So the other day I was brewing and I brewed extra for a starter that I wanted to do but I sort of forgot the extra gallon of wort on the deck. I poured it into a water jug and threw a cap on it and then had a few beers and forgot to put it in the fridge.
Now, it’s been sitting on the deck in 95 degree weather for 4 days and it has a thick krausen going on the top of it. A quick smell gives a definite impression of Brett, not sour just a strong wild smell for lack of a better explanation.
There’s one gallon and I’m considering letting it ferment out, carbing it in 2L pop bottles and giving it a try. Any reason I should not do this? I’m sure it’ll taste like crap but I’m sort of curious what this will be like.
Thoughts?
My wild yeast experiments were surprisingly bland. Nothing coming close to the level of funk/phenols in “normal” Belgian yeast, let alone sour beers. So it’ll probably turn out fine.
If it smells like beer, drink it. If it smells like puke or dirty, sweaty socks, don’t drink it. Humans have an incredibly high tolerance for mycotoxins, so unless it’s a bacterial infection, it’s not likely to be dangerous. Just use your nose and good sense.
I poured a little bit of this today to get a better look and there were long strings of slime left hanging from the lip if the jug.
I am not brave enough.
I once dumped out my starsan bottle (1 gallon repurposed container that used to hold cider), for the dregs off the kettle to be frozen, much the same as you did.
Now I know the container was as sanitized as anything in my brewery. I put in the wort and forgot about it for a month. I noticed it was swelling and let the pressure out, as well as put an airlock on it.
A few months later, I was bitten by the sour beer bug and have brewed many since then. I have a friend that will put a few ounces in every beer and loves it. I prefer a taste now and then.