My First Ag

[Woodmole]

Hi All,

This is my first post so I'm not too sure whether I've put this in the right place or not (apologies in advance for any forum faux pas) . Firstly I'm very new to brewing and this forum has been a fantastic resource for me through my kit experiences.



I am currently on my second AG brew (first one aborted due to garage fire) and am just finding some issues now in the late stage of primary fermentation. I'm brewing Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale and made a couple mistakes along the way. These are:-

• My boil off volume was only 3L as opposed to my calculated 8L (20L target post boil volume). This was due to me being stingy and turning off the outer ring of my burner.

• I dry hopped at 4 days after most of the primary ferment had finished and have left them in there for approximately 10 days.

My beer has a slightly vegetable aroma and is definitely more hoppy than malty (probably as expected given the miscalculation in boil off volume).



Is there any saving this beer or should I cut my losses and move on to the next brew? Any help would be fantastic.



Thanks very much for your help.



Woodmole

 

[dougsbrew]

welcome to ahb woodmole,
did your boil actually boil for the whole hour?
from what youve said i imagine it will be ok, are you kegging - bottling?
your intial tasting? in what stage was that(finished product?)
mistakes are good, they make for a large learning curve. stick at it. :icon_cheers:

 

[Lemon]

Woodmole,
I'm sure that you should not dispose of this beer, It will be great, even if it takes some aging to get it there.
And yes you shoud start on the next brew straight away. When you taste the first one and it's fantastic, you'll want the next one.

Lemon

 

[Woodmole]

welcome to ahb woodmole,
did your boil actually boil for the whole hour?
from what youve said i imagine it will be ok, are you kegging - bottling?
your intial tasting? in what stage was that(finished product?)
mistakes are good, they make for a large learning curve. stick at it. :icon_cheers:

Thanks for your quick reply Doug.



My boil lasted for 90 mins as I entered into Beersmith however it certainly wasn't the vigorous boil that I had before I turned the outer burner off. I'll be kegging the final product, most likely tomorrow. Out of interest I've been tasting the beer every day since I started the primary ferment. The taste has been fairly consistent over the past few days but has developed a slightly off smell today.



A few mates and I are drinking JSGA tonight for a comparison. The JS is definitely maltier than my beer and has a much more subtle aroma.



Thanks again for your help.



Woodmole

 

[dougsbrew]

what yeast did you use? are you opening the top lid frequently?

 

[Woodmole]

Woodmole,
I'm sure that you should not dispose of this beer, It will be great, even if it takes some aging to get it there.
And yes you shoud start on the next brew straight away. When you taste the first one and it's fantastic, you'll want the next one.

Lemon

Thanks Lemon



Ill be off to Craftbrewer tomorrow to pick up some more supplies for another Dr. Smurto recipe. Ive found the AG process really enjoyable and am looking forward to getting into the next one.



Thanks very much for your encouragement.



Woodmole

 

[Woodmole]

what yeast did you use? are you opening the top lid frequently?

I used Safale US-05 and tonight was the first time I opened the lid (adding gelatine for clearing). I fermented at 18 degrees Celsius and most of the ferment had finished by day four.

 

[dougsbrew]

I used Safale US-05 and tonight was the first time I opened the lid (adding gelatine for clearing). I fermented at 18 degrees Celsius and most of the ferment had finished by day four.

everything sounds fine so far apart from the off smell you mentioned. i take it the surface of brew looks ok?

 

[Woodmole]

everything sounds fine so far apart from the off smell you mentioned. i take it the surface of brew looks ok?

I just had a look inside the fermenter then Doug and the beer looks very clear. There's nothing floating on top, only a small amount of residue on the edges where it foamed up during the ferment. The aroma is only slightly off and the taste is very strong of the Amarillo hop (used for dry hopping). The hop taste is quite nice but very dominant and no malt flavour is coming through at all. Do you think this will change over time at all?

 

[petesbrew]

I just had a look inside the fermenter then Doug and the beer looks very clear. There's nothing floating on top, only a small amount of residue on the edges where it foamed up during the ferment. The aroma is only slightly off and the taste is very strong of the Amarillo hop (used for dry hopping). The hop taste is quite nice but very dominant and no malt flavour is coming through at all. Do you think this will change over time at all?

G'day Woodmole,
I'm still a noobie at AG brewing, so I can only make assumptions, especially being at the other end of internet-land.
The "slightly offsmell" is not really a gauge whether to turf a beer.
You said you've been tasting it everyday and it's been fine. I'd take that as a better guess that it's good to go.

My first beer I didn't even think about boil off... it was a very strong porter!

PS. "first AG aborted due to garage fire"

:super:

Rock n roll dude.... rock and f##king Roll.

 

[Woodmole]

G'day Woodmole,
I'm still a noobie at AG brewing, so I can only make assumptions, especially being at the other end of internet-land.
The "slightly offsmell" is not really a gauge whether to turf a beer.
You said you've been tasting it everyday and it's been fine. I'd take that as a better guess that it's good to go.

