Can my brew be saved?

[Nige]

Hi all,

I went to dry hop my NZ Pilsner today and it smells really off, a bit like acetone or turps?? I have a feeling that I did not chill the wort long enough, so it may have been at 26 degrees for 24hrs (note - using SAF05 ale yeast).

Can this brew be saved if I leave it for a bit? Pretty devastated, looks like my first failure...

[Scott H]

Would you say it smells like Nail Polish remover? If yes then not really much you can do.

Its a result of Hot fermentation and/or not enough oxygenation before yeast pitching.

What temp did you ferment the rest at 26c?

[Nige]

probably 2 days around 26, then dropped down to 18 for the last week. Its on a heat pad, but my house is well insulated so it seems to keep its post-boil temp for a fair while. Nail polish smell is the one.

[Mark Thomas]

Sounds grim. My experience has been that the hot alcohol flavour doesn't really dissipate that much with time, but you could try bottling the beer if you have enough spare bottles.

[Hutch]

Claim it's a Belgian beer and call it a success.

In my experience there's not much you can do once it's ended up like this. I've had some success leaving it in secondary for a few weeks, but it won't completely remove the acetone smell.

[Peter Smith]

Keg it with 50g southern cross and 50g armirillo in socks in keg carb and wait 2weeks. Amazing what
A decent keg hop can do....