Initial Harsh Taste

[wyethm]

Hello all,

I've just started brewing and was hoping someone could help with a question.

I've made several brews using kits bought from my local home brew shop, the first being a Thomas Coopers IPA. I made it exactly as per the instructions on the can, it fermented for 3 days at about 24 degrees C. Seven days after it stopped bubbling (hydrometer was stable) I bottled it, including using the carbination drops (one per stubby).

It's now been 8 weeks since I bottled it and I've started drinking it. When you first open the bottles the cap opens with more of a pop than commercial beer. The first few mouth fulls are quite harsh, but if you leave it in the glass for a few minutes this harshness goes away and it tastes quite good.

I did a JSAA clone second. It has the same initial harsh taste, but again tastes really nice after a few minutes.

Does anyone have any idea what I have done wrong or do they just need more time in the bottle?

Cheers Mark

 

[jonocarroll]

Just for some clues - what do you use to clean & sanitise your fermenter & bottles?

Oh, and welcome to AHB - take a look through the articles section for some great tips.

 

[Gavo]

Not sure if it will help with the harshness, but in future brews try to ignore the kit instructions a little and aim to keep your fermentation temp a bit lower. between 18 and 20 degrees is good for an ale. the harshness you described may be due to high carbonation. What size are your bottles? You may want to consider other ways of carbonation other than carbonation drops. Maybe bulk prime or measure out dextrose or sugar for priming.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[Swinging Beef]

Sounds overcarbonated, given you say it goes away after a little while in the glass.
Perhaps next time reduce the amount of priming sugar by 1/4

 

[raven19]

Welcome to the forums firstly.

I can highly recommend bulk priming as this allows you to set your own carbonation level. Check out this topic, and there are plenty of other topics similar too.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=391383

 

[Bribie G]

Welcome to the forum. I've produced a few brews from cans that have had a harsh almost molasses twang and I put it down to fermenting too high. During the winter here I can keep the beer fermenting at about 18 just on the bench but as the weather warmed up September / October I took a risk with some brews and they ended going way over in temperature and some of them even got pitched at 27 and spent their entire career at over 22. I pretty well blame the high temps for the off taste.
Really you should try to keep temps down to below 20. Roll on winter It also helps to use a better yeast such as US-05 or Nottingham ale yeast which will ferment out cleaner without leaving so many fruity or estery flavours. The initial purchase is a bit exxy considering that you get a 'free' yeast on the tin, but you can cultivate and re-use the yeast a few times and that brings the cost way down.

 

[wyethm]

Thanks for the welcome to AHB.

I used hot water and a small amount of dishwashing liquid to clean and the sanitiser powder that came with the fermenter (I can't remember what its called, but I mixed 2 teaspoons with 1 to 2 L water).

The bottles are either 330 or 375 ml, but the taste was in both sizes.

If it is overcarbonised and I need to reduce the priming sugar, then I'll have to stop using the carbinating drops and try either bulk priming (I'm assuming you do this is a second container prior to bottling) or measure out dextrose/sugar.

Cheers

Mark

 

[raven19]

Thanks for the welcome to AHB.

I used hot water and a small amount of dishwashing liquid to clean and the sanitiser powder that came with the fermenter (I can't remember what its called, but I mixed 2 teaspoons with 1 to 2 L water).

The bottles are either 330 or 375 ml, but the taste was in both sizes.

If it is overcarbonised and I need to reduce the priming sugar, then I'll have to stop using the carbinating drops and try either bulk priming (I'm assuming you do this is a second container prior to bottling) or measure out dextrose/sugar.

Cheers

Mark

Mark,

As many others previously have stated on other topics, best to ditch the lollies (carbonation drops) and either measure out your sugar per bottle or bulk prime. Confirming bulk priming required a second fermenter or similar vessel with tap, and a racking wand (tube with valave at one end) and some tube to move beer from primary fermenter to secondary.

This is a great forum for any questions, and the search function usually provides plenty of interesting reading. Also recommend reading the articles section above.

 

[Cube]

Welcome kiwi Mark from NZ I take. Maybe even a NZ Games lurker?

Anyway - TEMP CONTROL - NEVER let it go above 22 deg. Aim for 18 deg. My house hardly gets under 28 deg, but I get 18-20 easily by fermenting in the laundry tub with two x 1.25 litre frozen ice/water bottles, swapped every 8 hours or so. Perfect.

Chuck the kit yeast and buy some fermentis US05 . About $4.50 a packet but you can reuse it over and over up to 12 or more brews. Search for re using uso5 yeast here.

Ditch the carb drops and go bulk priming or just plain old sugar prime the bottles.

Use at least 500grms of LDME and then top up the alc content with 500grm dex. Or 1kg LDME is better, smoother fuller bodied beer and better head.

Use bleach and vinegar to sanitise your stuff. Cheap and I have not had one infection using it.

And get into boiling hops...MMMM Coopers APA kit with Amarillo and Galaxy..... :icon_drool2:

 

[Gavo]

The bottles are either 330 or 375 ml, but the taste was in both sizes.

Bulk Priming is particularly useful when using different sized bottles. Link here for the basics of bulk priming. I have one brew that I have had to leave for some time to get it to taste ok, it is over-carbonated and has that pop when opening rather than the fizz it should have. I just open the bottle and let it rest a little before pouring, slowly getting through them, they are one of my earlier brews and are nowhere near as good as my later ones. :lol:

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[jonocarroll]

I used hot water and a small amount of dishwashing liquid to clean and the sanitiser powder that came with the fermenter (I can't remember what its called, but I mixed 2 teaspoons with 1 to 2 L water).

Ditch the dishwashing liquid. You don't want to be using that at all for brewing stuff. Get some (cheap version) napisan odourless for cleaning. Sanitising powder probably needs to be rinsed, and therefore kinda defeats the purpose, but it's what a lot of people start out with. Get onto some no-rinse stuff once you're ready.

Did I miss something, or did you not mention sanitising your bottles? I hope you do.

Ferment temp is a good thing to keep an eye on, but I didn't think 22 was out of the ordinary for kits. It'll just be better if you keep it around 18.

Cheers.

 

[MarkBastard]

Definitely sounds overcarbed. Happened for my first keg beer too. Tasted like harsh bitter but I soon figured out it was over carbed.