so i tried my first beer after only a week in the bottle last night and it had a vinegar flavor/aroma. now, i know im supposed to wait two weeks but i was curious. do i have an infection/bad batch? any help is appreciated!
ca7
I imagine your beer is just fine…just a little “green” yet! And, sampling a bottle early is pretty common…I’ve been pleasantly surprised on occassion! Time is your friend! Give it at least another week, then refrigerate and try another beer…I bet you’ll noticed a marked improvement! Welcome to the hobby! :cheers:
i sure hope so, and thanks!
I’m a new brewer too and tried each of my first 2 brews after 1 week. I knew they wouldn’t be ready but wanted to track how they changed as they conditioned. It was interesting that the first one (an Irish Red with some smoked grain) changed every week until week 5 then settled out. The 1st and 4th weeks didn’t taste good. The second and third weeks were good but, nothing like the 5th and 6th week which were even better.
Vinegar worries me, though. That would be a sign of infection/contamination. Cross your fingers, pray to the beer gods, and give it another couple of weeks to condition. Good luck, and no matter what the outcome, don’t lose faith and brew again soon.
I turned out 4, count em, 4 bad batches before turning out one that I liked. I was learning through all of those. Im a dive in and wing it person, so Im used to learning the hard way. Believe me, if this batch doesnt turn out and you try again, you’ll get something you love soon.
