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I usually use wposw for my nutural with good success. Well i mixed up a batch on 9/18 and checked it this morning. It has large bubbles floating on top and a strong vinegar smell.

i checked the sg, it was around 1.05 Must have been an unsanitised fermenter i'm thinking. My barrel had lees in it from a batch i ran probably 3-4 weeks prior that i hadent cleaned out. i rinsed it with the hose before mixing up the new batch, but didnt do any scrubbing.

Temps may have been a little low getting things started also. i'm not sure. i was trying to get a ferment in before the weather cooled to much & i had to heat the wash but i didnt check it. Got to comfortable with my succeses i guess, work is busy & i got a little lazy.

any thoughts or opinions are apreciated.

have a taste, that will normally tell you if it's gone bad...

i always taste washes....

tastes like normal = let it be
tastes like spew = tip it out...

I think with me it would be "tastes like spew...SPEW!

I am trying to make apple cider vinigar, it takes a LONG time. Longer that 3-4 weeks, Just run your wash when you are ready and start fresh on your next ferment. A tablespoon of bleach per gallon of cool water will sanitize well enough to prevent problems when starting a wash.
I open ferment just about everything I make to distill and reuse lees and have had 2 infections in 3 years and both were from what was on grain that I used.
It may have a lactic ferment going on, If so add yeast nutrients, more yeast and warm up the wash enough to make the yeast happy and that should overtake any lactic bacteria in a wash.
If it goes really bad it will smell like baby shit or puke. Then I would flush it and sanitize and start over.

Every now and then I will get a UJSM batch that gets a white, filmy covering on top. The film will trap bubbles and it looks odd, but the mash tastes OK, and the resulting run is no different than the others.

I bleach out my fermenting equipment, and let it dry outside. Next run it's back to normal.

If it tastes OK, and smells OK, then let it finish and run it out.


Bull.

Does lacto really hurt a sour mash?

it doesnt smell ok. not like baby shit or puke, but not like usual. i hate to even taste it but im sure it wont kill me, so i'll give it a go.

ok, doesnt taste to bad. I'll try warming it up a bit & adding some goodies to see if it will get going again. the SG hasn't dropped enough to make it worth the time & propane to run it as is. I'll give it a few days & see if i get any change, thanks. Temp is 66 F. sg is aprox 1.06 without the temp corection.

i didn't take an OG reading on this batch but based on my notes, it should have been about 1.085