Ok, this is my 6-7th brew but first all grain. I followed directions to the T, used a yeast starter, primary went as expected temp stayed around 71, after 9 days I transferred to secondary, @1.011. it smelled amazing, I cleaned and sanitized everything and it bubbled up for a day then settled down. Today (4 days after transfer) I opened it up to put in the first dry hops, when I didn’t catch a hop bomb to the face i leaned in (big mouth bubbler) to smell and caught a vinegar type burn to the nostrils with not much smell at all… I’m guessing it’s an infection. Can anyone let me know if there’s anything I can do to save it? I’d rather not dump my first all grain, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
Thanks!
Is there anything forming on top? Did you taste it? Other than smell is there a reason you suspect infection? If its an infection there is nothing you can do.
no, I didn’t taste it, I closed it back up quick and asked for help. there’s nothing on the top
sounds like co2 (normal). it burns your nose when there’s a high concentration. it’s actually a pretty dangerous gas
don’t dump it unless you’re absolutely sure there’s an infection
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]sounds like co2 (normal). it burns your nose when there’s a high concentration. it’s actually a pretty dangerous gas
don’t dump it unless you’re absolutely sure there’s an infection[/quote]
Ive looked through these forums and havent found much, how would i know its a infection? Just taste it?
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]sounds like co2 (normal). it burns your nose when there’s a high concentration. it’s actually a pretty dangerous gas
don’t dump it unless you’re absolutely sure there’s an infection[/quote]
^^This.
I experienced this the first time I used my ferm chamber (which is a chest freezer). I bent over to get a good look at the krausen and took in a breath and felt like I got smacked in the nose 
[quote=“Andyp3685”][quote=“S.Scoggin”]sounds like co2 (normal). it burns your nose when there’s a high concentration. it’s actually a pretty dangerous gas
don’t dump it unless you’re absolutely sure there’s an infection[/quote]
Ive looked through these forums and havent found much, how would i know its a infection? Just taste it?[/quote]
Sour or funky taste or visible nastiness floating on the top of the beer.
IF it’s infected it might taste sour, rotten, vomit, vinegar, or just plain gross. Sometimes beer is visibly infected (usually with white stringy stuff growing on the top).
What you described, definitely sounds like co2. It burns the nose (almost like wasabi or horseradish would) but has no dicernable odor. It hurts. If you’ve ever burped after drinking soda, and it burt your nose, that’s co2.
vinegar is a sign of an acetobacter infection. although, if it doesnt actually smell/taste like vinegar, then I doubt that’s the issue. Acetobacter needs oxygen to work, so unless you oxidized your batch after fermentation it’s an unlikely culprit.
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]IF it’s infected it might taste sour, rotten, vomit, vinegar, or just plain gross. Sometimes beer is visibly infected (usually with white stringy stuff growing on the top).
What you described, definitely sounds like co2. It burns the nose (almost like wasabi or horseradish would) but has no dicernable odor. It hurts. If you’ve ever burped after drinking soda, and it burt your nose, that’s co2.
vinegar is a sign of an acetobacter infection. although, if it doesnt actually smell/taste like vinegar, then I doubt that’s the issue. Acetobacter needs oxygen to work, so unless you oxidized your batch after fermentation it’s an unlikely culprit.[/quote]
Thanks for all the responses, it looks like it was just c02, everything seems to be going smooth, thanks for all the knowledge!! I do have one more question, I keep hearing about oxidizing… what does this actually mean? I mean the beer is exposed to oxygen between transfers and bottling so what is the difference between that and Oxidizing?
Oxidation is mainly a concern with poor racking techniques (splashing) or leaving a fermenter open to the air after fermentation. For regular, well performed racking to secondary or bottling there is enough dissolved CO2 in solution that oxidation is of very little concern.
