My homebrew smells like vomit

[nateo]

But, was the beer in the end better than if it had never smelled like vomit in the first place?

I find it strange that people have so many issues with spontaneous souring. I've brewed a half dozen or so sour beers using grains for souring, and never had any issues like that, knock on plastic.

[kramerog]

But, was the beer in the end better than if it had never smelled like vomit in the first place?

The BN folks thought the beer was so good they called it vagina beer.  The beer is actually called Pure Guava Petite Sour http://www.crookedstave.com/2011/08/pure-guava-petite-sour. 

[Joe Sr.]

The BN folks thought the beer was so good they called it vagina beer.

Somehow, despite being two of my favorite things, the combination "vagina beer" just doesn't sound appealing.

[nateo]

The BN folks thought the beer was so good they called it vagina beer. 

Sometimes I wonder why there aren't more women brewers, but then I'm reminded why.

[kramerog]

A brief update.  Last week I added a Brett-infected oak spiral (clausenii) to the vomit beer.  Yesterday I racked to secondary.  There was definitely a pleasant pineapple on the nose but there is still plenty of vomit odor in general.  Anyway I'm hopeful that a long secondary will eat up the vomit.  I did not notice any Brett-induced barnyard characteristics.

[garc_mall]

Go Brett Go!!!

I don't know that I would want I pineapple beer either though 

[nateo]

Anyway I'm hopeful that a long secondary will eat up the vomit.  I did not notice any Brett-induced barnyard characteristics.

I'm pretty sure you could get a dog to eat the vomit. They'll eat anything. Plus, you'll get plenty of barnyard character too!

[erockrph]

Anyway I'm hopeful that a long secondary will eat up the vomit.

If not I know a Labrador Retriever that likes to eat barf...

[kylekohlmorgen]

KEEP IT AND WAIT.

I'm really interested to see how versatile brett is when it comes up to 'cleaning up' a wild beer. I've had some sours go WAY off the reservation and come back into balance when the brett finishes its fermentation cycle.

To increase chances of success, I would do two things:

1. Make sure you are mimizing oxygen uptake. Wait several months between sampling (4-6), purge the headspace (if you can), and don't move the carboy around a lot. If brett has O2 to work with, it will take the easier aerobic pathway (all while making vinegar and ignoring your butyric acid).

2. Check the acidity. Brett does more efficient work in a lightly acidic environment. Qualitatively, the beer should be lightly tart, not too sweet or too sharply acidic. The lacto will help you a bit, but depending on your primary fermentation you may not have given it enough to work with.

[richardt]

The BN folks thought the beer was so good they called it vagina beer.

Somehow, despite being two of my favorite things, the combination "vagina beer" just doesn't sound appealing.

Ron Burgundy: "Brettanomyces is German for 'Vagina Beer.'"

[kramerog]

KEEP IT AND WAIT.

I'm really interested to see how versatile brett is when it comes up to 'cleaning up' a wild beer. I've had some sours go WAY off the reservation and come back into balance when the brett finishes its fermentation cycle.

To increase chances of success, I would do two things:

1. Make sure you are mimizing oxygen uptake. Wait several months between sampling (4-6), purge the headspace (if you can), and don't move the carboy around a lot. If brett has O2 to work with, it will take the easier aerobic pathway (all while making vinegar and ignoring your butyric acid).

2. Check the acidity. Brett does more efficient work in a lightly acidic environment. Qualitatively, the beer should be lightly tart, not too sweet or too sharply acidic. The lacto will help you a bit, but depending on your primary fermentation you may not have given it enough to work with.

Thanks for the advice.  I was planning to add some no boil Berliner Weiss to one of the carboys anyway just to see what happens.  Now I know something might happen.

[bo]

I'll sure be glad when this thread goes away or at least the "vomit" term is deleted.

[thomasbarnes]

Just in case nobody's mentioned it, next time, make sure you keep your sour mash at about 100 *F. If the temperature drops, you can get wort spoiler infections - like the one you've got.

Fortunately, sulfur compounds are highly volatile, so there's a good chance that wort boiling, fermentation and long aging will make it go away.