Bottling day samples

Jazzy_J

Member
Trial Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2020
Messages
32
Reaction score
45
Points
18
Hey guys!

Some time ago I made the first steps into brewing and got a craft-a-brew APA kit, and with nothing else to do these days I finally had a go at it. It came with some steeping grains, light extract, some Perle and Cascade hops, yeast (US-05 from what I could find), and sanitizer. It also came with a 1gal carboy, airlock, tubing, and a racking cane.

After leaving it in the fermenter for two weeks in my closet (I live in the Florida and the house is usually between 74-76), I bottled it into Grolsch bottles today. It was as eventful as you would expect from a first time bottler, but I got most of it into the bottles rather than in the sink.

Now, after I got as much as I could out of the carboy before sucking up the trub, I decided to try to suck a little up with the racking cane to test my beer. It was awful. It smells delicious, and looks delicious, but it tasted like someone had poured a splash of beer into a glass of vodka. I'm wondering if it was caused by the high fermentation temp? Maybe I got a mouth full of trub? Or is this just how young beer is before it mellows?

Also, it went pretty bananas during fermentation. Filled my flow off glass full of krausen on day 2, then bubbles essentially stopped on day 4, though I could still see yeast doing it's thing.

For the record, I've already put a second batch in the carboy in a little evaporation bucket rig I've hooked up.

Hoping for any thoughts on what may have (or didn't) go wrong!

Thanks
 

Attachments

  • 20200417_090521.jpg
    20200417_090521.jpg
    160.4 KB · Views: 78
Hey guys!

Some time ago I made the first steps into brewing and got a craft-a-brew APA kit, and with nothing else to do these days I finally had a go at it. It came with some steeping grains, light extract, some Perle and Cascade hops, yeast (US-05 from what I could find), and sanitizer. It also came with a 1gal carboy, airlock, tubing, and a racking cane.

After leaving it in the fermenter for two weeks in my closet (I live in the Florida and the house is usually between 74-76), I bottled it into Grolsch bottles today. It was as eventful as you would expect from a first time bottler, but I got most of it into the bottles rather than in the sink.

Now, after I got as much as I could out of the carboy before sucking up the trub, I decided to try to suck a little up with the racking cane to test my beer. It was awful. It smells delicious, and looks delicious, but it tasted like someone had poured a splash of beer into a glass of vodka. I'm wondering if it was caused by the high fermentation temp? Maybe I got a mouth full of trub? Or is this just how young beer is before it mellows?

Also, it went pretty bananas during fermentation. Filled my flow off glass full of krausen on day 2, then bubbles essentially stopped on day 4, though I could still see yeast doing it's thing.

For the record, I've already put a second batch in the carboy in a little evaporation bucket rig I've hooked up.

Hoping for any thoughts on what may have (or didn't) go wrong!

Thanks
Yeah I think you might have I'd guess the trub would taste incredibly bitter and off putting
Let these grolsch bottles carb for two weeks wack one in.the fridge and try you beer then.

I find my beer will change a fair bit from what you taste in your hydro sample post fermentation carbonation will bring out flavours you didn't taste and bring it to life.
 
What Ben said. Let it sit for a bit and try them. They may be awful but they probably won't be, and worst case scenario you have another batch already on the go.
 
Thanks guys. That's the plan for now, just gonna wait and see how they turn out. I still have faith. Just wanted to make sure nothing odd jumped out to anyone.
 
Most likely it's what Ben said.

But I would add that if you brewed with chlorinated water, it will leave behind a medicinal taste. If you are using tap water that's treated with chlorine or chloramine, you will have to invest in some campden tablets. If you do nothing else with your water, make sure to remove the chlorine.

Good luck!
 
Most likely it's what Ben said.

But I would add that if you brewed with chlorinated water, it will leave behind a medicinal taste. If you are using tap water that's treated with chlorine or chloramine, you will have to invest in some campden tablets. If you do nothing else with your water, make sure to remove the chlorine.

Good luck!

I think I will make the investment! The water here isn't great, so it will probably help. The second batch that I put in today had water run through the fridge filter, I was hoping that would help.
 