My first beer I didn't even think about boil off... it was a very strong porter!

PS. "first AG aborted due to garage fire"

:super:

Rock n roll dude.... rock and f##king Roll.

Thanks for your help Pete. I was hoping to hear some responses suggesting that the beer might yet be salvaged. Ive only had one beer that Ive had to get rid of. It was a kit wheat beer that was not promising straight from the fermenter, or after two months of bottle conditioning, and then even less so when four of them exploded on a warm day in my garage.



Thanks again for your help.



Woodmole

 

[CosmicBertie]

PS. "first AG aborted due to garage fire"

:super:

Rock n roll dude.... rock and f##king Roll.

My second BIAB i managed to set fire to the kitchen. I was doing a Bohemien Pilsner which I figured would work well with a multi-step infusion. Result, fire on the hob. Big fire. And I managed to sift most of the burnt bag out of the mash...winner

Anyway, I woudn't tip the beer out or dump it.....if its drinkable, then accept it for what it is. Its beer, and you made it. Crikey, most of the time when I open my fermenter, i get blasted in the face by a pungent, acrid aroma, which the beer doesnt have. I guess its just that yeast farts smell worse than mine ;-)

One thing I've learnt is, no matter what style you attempt to brew, you always brew 'beer', dont try and pigeon-hole it, just drink it. This is from a guy who is drinking a Tonys LCBA...which is uncarbonated, but hand-pulled, real-ale style :drinks:

 

[Woodmole]

My second BIAB i managed to set fire to the kitchen. I was doing a Bohemien Pilsner which I figured would work well with a multi-step infusion. Result, fire on the hob. Big fire. And I managed to sift most of the burnt bag out of the mash...winner

Anyway, I woudn't tip the beer out or dump it.....if its drinkable, then accept it for what it is. Its beer, and you made it. Crikey, most of the time when I open my fermenter, i get blasted in the face by a pungent, acrid aroma, which the beer doesnt have. I guess its just that yeast farts smell worse than mine ;-)

One thing I've learnt is, no matter what style you attempt to brew, you always brew 'beer', dont try and pigeon-hole it, just drink it. This is from a guy who is drinking a Tonys LCBA...which is uncarbonated, but hand-pulled, real-ale style :drinks:

Hey Cosmic Bertie,



Its definitely a drinkable brew for my mind and from what I can remember it tastes better than my kit brews did straight from the fermenter,



My garage fire resulted in melting the communal waste water pipes for our unit complex. From this Ive learnt never to leave boiling water unattended, no matter how appealing a sandwich might seem.



Thanks for your help.



Woodmole

 

[dougsbrew]

I'm still a noobie at AG brewing,
PS. "first AG aborted due to garage fire"
:super:

Rock n roll dude.... rock and f##king Roll.

i forgot all about that in op. hardcore man, lets burn this town down... :lol:
3749 posts petesbrew and your a newbie to ag?

 

[petesbrew]

i forgot all about that in op. hardcore man, lets burn this town down... :lol:
3749 posts petesbrew and your a newbie to ag?

I'd say a good 75% of that is just plain yacking and trolling.
Haven't counted how many AG's I've done yet, but I've almost given up on kits.
Even then, it's all witchcraft to me. You find a method that works for you and stick to it... and hopefully learn more stuff on the way from HB mates both in real life and on the net.

 

[petesbrew]

Thanks for your help Pete. I was hoping to hear some responses suggesting that the beer might yet be salvaged. Ive only had one beer that Ive had to get rid of. It was a kit wheat beer that was not promising straight from the fermenter, or after two months of bottle conditioning, and then even less so when four of them exploded on a warm day in my garage.

Thanks again for your help.

Woodmole

Oh man, I know aaaaaaaall about bottle bombs.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I laughed like mad when I read "the first brew was aborted due to garage fire" - didn't stop.

Petesbrew just topped it off.

@OP - have you thought about a SMaSH (single malt & single hops) beer? It might just simplify the process down to a point where you can focus on the fundamental aspects of brewing, before questioning yourself with the recipe's result.

Cheers

Goomba

 

[petesbrew]

I laughed like mad when I read "the first brew was aborted due to garage fire" - didn't stop.

Petesbrew just topped it off.

@OP - have you thought about a SMaSH (single malt & single hops) beer? It might just simplify the process down to a point where you can focus on the fundamental aspects of brewing, before questioning yourself with the recipe's result.

Cheers

Goomba

It was like a rockstar throwing a tv out the window of his hotel room.
ps. Time for another scotch.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

It was like a rockstar throwing a tv out the window of his hotel room.
ps. Time for another scotch.

I'm posting stone-cold sober - that's what makes the whole thing so damn funnier.

Goomba

 

[petesbrew]

I'm posting stone-cold sober - that's what makes the whole thing so damn funnier.

Goomba

11:30pm on friday night....either Dry July, you're working, or you're waiting to pick up the missus(who's drunk)?!