the unhopped liquidd malt extreact from a can? Im going to try but this city has nothing in it for me to get a hold of. Shipping is brutal and being a college student i am on a budget (looks like my kegerator wont be funded till next year). But i am excited to try again.

Also some buddies are gonna pitch for me to get some star san. Just owe them each a 6 pack which i think is well worth it.

Last thing with my yeast for the real ale i just dumped it in. I now learned i should rehydrate it. Quick question tho, when i re hydrate should i use 1 packet of yeast or 2? If i use 1 will it really be that bad? My local resources are very limited. I found one place however to get liquid malt extract, hops, and grains allthough i doubt the quality is very good. His grains are all pre milled, and hops are in a refrigerator but not in airtight containers. He only sells dry ale yeast by the gram so i assume he just scoops it out of a bin. Although better then nothing i suppose.

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by Jordan303
Quick question tho, when i re hydrate should i use 1 packet of yeast or 2? If i use 1 will it really be that bad?

Depends on the size of the package. Roughly 10 grams of dry yeast should be good for a typical sized batch of 5% beer.

[Mad Scientist]

jordan, places lke AHS (http://www.austinhomebrew.com) will ship for a flat rate, and have very, very excellent kits. Given yuor distance, I would not buy liquid yeast, so stick with the dry that they supply, but for say $25 US, you have a great batch of beer. Check and see if they ship to Canada for the same price. I'll bet they do, and if you cannot get the info off their site, they are only a toll free call away.
And don't feel bad, a number of us do not have a homebrew store near us, myself included.

[dparsons]

Gotta post another opinion. I'd also consider just unhopped extract and add your own hops to the boil. Better flavor and more control over the hops used. The step from using sugar to a can of unhopped malt extract is a more important one, but I think this is a simple improvement as well. You can get recipe kits that come this way and they are a definite step above the cans.

[Jordan303]

thanks every for the advice. Being here is the biggest pain and i wish i was back in toronto where i has a local place with everything. Anyways i called a place the sells unhopped malt extract. I asked for the price and he said it was 3.25 per litre. Now my understanding is if i were to add this to my kits (which i just got a coopers draught and coopers brewmaster pilsner) how many litres would i need? I know that if i wasnt using a kit i would want to use 7lbs but since i will be using a kit i was thinking 3.3lbs because thats what the coopers lme cans come as. They couldnt tell me if it was light or dark malt extract...i have to wait another 3 hours untill the guy that knows all that stuff gets in...my question is would it really matter and how many litres would i need?

[BrewDog]

I'd guess that a liter is roughly 6 lbs.

Northern Brewer (http://www.northernbrewer.com/malt-extract.html) sells LME in quart sized "milk jugs", which is 6 lbs, so a liter would be a little above that, right?

[sittingcow]

A half gallon (~1.89L) is about 6 pounds, so a liter is probably right at 3.3.