There is nothing worse to me than having to dump beer, especially a lager that has been lagering since Febraury 8th, especially when it was a 10G batch which means I had to dump two kegs! 
What I can’t seem to figure out is what went wrong. I’m guessing a bacteria, probably aceto. But what would make a beer lose it’s head? It was carbonated but no head at all. Never had that before.
Dave
Something in the mash? Fusels from a fermentation that got too high in temp.?
It fermented at 52F for a week when I brought it to 57F as I put 10G of Pils with 2278 in the chest freezer. It tasted great going in to the keg. I carbed it and let it sit until tonight. There was no identifiable off-flavor, kinda cidery but not really. Just bad. And if I poured it right down the middle, no head at all. Very strange…
I would look at the mash process before assuming an infection.
Mashed at 152 for 60 minutes. 14# Pilsner, 1#Crystal 20, 1#light munich, 1# flaked rice, 1# flaked maize 1# german wheat. Started at 1.050 and ended at 1.012. It tasted phenomenal going in to the keg which adds a level to my bummed-out-ness. I was psyched to put it on tonight…
Dirty kegs?
Just guessing.
Kinda cidery means acetobacter, since its both kegs I’m guessing it happened prior to kegging. I think the acetic acid must mess with head retention since most sour brews have little head retention.
Did you purge the kegs of O2 w/Co2? Did you primary ferment in a bucket?
If it makes you feel any better I have 15 bbls of Dubbel that I missed my OG with and can’t figure out what to do with. It was my dumb fault for targeting 13 bbls on recipe and brewing it to 15. Tastes fine but boring and not to style and I don’t have anything to call it so it’s probably going to be dumped. Stuff happens.
NO! Call it a Belgian Single, or Monk’s Table.
Hey, I like Monk’s Table. Might steal that!
I’m pretty good about soaking the kegs in Oxiclean and then StarSan. I was thinking it could be the kegs going down the list, but that would have to be some tough bacteria. Anything is possible however…
It did taste a little sour now that you mention it. Not overly bad, just a bit sour. I wonder it this is the culprit.
I’m not saying this is the cause, but I’m just curious - is this the one you used a bunch of acid malt in? I didn’t see it in your ingredient list - just wondering.
That is a bit of a higher volume Keith. I like the Monk’s Table idea. Hate for beer to go to waste!
I think I may chalk it up to the fermentation. After looking at my notes again, the Pils with 2278 stalled at 1.030 after a week so I raised it to 68F for 5 days. That means after this one burned out it was raised to 57F for a week and then 68F for 5 days. My bet is that was the cause of some Aceto growing in there and souring the beer. The Pils came out just fine. Live, brew and learn!
Dave
Hey Paul. Actually no acid malt in this one. The PH was 5.7. A little high but not overly alarming.
Dave
Keith, forgot to answer this. One was bucket the other BB.
So, what are you taking away from this? Pitch more yeast? Aerate more? How else can you stop it from stalling and having to mess with the temperatures?
I think my takeaway is not to try and ferment 2 batches a week apart in the same chest freezer at the same time. Also, since 2278 throws out a lot of sulfur at lower temps, I should not ferment it with other strains that do well at lower temps. I tried to take a shortcut and it cost me…
The only reason I sked is because I have lost a few batches that I left too long in a bucket. Acetobacter love o2 and can not reproduce without it. If you didn’t purge the kegs with co2 and didn’t purge headspace either this could be the problem. But if it stalled on you you may have other problems.
I should clarify that the one that went sour had 2001 and was in the chest freezer a week ahead of the 2278 that stalled. So it was in there for 7 days at 52F, then 7 days at 57F, then 5 days at 68F. The one with 2278 is fine and on tap now. The one with 2001 was the sour one.