I think I will make the investment! The water here isn't great, so it will probably help. The second batch that I put in today had water run through the fridge filter, I was hoping that would help.
Campden tabs are cheap, and work pretty much instantaneously.
 
You need to stir the water though to mix it in.
Chlorine "may" cause a medicinal taste too, I did a lot of brews where I didn't know better and had no issues. I toss a campden in now because it's easy insurance but it's not a guaranteed problem.
 
I wasn't very happy with my first few brews, then I tried something different each brew and had improvements with each new measure. One of them was switching to RO watrr and working up my desired profile (read: eliminated chlorine).
I hear ya though Hawk, whatever works, works!
 
If you never try what you have on hand, you'll never know if it works.
 
one thing that can easily get overlooked.. is since you live in Florida, your water for the house probably goes through a water softener which makes the water unusable for beer (salt ions). the other issue is that Florida counties usually add Chloramines to the water vs chlorines... chloramines don't leave the water easily. I would suggest only using DI water purchased or run the water through an RO filter to get started with pure water.... then you should add small amounts of salts (CaCl, and gypsum at the minimum) to get water that your mash and yeasts will enjoy.
The young (green) beer flavors along with the trub content will not be a good indication of your beer outcome.
Your beers may be alright even with the water you used... you just have to be patient as has been stated above... wait at minimum, 2 weeks, then start tasting. It will probably actually take 4 weeks for the green beer tastes to mellow and dissappear.
enjoy! a lot to learn and a fun journey.
There become moments in the future, when you are enjoying your beer that you have made......where you think 'it should be illegal to enjoy something so good'.
 
Last edited:
I drink my beer 10 days in quite often, you don't need to wait 4 weeks.
Just don't go hard and fast on any rule until you test it yourself. Certain things make more difference than others and are worth more effort.

Just don't get to fixated on "must" about anything until you try it.
 
@Hawkbox, you are correct man!

I was considering since it's early in his career as a brewer and that he bottled the beers... (which I usually do as well) that a little more time in the bottle is usually better for maturing the tastes. many folks carbonate in kegs so that they can drink the beers sooner. I have tried that as well. although I bottle and speak about waiting longer... don't get me wrong, I do taste my bottled beer starting at about 7 days in.... when carbonation usually is decent, head is developing at that time also.
I do enjoy my beers even green, but really start to enjoy them a few weeks later.... just my humble opinion, but by no means trying to say that it is a necessity to wait more than each person is happy doing. It was just humble advice to a young buck.
:)

edit: I forget that I can only speak about all grain. I do not have any idea about these things as they pertain to extract brewing.... I don't know how the extract kits work since there is not really a mash with malts and adjuncts. Please take my opinions with a grain of salt, NaCl that is..
 
Last edited:
(I live in the Florida and the house is usually between 74-76)

Another cause of off-flavors is fermenting too warm and 74-76 too warm for US-05. During active fermentation your beer will be 3-4 or more degrees (Fahrenheit) higher than the ambient temperature. You can use a "swamp cooler" to control fermentation temps. Basically put your fermentor in a bucket of water, put a t-shirt or thin towel over it and point a fan at it. The t-shirt will wick up the water and the fan will evaporate the water. You can add ice (ice blocks, frozen water bottles, etc) if evaporation doesn't drop the temperature enough.

Last year I borrowed a coworkers Tilt Hyrometer to compare the actual temperature to the temperature on the outside of the fermenter. The fermentor was 5 gallons and it was a mid-gravity beer (an Irish Red Ale if I remember correctly). What I found was that during active fermentation the temperature of the Tilt was 3-4 degrees higher than that reported by the probe taped to the outside of the fermentor. After the kreuzen had fallen the Tilt was 1-2 degrees higher. It was a single experiment but I was just looking for ballpark values.
 
You need to stir the water though to mix it in.
Chlorine "may" cause a medicinal taste too, I did a lot of brews where I didn't know better and had no issues. I toss a campden in now because it's easy insurance but it's not a guaranteed problem.

Hello, so homebrewing with typical tap water down the road from you in Calgary, would you use campden tabs all the time?

Or better to buy a big jug of spring water from supermarket?
 
