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I have in bottles a batch smelling like chemicals or rubber. I'm thinking keep it a while, and check if the smell fade out. Is this possible? Or I'm just wasting my time with this batch?

As side note, this batch is, from a parti-gyle, a second run. The first run, a porter, is OK.

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  • Smell is one thing, taste is another - they're related but not the same, so taste the beer before deciding anything.
    – mdma
    Commented Sep 6, 2013 at 22:58
  • It seems like taste is pretty similar, but smell is overwhelming me, I can't really tell. But if the flavor is ok, should I wait?
    – Geo Perez
    Commented Sep 6, 2013 at 23:03
  • were both batches pitched with the same yeast (from the same pack/vial/container)
    – mdma
    Commented Sep 6, 2013 at 23:06
  • Yes, same starter.
    – Geo Perez
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 14:07
  • Just a guess here, but were you either using a new rubber stopper in the carboy, or no airlock? I only ask because I was thinking autolysis also when you asked about rubber smell, but then you say it was only in the fermenter two weeks - not long enough for autolysis under normal conditions. So maybe it is transfer from a bad stopper, or maybe the yeast were subjected to high pressure? (High pressure accelerates autolysis, I read.)
    – Chino Brews
    Commented Dec 22, 2013 at 2:43

3 Answers 3

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RDWHAHB. Unless you're confident that you had dirty fermentor, ride it out.

You've already invested the time and $$ in the brew day, might as well keg/bottle and see how it turns out.

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  • I use glass carboy, and always I left them overnight with sanitizer. I can't think in dirty fermentor.
    – Geo Perez
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 14:09
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The rubber smell could be autolysis - I've experienced it a couple of times when I left beer in primary for a long time. It has a kind of rubbery unpleasant aroma and the taste is the same.

I left the keg for 6 months and it didn't improve so I threw it.

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  • I left the primary only two weeks.
    – Geo Perez
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 22:00
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You're probably out of luck, although if it fermented fine then it won't hurt you or make you sick. (A reason beer was drank hundreds of years ago.) So you're probably going to end up dumping it. An alternate would be to extract the alcohol out of it via distillation.

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