Help! Suss Kit Brew

[beernography]

I brewed up this wort on the 1st of October, there was a minor glitch in the initial brew in that I made the water too hot, so when it was diluted the wort was still too hot to put the yeast in. I think it was over 30 degrees IIRC.

SO I left the wort with the fermenter cover on for a few hours, probably 5 or six and by this time the wort had cooled to about 27 degrees according to the LCD thermometer on the side. So I chucked the yeast in on top presuming all would be good and let it go.

I was leaving for holidays the next day, so wasn't around for the first week of brewing but it was definitely bubbling that morning, and according to my family during the 5 days I was gone.

However when I returning, it had stopped bubbling. I have checked all the seals etc, it appears to be sealed fine and there are no obvious blobs of bacteria or fungi on the krausen.

It has a krausen smear around the top of the brew, but when I took some beer out to test the SG it was a cloudy white colour and has a sus fruity smell to it.

I decanted the beer from the test tube to a vegemite jar, and since then the cloudiness has precipitated out to what looks like a mini yeast cake. In the original fermenter, the yeast cake is there but it doesn't look as robust or organic as the last time I made this brew.

The SG is 1006, and when tapped the beer is carbonated and forms a head in the test tube but it just doesn't look right. Tastes OK but again a bit fruity.

Now the moment you have all been waiting for, it's a Cooper's Lager can with Cooper's BE2 chucked in, no extras. The last brew I did was this also and didn't have the fruity smell or cloudiness this one did. It was done fermenting after about 10 days IIRC, and was practically drinkable out of the fermenter with a pleasant taste and smell. This one is recognisable as beer but doesn't make you want to go back for more.

Thanks!

 

[Steve]

I brewed up this wort on the 1st of October, there was a minor glitch in the initial brew in that I made the water too hot, so when it was diluted the wort was still too hot to put the yeast in. I think it was over 30 degrees IIRC.

SO I left the wort with the fermenter cover on for a few hours, probably 5 or six and by this time the wort had cooled to about 27 degrees according to the LCD thermometer on the side. So I chucked the yeast in on top presuming all would be good and let it go.

I was leaving for holidays the next day, so wasn't around for the first week of brewing but it was definitely bubbling that morning, and according to my family during the 5 days I was gone.

However when I returning, it had stopped bubbling. I have checked all the seals etc, it appears to be sealed fine and there are no obvious blobs of bacteria or fungi on the krausen.

It has a krausen smear around the top of the brew, but when I took some beer out to test the SG it was a cloudy white colour and has a sus fruity smell to it.

I decanted the beer from the test tube to a vegemite jar, and since then the cloudiness has precipitated out to what looks like a mini yeast cake. In the original fermenter, the yeast cake is there but it doesn't look as robust or organic as the last time I made this brew.

The SG is 1006, and when tapped the beer is carbonated and forms a head in the test tube but it just doesn't look right. Tastes OK but again a bit fruity.

Now the moment you have all been waiting for, it's a Cooper's Lager can with Cooper's BE2 chucked in, no extras. The last brew I did was this also and didn't have the fruity smell or cloudiness this one did. It was done fermenting after about 10 days IIRC, and was practically drinkable out of the fermenter with a pleasant taste and smell. This one is recognisable as beer but doesn't make you want to go back for more.

Thanks!

It sounds perfectly normal to me. The fruity taste may have come from it being brewed too warm? Did you make the previous one in winter?

 

[brettprevans]

agrree with Steve, sounds like you pitched the yeast in while too warm. I would have waited a while longer. I dont pitch over 20C for ales (unless im trying to get flavour/character out of a yeast).

your first OF samaple will most always have yeast in it because some of the yeast will have settled over your tap. if you have of taken a second OG reading (or just checuked the first small sample then continued with taking a OG reading) there would have been less yeast in the sample.

 

[beernography]

The first one was brewed on the 9th of September, I daresay the average temp would have been colder but we're still getting cold nights here... the high initial temp when pitching the yeast is probably the culprit.

Oh well I know for next time! Comforting for the next brew but the tasteless pissheads up the road are getting too much of my homebrew for my liking. The first batch tasted pretty foul- a meaty, yeasty dark red mess of a beer.

I have a feeling the LHBS brewcraft kit converter wasn't too fresh for that one, and the yeast was wrong. Also used beermaker's draught can which I won't be using again as the extract tasted treacly before it was even brewed.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

agrree with Steve, sounds like you pitched the yeast in while too warm. I would have waited a while longer. I dont pitch over 20C for ales (unless im trying to get flavour/character out of a yeast).

Congratulations. Sounds like you brewed a Coopers exactly like the instructions says. Looks like you got a result the same as all the weekend Coopers brewers who are yet to improve their ways. The beer won't improve with age, drink it or give it to someone who brews K&K using the "Instruction under the Lid" method.

 

[beernography]

Hahaha... burn!

I did it in a rush, followed the instructions from the brewcraft book supplied with my fermenter... so am I stuck with shit beer? Am I wasting my time bottling it?

The reason I put down this cooper's was because the last one went so well for non offensive xmas bulk beer. I wanted it underway before I went to Brisbane, and now I'm back I'm dirt poor so I'll be annoyed if I'm throwing away 20l of beer and ingredients... however what a way to learn to keep an eye on things and not boil the shit out of the water!

 

[Steve]

I did it in a rush, followed the instructions from the brewcraft book supplied with my fermenter... so am I stuck with shit beer? Am I wasting my time bottling it?

Of course you arent wasting your time .... ive tasted some very strange SG samples and the brew turns out fine. Dont chuck it.
Cheers
Steve

 

[brettprevans]

unless its undrinkable dont throw it out. bottle and give it to people you dont care about when they come over. or drink it yourself after youve had 4 or 5 longnecks and then it wont taste so bad (cause you cant tell the differance by then!!!)