New brewer in Wollongong

[15BERG]

Hi everyone, Ryan from Wollongong.
So i've finished my first brew, which was a simple fresh wort in a bag kit, couldn't have been easier, but... It still didn't turn out great so a couple of q's.
I didn't control the ferment temperature, it would have gotten up to about 28 degrees i'm guessing, maybe a tad more.
The OG was 1056, I left it for 2 weeks after it stopped actively bubbling and checked the FG which was 1026, so a bit higher than i was expecting. I left it another day and re-checked and still 1026. I was expecting 1010 (I think). I just went ahead and kegged it up.
Now that I've kegged it up and tasted it, it has that "home brew taste", no offence to all the great brewers out there with that descriptor, but the back-of-tongue yeasty tang, particularly with the after taste. Drinkable, sort of.
It took a lot longer to carbonate than I thought, I was expecting 2 days @ 12 psi but after 2 days it was still flat. But after 7 days the carbonation is perfect. Presume this is reasonable?
I'm not too fussed about it turning out as it did, being my first go and all.
I'm now moving to BIAB and have the kit ready to go. I've got control over the fermenting temp now as well with a chest freezer and inkbird. So the next lot should turn out better.
Any thoughts appreciated, especially that yeasty almost a slight acrid taste on the back of the tongue?
Some beers are yeasty by design right? How much is too much? Do you think it's just the fermenting temperature?
Cheers,
Ryan from Wollongong

 

[AHB_Admin]

Welcome, Ryan, and enjoy the forum.

 

[Barry]

Good Day Ryan, welcome to home brewing. It takes 7 to 14 plus days for bottles to carbonate, depending on prevailing temperature. Most beer styles taste better after 4 to 6 weeks in the bottle, patience is a precious ingredient. Two very important elements to home brewing are sanitation and temperature control. A temperature of 28oC is far too high for most yeasts especially in the first few days of fermentation. This can cause fusels (harsh nail polish etc character) and high levels of esters (fruity, not so nice cidery flavours and aromas). The good news is; 1. it is getting cooler. 2. Weatherzone can give you a guide when the next few days will be good for fermentation. 3. there are yeasts that can deal with high temps e.g. Kveik yeast. 4. an old fridge and a temp controller are not very expensive in relative terms if you have the space. Don't be shy to ask for advice at the Home Brew shop, on line, fellow home brewers etc. I am glad that you have joined this wonderful community. All the best.

 

[philrob]

G'day Ryan. Enjoy your brewing journey and the forum.

 

[yankinoz]

Some very general tips on achieving a minimum degree of temperature control.

Yeast manufacturers give recommended fermentation temperature ranges for their products. Try to use one where expected mean temperatures for your location and time of year fall within that range.

Cool your wort to a temperature in the lower third of that range. Pitch the yeast in the afternoon. If a cold night is expected, put the fermenter in towels, a blanket, an insulated box, old fridge or whatever.

In the morning open up the insulation. Active fermentation is about to start throwing a lot of heat. If the expected temps are well within the yeast's best range, unwrap o.r unbox the fermenter. If they near to or above the range, c lose up and use blue ice to control temps.

When the active, visible fermentation slows well down, insulate the fermenter against wide day/night swings.

 

[duncbrewer]

@Barry and @yankinoz Your temp tips might be in vain as @rjheckenberg said

" I'm now moving to BIAB and have the kit ready to go. I've got control over the fermenting temp now as well with a chest freezer and inkbird. So the next lot should turn out better. "

and @Barry also re your bottling advice ( which I agree with )

"I just went ahead and kegged it up.
Now that I've kegged it up and tasted it, it has that "home brew taste", no offence to all the great brewers out there with that descriptor, but the back-of-tongue yeasty tang, particularly with the after taste. Drinkable, sort of.
It took a lot longer to carbonate than I thought, I was expecting 2 days @ 12 psi but after 2 days it was still flat. But after 7 days the carbonation is perfect. Presume this is reasonable? "

Just a note @rjheckenberg your gravity reading final of 1026 what temp was the wort when you took that reading and did you correct it for temperature?

Carbonation isn't just a pressure factor, temperature also important I'm guessing fridge temps so 2 days would be impossible at 12 psi. Achievable with a higher pressure and some other methods but patience is a reliable way to get a good result.

What is your water like ? can you look on the local water board website for some info? water can affect the beer taste as well.
Simple ales are a good starting point on the brewing journey. A double dry hopped NEIPA or a " simple lager " are at the hard end of the spectrum.