This is from the Calgary water department (https://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Do...Water Guides/Water_Treatment_System_Guide.pdf)

"Clarified water enters the Clarified Water Basin, where a small dose of sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) is added. The Clarified Water Basin provides enough time to disinfect the drinking water, killing micro-organisms and viruses that can cause disease."

Because they use chlorine and not chloramine, you could just leave your brewing water out overnight to off-gas the chlorine. But, I'd probably still use 1/4-1/2 tablet of a campden tablet. Like @Hawkbox said, it's cheap insurance. There may good reasons for you to get water from the supermarket but, chlorine/chloramine shouldn't be one of them.
 
Hey again guys! Thanks for all the helpful comments. I've tried the beer a few more times, and it is in fact garbage. The harsh flavor has mellowed out a little, but it is pretty painful to drink. The second batch that I put in the swamp cooler rig has come out really well, a Citra and Galaxy pale ale. I'm currently waiting for that and a high abv cider to carb up so I can dig in. I'm also trying a passionfruit perry that I am excited about.

I'm still not too sure what caused it to taste so bad, but I think I can narrow it down to:
1. Fermenting too warm.
2. Crap water (Though I drink water out of the fridge without an issue, no bad tastes).
3. The aluminum turkey fryer had been in storage for a while and was not well loved before I gave it a new life.

I've since invested in a wine fridge that I found for relatively cheap, so I imagine my beers will come out much tastier in the future. I am also waiting for a bigger bucket and some ingredients to arrive. I will let you know how the beer and ciders turn out!

You guys are awesome btw.
 
Hey again guys! Thanks for all the helpful comments. I've tried the beer a few more times, and it is in fact garbage. The harsh flavor has mellowed out a little, but it is pretty painful to drink. The second batch that I put in the swamp cooler rig has come out really well, a Citra and Galaxy pale ale. I'm currently waiting for that and a high abv cider to carb up so I can dig in. I'm also trying a passionfruit perry that I am excited about.

I'm still not too sure what caused it to taste so bad, but I think I can narrow it down to:
1. Fermenting too warm.
2. Crap water (Though I drink water out of the fridge without an issue, no bad tastes).
3. The aluminum turkey fryer had been in storage for a while and was not well loved before I gave it a new life.

I've since invested in a wine fridge that I found for relatively cheap, so I imagine my beers will come out much tastier in the future. I am also waiting for a bigger bucket and some ingredients to arrive. I will let you know how the beer and ciders turn out!

You guys are awesome btw.
#1 is the most likely cause. 74-76 ambient temp is VERY warm for US-05...

Using a swamp cooler and soon the wine fridge is a much better way to go! Get yourself an inkbird temp controller for the fridge and you should be all set to ferment in that as long as your fermenter fits! Good luck!
 
Hello, so homebrewing with typical tap water down the road from you in Calgary, would you use campden tabs all the time?

Or better to buy a big jug of spring water from supermarket?

Calgary is weirdly a completely different water supply. From what I gather the water is not as good as Edmonton water. Let me see if I can pull an information for you but I would say a campden table is a safe bet.
Edit: Or I can keep reading and Barbarian pulled the info for me.
 
Hey again guys! Thanks for all the helpful comments. I've tried the beer a few more times, and it is in fact garbage. The harsh flavor has mellowed out a little, but it is pretty painful to drink. The second batch that I put in the swamp cooler rig has come out really well, a Citra and Galaxy pale ale. I'm currently waiting for that and a high abv cider to carb up so I can dig in. I'm also trying a passionfruit perry that I am excited about.

I'm still not too sure what caused it to taste so bad, but I think I can narrow it down to:
1. Fermenting too warm.
2. Crap water (Though I drink water out of the fridge without an issue, no bad tastes).
3. The aluminum turkey fryer had been in storage for a while and was not well loved before I gave it a new life.

I've since invested in a wine fridge that I found for relatively cheap, so I imagine my beers will come out much tastier in the future. I am also waiting for a bigger bucket and some ingredients to arrive. I will let you know how the beer and ciders turn out!

You guys are awesome btw.
How did your other brews turn out after carbonation?
 

Back
Top