21 replies to this topic

[BrewerGeorge]

Tapped my MLPA last night, and it's definitely infected. There was a hint of infection when I moved it to the keg last week, but I went ahead anyway. Now it's more noticable. I don't remember doing anything different, just one of those unlucky batches, I guess.

[djinkc]

That sucks. I guess try to figure out how it happened. And of course get another batch started. Happened to me a while back - porter went sour. It went from interesting to OK to down the drain.....Tapped my MLPA last night, and it's definitely infected. There was a hint of infection when I moved it to the keg last week, but I went ahead anyway. Now it's more noticable. I don't remember doing anything different, just one of those unlucky batches, I guess.

[jammer]

Tapped my MLPA last night, and it's definitely infected. There was a hint of infection when I moved it to the keg last week, but I went ahead anyway. Now it's more noticable. I don't remember doing anything different, just one of those unlucky batches, I guess.

Am I the only one that finds this funny? The name IS Memory Lapse Pale Ale. Sorry to hear it, George.

[chadm75]

I'm brewing the MLPA on Sunday, bless me beer gods!

[DaBearSox]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo

[Deerslyr]

Tapped my MLPA last night, and it's definitely infected. There was a hint of infection when I moved it to the keg last week, but I went ahead anyway. Now it's more noticable. I don't remember doing anything different, just one of those unlucky batches, I guess.

My condolences!

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Tapped my MLPA last night, and it's definitely infected. There was a hint of infection when I moved it to the keg last week, but I went ahead anyway. Now it's more noticable. I don't remember doing anything different, just one of those unlucky batches, I guess.

so what are the symptoms?

[Big Nake]

George: That sucks. That just shows everyone that even the best brewers can swing and miss occasionally. Hopefully you can crank out another batch and have it ready to roll soon. What yeast did you use? Was it some harvested yeast from another batch?

[3rd party JKor]

[BrewerGeorge]

George: That sucks. That just shows everyone that even the best brewers can swing and miss occasionally. Hopefully you can crank out another batch and have it ready to roll soon. What yeast did you use? Was it some harvested yeast from another batch?

Nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. I did nothing different. It was S-05, rehydrated with bottled water. Ferment was fine. I never even cracked the top for two weeks after pitching. Just bad luck.I've got 4 other beers on tap now, so I'm not running low by any means, although this does affect my stocking up for the brew-break during hunting season. I actually haven't totally decided if I'll drink it or not. It's not terrible (at least not yet) it's just not what I expected it to be.Oh well.

[Patrick C.]

Ja, das ist wie wir rollen in Wien, Weibchen!

[Big Nake]

Sorry to hear it George. Have you made the MLPA before? I only asked about the yeast because I will often (very often) reuse yeast for 3+ consecutive batches and sometimes all of those beers are in secondary or kegs and I haven't tried them. Eventually I'll sample one and if it's bad and close to the "beginning" of the run of yeast, that may mean other bad batches were behind it... very scary thought. Doesn't sound like you'll have an issue like that though. Hang in there & crank out another one. Cheers!

[Jimmy James]

If you used plastic fermenters for that batch maybe time to toss it and get a new bucket. Sorry to hear about it, hopefully it will stay drinkable if you keep it cold, but depending on the bug it could make you sick so proceed with caution if you decide to tap it.

[BrewerGeorge]

I've brewed two normal batches since then, so no worries about the Better Bottles.However, I remembered something that could throw a wrinkle into the mix. I brewed this on a week night and wasn't exactly concentrating as much as I normally do. Anyway, at the beginning of the sparge I noticed the acid bottle sitting there and realized I'd forgotten to add acid to the mash. It was too late at that point and conversion had obviously happened, so I thought "what the hell?" and continued. This beer is about 10 or 15 SRM lighter than my water likes to make by itself. So that would have made the mash pH higher, but what would that cause? It might have caused some tannin extraction depending on just how high it was. (I also obviously didn't measure the pH as usual, or I'd have noticed missing the acid.) The beer DOES have a bit of noticeable astringency that is not expected. That's not all, though, because there is definitely an infection flavor. I wonder if the higher pH might have hindered the yeast's ability to kill competing microbes? They do that by lowering pH, right? Obviously, that wouldn't explain how the offending microbes got into the wort in the first place, though.Any new insights based on this new information?

[jayb151]

George, I'm not the best person to answer your pH questions, but you said you rehydrated from a bottle of water. I'm not sure, but I believe water bottles aren't sterile. If this is your normal procedure and it hasn't lead to infection before, then just forget about what I said; is it possable that the water carried something with it?

[BrewerGeorge]

I've been rehydrating with bottled water for over 2 dozen batches. This is the first infected batch I've had in longer than that. I started using it because it is sterile, actually. If you think about it, bottled water HAS to be pasteurized if they're going to sell it in today's litigious environment.

[CaptRon]

I've been rehydrating with bottled water for over 2 dozen batches. This is the first infected batch I've had in longer than that. I started using it because it is sterile, actually. If you think about it, bottled water HAS to be pasteurized if they're going to sell it in today's litigious environment.

Nope, they just bottle up the water out of the streams. They have thousands of child slaves that squat at the streams and fill bottles all day.

[Stout_fan]

I've been rehydrating with bottled water for over 2 dozen batches. This is the first infected batch I've had in longer than that. I started using it because it is sterile, actually. If you think about it, bottled water HAS to be pasteurized if they're going to sell it in today's litigious environment.

Actually no. That's why there's a best before date on the bottom.One company just bottles NYC water.Bacteria counts in bottled water is higher than tap.This was on one of those TV news shows a while back, but I doubt if anything's changed.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Actually no. That's why there's a best before date on the bottom.One company just bottles NYC water.Bacteria counts in bottled water is higher than tap.This was on one of those TV news shows a while back, but I doubt if anything's changed.

I wouldn't be surprised. Here's the other thing - yeast should be rehydrated in water that is 95-105F^(source).Given this you may as well boil some water in the microwave during your brew day and let it cool down to the right temperature range before rehydrating the yeast.

[Jimmy James]

I doubt it was the water but it's certainly possible. My opinion on infections after having worked with bugs in labs many moons ago, and a couple infected batches myself, is that bacteria will colonize some piece of equipment and ultimately that will result in infections. For me it was plastic fermentation buckets and my belief is the bugs colonized the many scratches that had formed in 2 years of heavy use. On the pH front, no idea here. George I also think for certain higher alkalinity could be more favorable to the bugs, and correct me if I am wrong but MLPA is not a particularly high gravity brew so the ABV will not be as high as in some other brews. Lower EtOH and higher pH could have tipped the balance in the bugs favor. If you had one infected batch my suspicion is bugs have colonized some piece of equipment whether it's tubing or a fermenter, probably something plastic or with porous beerstone, or nooks and crannies.