Coopers lager beer smells after 4 days

[Zanereb]

Hi, I've been brewing coopers lager beer for 4 days now.
I realised after I made the wort that it's recommended with the brew enhancer so I just left it out.
I smelt it through the airlock hole yesterday and it smelt fine but today the smell completely changed. Smells a bit off .
It also has no foam ontop either.
Is there something wrong?
I've been fermenting around 22-23c

 

[VikeMan]

Please describe what you mean by "off."

 

[Zanereb]

Yesterday it smelt like sweet beer and today it just smelt bad I can't describe it. I know what fermenting Beer smells like but this smells a but foul and sour to taste. Hydrometer reading is 1.005 already after 4 days I forgot to add.
It was low to begin around 1.015

 

[VikeMan]

I know what fermenting Beer smells like but this smells a but foul and sour to taste.

If it actually tastes sour, that would indicate some kind of bacterial contamination.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

If it smell foul and tastes sour, it's likely a dumper. Although Coopers kits don't taste great, even when made correctly.

Since it was only 1.015 to begin with, you had major problems at that point.

 

[monkeymath]

I'm not sure I follow - this is a lager with an original gravity of 1.015 fermented at 22 degrees celsius... ?!

 

[Zanereb]

I'm not sure I follow - this is a lager with an original gravity of 1.015 fermented at 22 degrees celsius... ?!

Yes that's correct

 

[dwhite60]

Might not have been a bad kit if you had made it to 2.5 gallons without the brew enhancer.

 

[marc1]

Yesterday it smelt like sweet beer and today it just smelt bad I can't describe it. I know what fermenting Beer smells like but this smells a but foul and sour to taste. Hydrometer reading is 1.005 already after 4 days I forgot to add.
It was low to begin around 1.015

1.015 is extremely low for a starting gravity. Something is seriously wrong with the process or the measurements.
If you can walk through exactly what you did we may be able to help troubleshoot better.

 

[DuncB]

Zanerb mentions he didn't add the brew enhancer ( malt or sugar ) so likely to be low in gravity .

Does it smell sulphury or bad eggs smell?

If it really was 1015 it could have reached final gravity by now.
Did you mix it thoroughly? If poor mix then the sweet dense syrup sits on the bottom.

 

[dmtaylor]

If it smells like sulfur (farts) then it is normal and will age out. If it smells like butter, that's diacetyl and will also age out. If it smells like strong alcohol, you fermented too hot. If it smells bad in a different way, it might be contaminated. If it doesn't smell bad but just somewhat odd, then it might be normal and might change with age but at least you can drink it.

 

[monkeymath]

I'd advise caution here... At such a low OG and alcohol content, the brew is not necessarily stable in a microbial sense, I'm afraid. Add an eager brewer that repeatedly opens the fermenter during the first days of fermentation to take a whiff, and you might have an exception to the commonly cited rule that "nothing bad can grow in beer".

A repugnant smell might just be the result of your sense of smell exercising its fundamental purpose: protection. "Foul and sour" sounds like it might not be too much of a waste to send it down the drain.

 

[dmtaylor]

I'd advise caution here... At such a low OG and alcohol content, the brew is not necessarily stable in a microbial sense, I'm afraid. Add an eager brewer that repeatedly opens the fermenter during the first days of fermentation to take a whiff, and you might have an exception to the commonly cited rule that "nothing bad can grow in beer".

A repugnant smell might just be the result of your sense of smell exercising its fundamental purpose: protection. "Foul and sour" sounds like it might not be too much of a waste to send it down the drain.

Great points. I didn't see before the fact that this started out at OG 1.015. Wow, that's.... not even beer, in my opinion. Or more like a kvass. Something is very wrong with this brew. Yeah, be careful, if it doesn't ferment down to 1.000 and smell or taste good, you might need to dump this one, as it will only have about 1.5-2% ABV at most, not great and perhaps not even safe to drink. Your body will know if it's bad for you.