Of Barrels and Sour Beer

So, I had some of the Rum barrel Old Ale and the Bourbon Barrel Imperial Red last night. While neither was overly soured, it's painfully obvious that both barrels are infected with something, most likely Brettanomyces.

While a sour beer can be nice, it is a huge disappointment when it's not what you were going for. Several people have said they are flat out dumping their Impy Red, and for a home brewer, it takes a lot to say that because we usually hold out against all hope that the beer will somehow get better over time.

The sad thing is - because the Rum barrel is not stored at Dave's place, there is little chance of cross contamination.. but both beers have the exact same sourness, and it likely means that someone who participated in these 2 projects has an infection in their home brewery. I wouldn't blame anyone, hey it happens. It's more the fault of the people participating for not instituting more rigid standards and testing prior to filling the barrel.

At this point, we're going to get rid of all the barrels, step back, and try again using only fresh barrels from distilleries. If they last held liquor and have only been used once, the chances of contamination are far lower.

Here's hopin this can be worked out!