Not a cardboardy taste and darker than you expected by any chance?

 

[15BERG]

Thanks @duncbrewer no I didn't correct for the temperature with the FG reading so I've just learned something new.

Yes the carbonation was all going on in the fridge and it's good now so just needed more patience at fridge temp.

My water is tank water from the roof so I presume close to distilled water but with the occasional molecule of bird ****

Would it be worth using deionised water? I've got some of the salts to correct the water profile but wasn't sure how important that was. And you know, baby steps.

Yeah the cardboard taste might be a good way of describing it.

 

[Jolls]

Hi Ryan
Welcome aboard. I'm not too far ahead of you on the learning curve; however, no doubt you will find a big difference now you have control of the fermentation temperature. I have been using the set and forget method of corbonating the kegs 10-12 psi for ten days.
I tried the quick carbonation using The Ross Method and had pretty good success. I have a four taps so usually have soemthign on the go so the set and forget method works well.
Cheers n Beers
Jolls

 

[An Ankoù]

Saflager W34-70
Good day Ryan and welcome to Valhalla.
If you can't keep the temperature down then try a yeast that'll ferment clean at higher temperatures. Some recommend kveik yeast, but I don't like them. The weihenstephan strain above is a lager yeast, but it ferments clean up to about 27C and has ale characteristics at this temperature. Still best to keep the temp down if you can, though. I use a wet towel wrapped around the bucket and a desktop fan.

 

[duncbrewer]

@15BERG
So use a corrector for the temperature such as Hydrometer Temperature Calculator | Brewer's Friend
interestingly 1.026 at 27 comes out at 1.027.

You should have fairly neutral water, if you have a pH meter that's worth checking on your tank water, you can put that figure into the water calculators.
I started with the brewerfriend calculator, google should tell you what to enter for your rain water. Should be quite fresh stuff if you are NSW or Queensland based on what I've seen on the news recently. Plenty of youtube videos on water. You will need some accurate scales for the salts, pretty cheap on aliexpress or start with the teaspoons on brewersfriend.
I think deionised water is not good as a base water but stand to be corrected, use your rain water. I have set up rainwater capture here so could use it to brew but it is more suitable for irrigation purposes having looked in the tank.
The cardboardy taste suggests a bit of oxidation occurred to your beer, beer and oxygen cause darker beer and that cardboard taste. Fermented beer likes oxygen, but as consumers we don't like its' effects. something else to look at.

 

[CapnClunks]

Hi everyone, Ryan from Wollongong.
So i've finished my first brew, which was a simple fresh wort in a bag kit, couldn't have been easier, but... It still didn't turn out great so a couple of q's.
I didn't control the ferment temperature, it would have gotten up to about 28 degrees i'm guessing, maybe a tad more.
The OG was 1056, I left it for 2 weeks after it stopped actively bubbling and checked the FG which was 1026, so a bit higher than i was expecting. I left it another day and re-checked and still 1026. I was expecting 1010 (I think). I just went ahead and kegged it up.
Now that I've kegged it up and tasted it, it has that "home brew taste", no offence to all the great brewers out there with that descriptor, but the back-of-tongue yeasty tang, particularly with the after taste. Drinkable, sort of.
It took a lot longer to carbonate than I thought, I was expecting 2 days @ 12 psi but after 2 days it was still flat. But after 7 days the carbonation is perfect. Presume this is reasonable?
I'm not too fussed about it turning out as it did, being my first go and all.
I'm now moving to BIAB and have the kit ready to go. I've got control over the fermenting temp now as well with a chest freezer and inkbird. So the next lot should turn out better.
Any thoughts appreciated, especially that yeasty almost a slight acrid taste on the back of the tongue?
Some beers are yeasty by design right? How much is too much? Do you think it's just the fermenting temperature?
Cheers,
Ryan from Wollongong

You can usually look at the manufacturer site to find the most optimal temperature, I have only just started myself but I believe higher temperatures means more fusel alcohol (off flavours fruityness etc).
Sometimes these flavours could be desirable for example a more fruity session beer but temperature is really important look up the range. I find that my beers only get better with age but I don't keg, I bottle condition.
And don't worry so much about the numbers, my OG is always high atm but as long as it tastes good and your having fun that's the main thing.

Someone on here said we don't make beer yeast makes beer, and we farm yeast.
That's good advice

 

[CapnClunks]

Oh I forgot campden tablets are your friend and you can also put your water profile into brewfather.