my beer is sourish? is it bad?

[David20Hersch]

wlp300
ferment temp 65f


my beer has been fermenting for 10 days. i checked the gravity 3 days into fermentation and it was pretty tart/sour and starchy tasting. now it smells great (some sulfur, just a bit) but has a really sour taste, someone told me it tasted like a lambic.

is it over???should i throw it out??

 

[HumboldtBrewer]

I wouldn't toss it just yet. 10 days is usually how long I let my beers ferment. Also, I wouldn't be checking gravities a few days into fermentation as you are just giving yourself a better chance of contamination. Yeast take a couple days to clean up after themselves when fermentation is complete, so just be patient.

As far as the sour taste, could be that something didn't get cleaned and sanitized properly before you pitched yeast. If it did get infected with what I'm assuming is lactobacillus, you could ride it out and turn it into a sour. What was the beer style?

 

[David20Hersch]

its a hefeweizen. so to turn it into a lambic just let it age right?

 

[Calypso]

If you decide you like the sour flavor, let it ferment for a long time (since souring bugs tend to take a lot longer to finish than yeast) and then bottle it (with fresh yeast). Or add some cherries to secondary and call it a kriek.

 

[beergolf]

Step away from the fermenter.

At only 10 days into fermentation an infection would probably not have had time to sour the beer. Let it sit for another week or two and taste it again. Then see where it is at. Early in fermentation beers can have off tastes that dissappear after fermentation is completed.

I think you are trying to solve a problem that may not even exist.

Edit: in the future stop checking your beer so often. You are just increasing your chances for infections. Pitch your yeast and forget it for a couple of weeks before you check it. Checking at three days is way to early. 10 days is pushing it.

 

[Ike]

Step away from the fermenter.

Are you hiding in my kitchen?!

That is me to a T. I'm a tinkerer. The most difficult lesson I've had to learn as a brewer is that the "tincture of time" is the most important ingredient in brewing.

 

[beergolf]

Are you hiding in my kitchen?!

That is me to a T. I'm a tinkerer. The most difficult lesson I've had to learn as a brewer is that the "tincture of time" is the most important ingredient in brewing.

Hahahaa.. Beginners should be required to use a bucket fermenter with a time lock, so the lid cannot be opened for at least 2 weeks.

That way we would have a lot fewer posts about is my beer ruined at day three...

 

[David20Hersch]

The curiosity of checking the beer is overwhelming to say the least! But I'll take the advice and "forget about it for a couple of week".
I don't get how people bottle hefeweizens after a week, but if I don't let the yeast be boss it will cost

 

[David20Hersch]

Thanks for all the input on such a repetitive question!!