Brown ale taste issues

[dsridgley]

Hello all, ok so its been about 2yrs since I have brewed and only managed to produce about 3 batches before I had to quit. I recently was able to start brewing again and every thing seemed to be going fine. I was able to make it thru the primary fermentation with no problems. Transferred over to secondary carboy and let it sit for 10 days, today I went to transfer into my keg and when I pulled the carboy to my horror I noticed what appeared to be black mold floating on the top. Most of my equipment had been in storage for the last 2yrs and I cleaned and sanitized it. The only thing I can think of is some how during the transfer I let something get in. I brewed a batch 5.5 gal of brown ale and all of the taste notes I was looking for are there but it finishes on the sour side.

Hoping for salvation I have kegged the brew and flooded the tank with c02 and bled the tank to remove any oxygen. Do you think with aging the sourness will subside or is this batch a total loss.

[slothrob]

Sour notes will sometimes mellow with a little time, but if it ends up being due to contamination it will probably get worse. It's worth waiting find out.

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Sometimes, you can just scoop off the mold and it'll be fine. Most molds won't effect the taste of your beer.

[wottaguy]

Not so sure if it would be a total loss, and i hope that you didn't dump it yet.

I have a batch of ESB here that went sour on me and it is still in the keg.

I would imagine that it will continue to sour. I am letting it sour up a little more, then I plan to brew up an old ale and pull a gallon or so from the "soured" beer, heat the soured beer up and boil it for 10 minutes....cool it off and blend it with the old ale. This should stop any more souring to happen once its blended, and will also lend that slight twangy sour taste to the old ale. You can also do this for Stouts and or any German style beers that have that hint of sourness to them.

I'm planning a few recipes now to take advantage of the soured beer and the stout is a definite must do along with the old ale. I might brew both of these on the same day.

Has anyone else tried this technique? Please post your experiences.

Hope this helps!

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