You are here:
- Home
- Hobbies
- Beer/Home Brewing
- Beer
- smelly brew
Beer/smelly brew
Advertisement
Question
So I decided to put a small space heater into the closet where some of my brews were fermenting last week. The temp changed from 65 to 70 after a few days. Now when I go to check the progress, 2 of the 4 batches in that closet smell really strong, almost astringent nose burning strong. What happened? Can I salvage the beers?
Seems a little strange that the temp change would cause your problem.
Could it be that the "nose burning" is just concentrated carbon dioxide? It doesn't smell, but it sure can get your nose's attention.
Give your brews time and don't toss anything until the end of fermentation and a tasting.
Chris Bushman
Colfax, CA
- Add to this Answer
- Ask a Question
| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 9 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thanks I appreciate your advice. I bottled it anyways yesterday. When I sampled a little it tasted good...different but good. It was a Christmas Ale after all, so it had ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. It could very well have been concentrated CO2 as the smell died down a bit while bottling. I guess we'll see in a couple weeks how it turns out. Cheers! | ||
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
Chris Bushman
Expertise
I've been homebrewing beer and mead for about 15 years. I've made beer trips to the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany, and Belgium.
Experience
I've brewed a couple of hundred all-grain beers and a few dozen meads. I'm a member of the Maltose Falcon's Homebrew Society, the oldest homebrew club in the US. I've attended the Homebrewers Fantasy Camp at American Brewers Guild.
In real life I am Optical Effects Supervisor and Laboratory Supervisor for a large movie visual effects house in Hollywood. I've been a fireman, a teacher of English in Okinawa, a personal computer tutor.
Other hobbies include orchid culture, koi keeping, photography, sausage making, pickling, and ham radio.
BS Zoology, UC Davis
Member, Society of Motion Picture/Television Engineers http://www.smpte.org/ - Member, American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ - Member, Quarter Century Wireless Assn. http://www.lockport-ny.com/radio.htm - President, Zen Nippon Airinkai, So Cal Chapter http://home.earthlink.net/~filmlabrat/ - Member, Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society http://www.westval.com/mfalcons/ - Alumni, American Brewers' Guild http://www.abgbrew.com/
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.