What does an infected beer taste like?

Like a sour

 

Sadness.

But in all seriousness it varies, the most common infected flavor that I've come across is a metallic taste. Could also be sour (when not intended.)

 

Sounds like an infection to me thin sour vinegary. No carbonation makes me think the cap was loose.

 

Like Miller Lite. Just not as bad.

 

There is no one infected flavor, though by the sound of it you did get your hand on one.

 

shipyard pumpkin head metallic taste is normal IMO that's what it tatse's like

 

I don't like Shipyard Pumpkinhead at all I think it may be the worst pumpkin ale I've ever had, but I don't believe those flavors are normal. I had an infected Anderson Valley Poleeko not too long ago. It exploded when it opened up, and left a nasty clinging foam on the inside of the neck of the bottle. I thought it tasted funky/skunky in the worst kind of way, and I agree that it tasted like dirty vinegar. My gf agreed that it was horrible, and added that she thought it tasted like stinky feet. Sounds like you got an infected beer to me.

 

Yes but like a sour that is entirely one dimensional and often unpleasantly acidic (if bacterial colony has sufficiently multiplied).

 

I've never had Pumpkinhead, but if I bought any pumpkin beer and it tasted like watered down pickled beet juice, I'd assume something is very wrong.

If I had someone else take a swig, who has had it before, and they couldn't tell that it tasted quite a bit different...I wouldn't revisit the brew in the future.

 

Wrong flavors depend on the infection but there was definitely something wrong with yours because Pumpkinhead should taste like AAL that was brewed in a potpourri factory and not pickled beets. Wretched either way.

 

Yes that's it! The vinegar like taste. It could also present itself like a sour or off sweet taste.

 

Acetobacter infection: tastes like vinegar.

Lactobacillus infection: tastes like a Belgian lambic-style sour, though possibly one-dimensional. May resemble pickle juice or sauerkraut due to lactic acid. Also may resemble human bile. Should be carbonated, even gushing.

Pediococcus infection: depends on the species/strain involved. Butter or butterscotch candy, the appearance and consistency of snot or liquid soap, "string beer," human bile, cheese. Since it produces lactic acid it may also resemble pickle juice or sauerkraut. May be completely flat, gushing, and anywhere between the two.

Brettanomyces infection: depends on the species/strain involved. Flavors vary wildly. Sweat, pineapple, horses, dirt, wet hay/wet grass, burnt rubber, smoke, leather, tangy, apple skin. There's a lot of different types of brett. Should be extremely carbonated (compared to what the beer would be without it).

Cork mold infection: regardless of the specific mold/yeast present, the beer will smell like a moldy basement or a moldy attic. "Musty."

 

Sounds like you got an infected beer and you know a lot more than your boyfriend when it comes to beer.

Please tell me you slapped him when he said the floaties were just "pieces of pumpkin"

 

Since the topic of “floaties” was brought up: the fact that there are “floaties” in a beer is not necessarily an indication of an infection. “Floaties” can be present in perfectly good beer. The “floaties” could be chill haze (proteins) or it could be yeast that has not settled yet.

The best evaluator of whether a beer is suffering from an infection is flavor. For example the presence of the off-flavor of vinegar is an indication of infection (e.g., infection by the bacteria acetobacter).

Cheers!

 

I've had fresh Shipyard Pumpkin Ale, and it's not a good example of the type. Way, way better buys out there, just saying. More to the point, there should be no vinegar taste in it, and it does have carbonation normally.