Vinegar Stroke

[phill71]

I opened a bottle of my Timothy Taylor Landlord clone that I had been waiting patiently for 2 weeks to prime / condition etc. I got a nice pressure 'swish' noise on opening, but then noticed a pretty strong vinegar whiff. I poured out the bottle into a pint pot and it looked and smelled fine. It tasted OK too! Would it have been safe to drink, or is the vinegar whiff on opening a sign that it's been infected.

[super_simian]

Even if it had been totally and utterly infected by acetobacter, it would be safe to drink. Vinegar is safe to drink, although unpleasant. and in large quantities might give you heartburn. The good news is acetobacter is aerobic, so carbonated bottles won't get much more acidic over time. I would, however, thoroughly sanitise all equipment which has been in contact with the beer, and make sure to triple wash those bottles if you intend on using them again. I've had 3 aceto infections thus far, and one was drinkable but the other two... And obviously don't reuse the yeast in any form (slurry or re-culturing)

[scuppeteer]

Its possible you had a small residue of beer on the top of the bottle when you have capped them. When capped it has sealed the beer tight but the residue on the edge of the bottle will obviously go off. Had this a couple of times myself, usually when I've spilt the beer transferring the bottling pipe to the next bottle and haven't bothered to wipe down before capping.

[darkonnis]

I did a kit that had this same smell to it 2 weeks after bottling it. The remains of it (last few bottles) which survived my session sorted themselves out and had no smell.... If its alright, then just keep some to one side and just peg it down to experience.

[phill71]

Thanks Scuppeteer
It was pretty messy when I bottled this batch, and I ended up with bottles over filling and beer sploshing around etc. I did rinse them all off before storing in crates, but as you have suggested, I mus'nt have done it thoroughly. The sealed beer inside, once poured, smelled and tasted great, so I guess it's just down to better bottling technique.
Cheers for the pointer!