The Bar Towel

My Ordinary Bitter that I brewed in late July and bottled Mid-August has been infected by something, and I'm not sure its all bad. I drain poured the first couple bottles I opened, but decided to hang on before dumping the batch.

5.5kg 2 Row Canadian Pale malt
0.5kg Carafoam
19g Pride of Ringwood 60min
9g Pride of Ringwood 30min
19g Kent Golding 15min
9g Kent Golding 5min

Pitched rehydrated SA-04. Cooling this beer (18L post boil) took almost twice as long as anticipated (immersion chiller) and I think this is when it picked up the infecting agent. I racked it on Aug 1, bottled on Aug 15.

It finished far lower than intended (1.004 vs. 1.012) making it a 5.8% ABV brew. I'm getting some quite herbal (thyme, basil, sorrel) and musty notes while flavours are both sour lemon and pear like with a bit of a metallic finish.

This was my first time attempting a lighter beer, and first time using the PoR hops, and first time with an infection, so I'm not exactly sure what can be attributed to the infecting agent versus the Hops although I'm pretty sure the mustyness is from the infection.

Anyone who has experience with wild yeasts/infections I'd appreciate some feedback as to whether its worth keeping this beer or not.

We had a batch of Raspberry Pale Ale infect from what I suspect was wild yeast on the raspberries.

Took 2 years, but the last few bottles were delicious. It did have Pacman yeast, which I believe played a role in producing balancing flavours to counteract the wild yeast, but who knows, maybe just attenuated through time.

Remember, not all beer turn out as expected, but also, not all beer are ready to drink once bottled. Some need to mature to reach peak.

I have lots of stories of bad batches turning out good after a while. I'd say hold on to them, or store them in a closet and forget about them. When you find the in a couple of years, they might be good, if not great.

If you can't pinpoint the type of off flavour, ask some other folks to try it.

I would suggest bringing some to your next homebrew club meeting.